While we weren't eating...... Malacca part II

World Heritage Site of Malacca was our destination this past long weekend. Due to flights anywhere being quite expensive, a colleague and I decided to try our luck on one of the Luxury Buses to cross the border into Malaysia for the 3-4 hour journey.  

Our journey started with the collection of snacks for the trip. There was a 7 11 down the street, but the Korean Supermarket seemed much more enticing. The only reason this is of importance to our trip was how excited we were of the Korean policy of try before you buy in regards to their chip selection! Once we had chosen our chip of choice, we waited to board our Coach.

Luxury it was! This bus was decked out in what seemed like armchairs – complete with leg rest. The journey began and it was quite simple to cross the border. Once we had crossed the river and passed through customs, it was amazing the immediate sense of space with not a building or light in sight. We became giddy on the prospect of being off the island however were dismayed by how slowly we were inching towards our destination. Finally, we decided to sleep our way through the bus trip.



Luxury + Excitement!

This was quite easy for me – it was only later that my companion informed me of her planned escape route in case the white-knuckle-harrowing stop/ start / braking / beeping of the coach experience turned into a collision or coach overturning. Clearly, I am my father’s daughter and this rocked me to sleep!

Finally – 6 hours later and 1am, we arrive to our destination. After getting cashed up and grabbing a cab (complete with friendly cockroach greeting us), we arrive to our hostel. The owner was just about to turn in for the night as he had never had guests arrive so late from the bus before. Because of the long weekend, it seemed everyone was keen to get off the island.

The River by night

Unfortunately, due to our late arrival the convenience store was already closed, but our host allowed us to partake in his Gin and Tonic so we sat by the river and unwound, relieved to finally have arrived. We stayed in this particular hostel for one night only as it was booked out for the next two nights. However, we had read such awesome reviews on it that we wanted to check it out.

The Mosque

The next morning, we relocated to our new hostel – literally across the road so unfortunately no river view L. However, it was much more spacious, had better facilities and AIR CON! The owner sat us down and gave us the important information regarding Malacca: Where To Eat. Refer to my previous blog for the information on our culinary experiences in Malacca – they were amazing…….

Chinese Temple




Guinness &



Cigarettes as offerings?

We spent the next day wandering the streets, temples and mosques. We also for the first time tried acupuncture (unfortunately, it didn’t affect me as well as I had hoped). The town is so quaint and interesting to wander through as the day went on, more and more people filled the streets and by nightfall, the main st ‘Jonker Street’ had been shut off for the bustling night market.  

Indian Temple

The next morning, we went on a bike ride through a village outside of town. We saw how rubber was collected off the rubber trees and palm oil plantations. We also saw many different types of fruit trees and for me, it was just wonderful to be out in nature – you don’t get a lot of that in Singapore!

Palm Oil

Mmmmmm champagne anyone?





Rubber Plantation

Don't quit your day job!

Custom built house which streams music of swallows calling. The birds are attracted to this and come build nests in here. The nests are made from twigs and stuck together with the bird's saliva. The nests are collected and then sold for literally a small fortune. They are a delicacy in China.

cute!

Hard at work cutting rubber trees.

Dragonfruit tree



Milk fed baby lamb.

The next morning, we left quite early and I am hopeful I will be back soon. The town was so full of culture, soul and warmth that crossing the river back to Singapore made Singapore feel clinical in comparison. Everything is so structured and orderly and near perfect that it can feel cold at times. It was lovely to be back in the East, if only for a weekend.

Scenes of Malacca..............

Butcher

Acupuncture



One for Miss Newman......



One for my first mates aaarrgh!



The river by day.... all the buildings are being painted with funky pictures and scenes which you can't see that clearly here unfortunately....







Culinary delights in Malacca

Note the instructions on the yellow paper behind us.

WOW. I have never in my life experienced such an incredible, memorable culinary experience as I did in Malacca. Every meal was memorable. Every meal was sensational. Every meal was most likely loaded with trans fats, MSG and definitely NOT organic, but hey, you only live once right?

