Countryside シンガポールの田舎、クランジ

16 July 2010 (Friday): It's hard to believe that Singapore has a countryside- an undeveloped stretch of land with unruly trees growing and where insects and birds abound. There is - it's rather close to where I work by car. I like this kampong (Malay language for 'village') in Kranji.

If I am not picking up Japanese handmade tofu and sundries at Meidi-ya, cosmetics, electronic gadgets, and clothes after lunch, this is the place where I will head for a light healthy meal.

You can appear in a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops; and remember your shades on a bright sunny day. This place is great for an introduction to biology or botany as well.

Banana curry
It's a clean countryside with no rowdy and viscious mosquitoes of the tropics. If there are, there is a pond to ensure that they will be gobbled up by the fish. There are even clean toilets with always-functional flushes and modern hand-towel dispensers.

That's so much about Singapore's countryside. Being in Singapore, the countryside must have some reasonably good food. I like the Acar fish (acar: Peranakan pickle vegetables consisting of pineapple, julienne carrot and cucumber, sesame seeds in a spicy vinegrette); banana curry, chicken curry and farm kang kong (water convulvulous).

Chicken curry
The taste is mild and the volume, not overwhelming. The beverage list is healthy; my favourite is lemongrass but

not the aloe vera which has sugar.

I usually go there for lunch once a month. I enjoy travelling on the well-paved road with plots of soil supporting the wild albizia, banana trees, and the ferns by the sides. Very quiet.

Acar fish

BBQ & Home Parties

May & June 2009: U-san has returned to Sing. for a short while. A younger colleague tagged along so that he could be 'trained' by U-san in this new equatorial market. A and I were invited to their BBQ party at F-san's, another more senior colleague's home.

We arrived 30 minutes' late after picking up some good fruit in Holland V. A. had guessed that his Japanese friends would not have fruit but rather sake, shochyuu and perhaps, wine. I'd wanted to get a light yummy strawberry shortcake at Bakezin but changed my mind.

A's choice finally turned out to be excellent as we looked at the food that was being prepared for us when we arrived:

We chatted more than we ate, then at the end of the party, took another picture in remembrance of this 'male' 'carnivorous' get-together:

A. didn't mind 'starving' - he thought that the company was more important. I was never a BBQ fan... so when R. (U-san's wife) called us over to her place for dinner with F-san when her husband went to Osaka, I was glad it was going to be at her new rented apartment.

Mmm...I really like her apartment. It overlooks the Pasir Panjang Wharf, is cozy and has a reasonably sized swimming pool. I recall coming to see the showflat but did make any pick. It's not a freehold-property, anyway.

I 'grazed' and 'grazed' on what was before me on the table. They were all delicious.
R. served the appetizer which I like to prepare for my own gatherings but added ham rolls:

She revealed her 'secret': easy ingredients and dishes- that means, dishes that can be prepared the day before (see first picture above). A classic example was her beef tataki:

Next, chirashi-zushi. This is common enough, but use real salmon:

Then the cabbage rolls with minced beef which can be cooked hours before as well:

Oh, we were all gluttonous! R. pulled out the last course. It was a very 'browned' almond cake that she baked; F-san gobbled two notwithstanding! The muscat tea from Japan was exceptionally fragrant and ended our night very memorably.