For my Foodie Friends - Singapore/Malaysia

The food in Singapore and Malaysia was pretty delicious. Most meals cost between $1 and $3. Breakfast was usually a banana pancake (roti) or dim sum with Chinese green tea. Yes, I am eating street food and no, I haven't gotten sick.

Sometimes I'll eat something like this for breakfast:

Lunch and dinner:

And beverages to go:

-Kim

Pandora's Box

I have opened Pandora's Box in the form of a puff pastry. During my research of SE Asia I kept coming across a fruit called a durian. Apparently it is regarded as the "king of fruits" over here and due to its scent, you are not allowed to carry it on public transportation. But people love the taste and they are sold on almost every street corner.

I did not take this picture but I always appreciate using money to show size

A little intimidated by the fruit as a whole, I waited until I saw them offered in a more manageable presentation- a puff pastry. Advertised as "Just One Bite" I thought it would be the perfect way to sample durian without any major commitments. 

Aren't they cute? Just like the ones you get with pho. Except they taste like toe fungus. Rotten, pudding-like toe fungus. Fortunately I was smart enough to not eat this in one bite and it took all my strength not to spit out what I had already put in my mouth. The rest went in the garbage can.

Usually you eat bad things and you move on. No big deal. But durian is a different beast. With that one tiny little bite, I unleashed a durian sensor that picks up the smell everywhere. Walking down the street the scent leaks out of uncut durians hanging from the stalls. Biking down the road the smell follows you like a dead skunk. Even in a car the durian can penetrate the windows. 

If you come across a durian, I do encourage you to try it. You may be one of those rare people who come to love it above all other fruits. But beware that once you try it, there is no escaping the durian.

-Kim

Singapore, Singapore

Note: I brilliantly packed my camera cord into one of my storage boxes so until I decide to go hunt for one, or until Ashley gets here, you're stuck with the few pictures I decided to take with my archaic iphone3.

I spent a day in a half in Singapore and I was mostly walking around in a jet lagged, over heated, sweaty daze. It is hot as balls in SE Asia. The air is thick with humidity and within 5 minutes of walking outside you are covered in a nice layer of sticky sweat. The MRT (subway) and air conditioned bars are your best friends when first arriving in SE Asia from chilly Seattle. But I knew the only way to acclimate was to put on my big girl panties, walk outside and get them all sweaty.

In addition to my first food adventure, the highlights of Singapore were walking around Chinatown, Little India and the Arab district. All are full of vibrant colors, delicious smells and music that makes you want to dance. I spent a couple hours during the hottest part of the day sipping iced chai in a tiny Indian restaurant, watching a movie that had quite suggestive dancing in it. I kept sneaking glances at the male employees to see if they were as shocked as I was by the gyrating that I haven't seen in any of the other Bollywood movies I've watched.

The most distinguishing feature of the city is how clean it is. There is garbage nowhere. Chewing gum is not allowed, they don't even sell it here. Littering will get you a heavy fine yet despite this, i couldn't find a single garbage can in any of the subway stations. There is also no eating or drinking on the subway unless you want to pay a 500SD fine. As I was heading underground sipping my water, a smiley old man stopped me and kindly informed me that I shouldn't be drinking because if I spilled I could short circuit the escalator. I immediately apologized and mentally thanked him for saving me 500SD.

 

-Kim

Is it chicken, or does it taste like chicken?

I've quickly realized I never mastered EnglAsian. Spanglish, no problemo. Franglais, sexy. English with a slavic twist, second nature. But English with a heavy Asian accent isn't something I've had a lot of exposure to so I'm finding myself saying "Sorry, could you repeat that?" a lot. This is the reason I ate stomach and intestines as my first meal in SE Asia.

I hadn't eaten in over 16 hours and was starving but I wanted my first meal to be epic. I'm pretty sure food is 85% of the reason I am here. So I started my search for the Golden Mile Food Center. I'm terrible with directions and almost gave up but I finally found it! I spent the next 10 minutes slowly walking past about 20 different stalls until I found a picture of the perfect dish, loaded with lots of veggies. It was also the only picture that didn't have a name associated with it. 

I placed the order and the lady said something to me I didn't understand. I asked her what was in it, chicken? She tilted her head to the side with an inquisitive look and gave me a slow nod, repeating what she had said before. I still didn't understand what she said so I returned her slow nod and sat down. When she brought out the food I tried one more time. "What is in this?" "Stomach and intestines," she said while rubbing her belly. Ah, third time and sign language is the charm. 

What I decided was the intestines wasn't quite as good as what I decided was the stomach but the dish was pretty delicious. Does anyone happen to know if the brown jalapeno looking thing (top, center of pic) is intestine or stomach?

-Kim