Our lovely host gave us the lowdown on precisely where to eat chicken rice balls, dumplings, satay fondue and Nyonya cuisines. Once we had tried the first two and they were AWESOME, we realised we would stick with her suggestions throughout our trip.

Our first stop was breakfast: Pork Dumplings @ Kampung Kling Mosque (well, opposite the mosque)

The Bun. And some other less memorable yum cha dishes.

As this was our first morning, we weren’t in a major rush to eat. We spent time wandering through the streets and temples (and the map was difficult to comprehend). There was one place which caught my eye directly across from the Mosque which was PUMPING with customers but all the signage was in Chinese so I had no idea what was going on in there. We asked several people for directions to the restaurant when we finally realised the place across from the Mosque? That was THE place. It is to be noted, one lady, whose shop was two stores down LITERALLY, told us it was a five minute walk away.  

And the dumplings? The most amazing dumplings I have ever eaten in my entire life.  Fluffy, loaded with chunks of meat, and just completely insane in taste.  I took great pleasure in the fact that they were steamed.

After more wandering & popping our acupuncture, we decided it was time for a spot of lunch.

This time? Lunch: Nyonya Style @ Nancy’s Kitchen

Tamarind chicken with plain rice.....

Nyonya is the local cuisine of the Malay/Chinese people. We walked into the shop and were told to go upstairs and share a table with another couple. We had the most delicious lunch of tamarind chicken and boiled rice and chatted with our elderly lunch companions about travels through Asia. They were on a 4 week trip through Malaysia and entertained us with their stories of India……. Such a lovely couple! The shop was airconditioned and Malacca was HOT so it was nice to chill out, chat and relax over the local cuisine.

To walk off our food, we wandered Jonker St and after getting reheated, decided to try a frozen drink. I decided on passionfruit and lime and this was the most refreshing delicious fruit drink I have had. Seriously, it felt as though I had not eaten until I got to Malacca! My travelling companion decided to go with a watermelon / lychee concoction. Unfortunately, she suffered from a serious case of food envy post trying mine.

My kind of slurpee!

That night we ventured for a local dish. Dinner: Fondue Satay. NOT @ Capital Satay

1 hour line up for food?

Hunter- Gatherer.

Yep, imagine a pot of bubbling satay that you stick your bits of pork / prawns / vegetables into to cook. Now, this was our first (and only) culinary hiccup. You see, we finally found THE place to eat this dish. Alas, there was a line that was over an hour long. Now we were hungry by this point, having just shopped up a storm in the night market, and right next door was another place sans line. Seriously? How different could the two places be? Well, after a terrible, uninspiring, tasteless meal, we left and went for some noodles then called it a night!

Hard to tell, but this was very watery and quite bland :(

The next morning, we tucked into Pork dumplings for energy to sustain us through our pre-booked bike ride. This time, we supplemented our dumplings with glutinous rice with meat wrapped in a banana leaf. Heaven in a leaf - cooked to perfection with big chunks of meat. I thought I had died and gone to sticky rice heaven! (For those of you unfamiliar with my love affair of sticky rice, during my year in Thailand, this managed to make me 10kgs more glutinous. Hence, I cannot be trusted with rice – particularly of the sticky kind - and only partake on special occasions).

Post bike ride, we decided to try another local delight for lunch: Chicken Rice Balls @ Hoe Kee

Another day, another line.

Balls = much more fun! Shout out to my man with my beverage of choice to accompany the meal!

It was at this point that I started to realise that there were a lot of Singaporeans in Malacca. And they were all lined up for Chicken Rice balls at this one shop. So, I guess living in Singapore is rubbing off on us because we joined the cult and lined up. This time though, our confidence was buoyed by the size of the shop and the stream of diners exiting the restaurant contently. We lined up for about 40minutes before tucking into chicken rice balls. Now, this is very similar to the common Hawker market style dish Chicken Rice which can be found in Singapore, however the rice was in the shape of balls. Much more fun! And they were delicious. It is at this point that I should confess I have not actually had this dish in Singapore, (please refer to my rice confession in the previous paragraph for an explanation why), so I can’t really compare to what Singapore has to offer in this area. But I am keen to try now so I can compare. Pretty sure Malacca will win.

The Line. Take 2.

Earlier that day, we decided to try the recommended Satay Fondue place: Capital  Satay. After our late lunch, we decided to beat the crowd and head straight to Capital Satay in order to be there for their 5pm opening time at the front of the queue. The time was 4.15. The shop was ALREADY open. And at capacity. And there was a line.

After 20 minutes of not moving AT ALL (the same chick was at the front of the line), I went out for supplies and returned with beer. This made the line up a whole lot more fun. However, in my absence, the size of the line had tripled, and there was a separate line running parallel to the original line. Seriously, people were stopping to take photos of the line up! This place MUST be good.  One by one, the westerners gave up waiting and left. But the Singaporeans held tight to their positions – as did we, blocking off the second parallel line.  After an hour (and 2 beers), We. Were. IN!

The parallel line up.

Line = conquered with the help of beer!

The skewers on offer were much the same as the previous night, however, the fondue. the fondue. OMG THE FONDUE. They kept coming around to place more peanuts and spices into the sauce. Where the previous night the fondue was watery and slippery, this one was thick and clung to the skewers and was just the most incredible satay I had ever experienced.  Unfortunately, in my joy of experiencing such a foodgasm, once the satay arrived, there was no thought of the camera L. So you will just need to imagine the peanut heaven in a bowl simmering and bubbling away.

Pre-satayed lunch.

The next morning, we again dined on pork buns and glutinous rice before our 8am bus trip home. Seriously, we set our alarm for half an hour early just for a pork bun and rice. Breakfast of champions.  

If you are ever in Malaysia, Malacca is a must.  If you require a guide…….. I just may need to consult the size of my ass before I decide whether I can afford to indulge my tastebuds in food heaven again.

Ok, Malacca - You Win.

Photo evidence of our lining up.







Celebrating Light

How cool is this guy?!

One of the upsides to living in the cultural melting pot which is Singapore is being able to experience a range of cultures on a daily basis. One can head into the bustling streets of Little India, grab an MRT up to Chinatown, catch a bus to the Arab Quarter then another bus to the shophouses of Boat Quay within an afternoon. Not to mention literally eating your way around the world – any cuisine you would like to try, is here.

However, being able to experience the festivals and cultural practices of other cultures was what really made the last week memorable.

Diwali / Deepavali / The Festival of Light (literal translation of Diwali: row of lights) is one of the major festivals within the Indian culture. The Indian population is the third largest in Singapore (behind Chinese and Malay), and as a result, is widely celebrated. One of my Indian colleagues is in charge of orchestrating the schoolwide festivities which start with a whole school assembly including performances from children and teachers, (if you hail from The Ridge, you know I love a good staff act!) and even parents get involved. Then, throughout the day there are stalls to purchase Indian delicacies and trinkets and the children rotate through a series of workshops including henna, making rangoli, looking at Indian artefacts and of course, bollywood dancing.  Seriously, this day is huge and as a school community, $3000 was raised to go towards a charity in India. Well Done to my lovely colleague who organised such an incredible day with such a spectacular outcome (I won’t name and shame her publicly, but she knows who she is!).

Some of the work crew relaxing after our school Diwali celebrations

Anyway, this festival celebrates good overcoming evil from an Indian Legend where a princess was tricked into going off with an evil spirit. Of course, her prince rescues her and on their return back home, lights were lit to light the way back. Thus, a festival was born.

Rangoli at the Diwali Party - made of flower petals and coloured rice

Families celebrate by putting out lights to celebrate the triumph of good over evil, cleaning their homes, putting out rangoli to welcome the goddess of wealth into their home for the next year and receiving new clothes and sharing sweets and snacks with family members and friends. Firecrackers and sparklers are also lit to ward off the evil spirits.

One of the gods in the Indian Temple I stumbled across in Little India.

All of Singapore celebrated with a day off. I also celebrated by going into Little India for some amazing Indian food, getting Henna (in the same place Beyonce did) and watching the lights come on around the area which were amazing, seriously, the pictures do not do it justice. I was also fortunate enough to be invited to a fellow colleagues Diwali party and was treated to more amazing food, sensational company and witnessing the joy of children with sparklers.

Diwali Party

The lights in Little India

In love with our Henna - $5 for 5 minutes of work - those ladies are amazing!

 

The Upgrade.

Thursday the 6^th of October saw term 1 come to a close in Singapore. I had a return flight  with Emirates leaving on the Friday which I got for the bargain basement price of AUD$520. Upon arriving home on the Tuesday afternoon and quietly checking my email over a cup of tea, I discovered an email from Emirates. Offering me a SGD$350 upgrade (AUD$270) to business class. Would I like to partake?

Well, there went my quiet afternoon (and almost my cup of tea ) as I clicked the ‘is the pope catholic’ button and lurched out of my chair and into my room hunting down the glorious credit card to secure my position in Business. Class. To my surprise, I managed to book through and the opportunity to pop my business class cherry was upon me.

So, How Was It?

First of all, The Lounge was excellent. A wide selection of steak, curries, crab cakes, smoked salmon stuffed with crab, cheese (CHEESE!!!! – normally out of the price range of a lowly teacher in Singapore), skewers of meats with dipping sauces, cakes and delicacies. and One choice of Champagne. Verve. Help yourself Verve. Just leave the empty bottle on top of the fridge Verve and we will replace before you have time to empty your current glass of Verve Verve. Clearly it turns out, that the choice of champagne whilst limited, was satisfactory.

There was also an open bar to help yourself, but I didn’t want to appear like an alcoholic. Furthermore, I still had a whole 8 hour flight ahead of me. On these occasions, one does need to demonstrate restraint and consider the fact that this event was to be a marathon. Not a sprint.

Once it was time to board the plane, a friendly message came across the loud speaker to let us know it was indeed time to board the plane. So, 6 glasses of Verve and 2 coffees later (marathon – remember??) I passed through the boarding gates and past the line for economy and was one of the first to board the plane.

Once settled, the stewardess ensured I had all I needed by handing me a glass of champagne (Moet this time J) and a bowl of nuts. So, I started to check out the viewing list, started watching an episode of How I Met Your Mother and settled in for the flight. By this stage, the economy passengers had been invited to board.  Grumbling past us in Business.

There was delays to take off due to the Singaporean Army taking their jets out for a spin (as you can imagine, air space is as much at a premium in Singapore as all other spaces).  The planes had to wait for 4 minute intervals between take off from Changi. Normally, in economy class when one experiences this, you start wanting to climb the walls and just get going, however, in Business, you have time for another glass of champagne and you already have access to the entertainment so you are really only left with one though: take as LOOOOOOONG as you like Changi!

Once in the air, we were served silver service a 3 course meal which was amazing. And we had real cutlery. 3 sets of it in fact! Much to many a person who may end up reading this’ disgust, I tucked into my meal whilst watching Justin Bieber’s “Never Say Never”. Don’t worry – I was waiting for one of the stewards to inform me that clearly there had been some mistake and I needed to go back down to economy for such appalling viewing choices. (Quite a good film though! Did come down with a touch of Bieber Fever, but am happy to report it was only a 24 hour bug).

By about 3 hours into the flight, it became apparent to me just who are these people that fly Business. Geriatrics. The whole cabin became full of flat out grey nomads (trave- in-style-grey-nomads but nonetheless) snoring. Or if they happened to wake up, they would do a couple of laps of the cabin to stave off deep vein thrombosis.

Leg room anyone?

Luckily, I had had my fill of food (and even champagne) and didn’t take full advantage of the service offered on business. There was no service, or even any sign of the stewardesses once dinner was over. I did eventually ding the buzzer for a cup of tea (turns out I DO belong in business – such a nanna!)  but felt really rude doing this! I might need to fly business again just overcome this.

At the end of the flight, it was so nice to hop straight off the plane, be one of the first in line for customs and out through the gates within the first 10 people – a positive of travelling with geriatrics: I have speed and agility on my side.

Hot and Sweaty..... :)

So my love of fitness has not escaped me in Singapore. I have officially signed up to my gym after weeks of lamenting should I shouldn’t I…. In the end it came down to one thing: the instructors.

I have been going to  ‘spin’ class of a Saturday morning (well, I lie, I have gone twice and meant to go two other times….. however Friday nights impaired those grand plans!) and it is more like a party zone than a spin class. The instructor has the music pumping, as per any spin class, however he also plays DJ. He sings along, chants ‘runawayrunawayrunawayrunawayrunaway’ repeatedly when there are no lyrics to sing along to and when he is not doing this, he is making honking sounds to the beat of the music similar to the whistles used in duck hunting. All whilst not even coming close to his spin bike! Hilarious! However, what I do not enjoy about this spin class is the fact that there is no mixing up the intensity during each song as per Les Mills style. But my love of sweating and the music and the instructors style is outweighing this slight con.

The gym also offers ‘hot yoga’ – yes, the poor man’s Bikram (and yes, clearly Singapore is not hot enough for me). The class only goes for 60 minutes (as opposed to the 90 minute Bikram class) and it poses and movement sequences decided by the instructor. My instructor is a small Malaysian / Indian man who speaks with a monotone voice that I have to really concentrate to understand. His accent is quite thick and my knowledge of all the poses is quite limited so trying to decipher what he is saying and put it into a pose is challenging to say the least! Particularly when standing on your head and trying to look into the mirror or at the other class participants to understand what the hell he is talking about! However, there is something quite humorous about the way he struts around the class speaking in his nasal monotone Indian accent that keeps me amused for the 60 minutes!

CLEARLY not me... but an example of what I look like doing the WRONG POSE..... ps the look on my face is more confused and scrunched up like. And sweaty.

The government are quite controlling in Singapore (what?? REALLY??!) and health is an area which has not been neglected. There are signs everywhere – bus stops, MRT stations etc recommending to get your 150 minutes a week of physical activity. Plus, there is always some fun run occurring along the ‘beach’ and a couple of weeks ago,I participated in a Breast Cancer awareness walk around Marina Bay. Unfortunately, there have been several occasions where a group of us have decided to try Dragon Boat racing but it has not eventuated due to the world cup matches / regattas / me reading the map and deciding I could find a short cut…… Trying this sport has been put on the back burner until after the holidays!

 The backdrop for the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk

Coutesy of Joanna - some of my colleagues

I have also been to MacRitchie Reservoir once which is an oasis just off to the west of the city. This is an amazing parkland with the water supply and a 11km walking track around the entire lake. There are monkeys, komodo dragons and tree top walks to allow you to get a bird's eye view of the national park. It is so amazing that a place like this exists in such an urbanised citystate.

Not my picture.



Again, not my picture.

I also had my first taste of trail running when I went along with a colleague of mine to a Hash run. Hash is quite well established in Europe – and Singapore for that matter – but I hadn’t heard of it before coming here. Basically, a trail is set by experiences hash runners and you run, following the trail. If you lose the trail, you need to back track to the previous marker and search for where the trail goes next. There are often false trails and the terrain is diverse (off trail, roads, paths – even train tracks and drains tomb raider style!) so constant communication with the fellow runners is required. I was laughed at for even considering wearing headphones. Overall, this was a totally new running experience for me and one that I thoroughly enjoyed and will participate in again.

(For my loser running friends... you know who you are.... you are probably intrigued so for more info, click here)

So by now you are probably thinking I am becoming one fit bunny over here huh?! Nope. Did I mention the national past-time is eating….??? Followed closely by the expat pastime of drinking…???!

After tennis at a colleagues swanky fitness club, we found this sign... Not very politically correct.... My invite clearly lost in the mail.