Gluttony
Wednesday January 25, 2017
It's been pretty wet since arriving in Malaysia, which is odd for this time of year. Nevertheless, this of course has not stopped the steady flow of delicious foods into my mouth. My day is basically eating and sleeping, and it truly feels like holiday mode right now.
The flight from Auckland to Singapore was fortunately good. The people sitting next to me relocated to seats with more leg room, leaving me with the whole row to myself. I caught a good four hours of sleep, and felt quite refreshed upon landing at Singapore airport. I had a two hours layover, and there's lots to do there, so I busied myself wandering around the terminals, looking at the various gardens and koi pools. I had a quick squizz at the Butterfly Garden, but it was still dark outside, and it was raining, so I didn't stay for long. There were also several Pokemon decorations around as part of a promotion, and the main feature was an offer to get a plushie for $10 after spending $120 in the airport.
Singapore to Malaysia was pretty rough, and though we departed slightly late, we landed on time. However, the air train between KLIA terminals suddenly broke down, and immigration took far longer than expected, so it wasn't until close to noon that I actually got out of the airport. First meal - fried rice and wat tan hor!
I've never been back to KL for Chinese New Year. It's quite chaotic actually, there's much more traffic on the roads as people rush to buy last minute gifts or food, or head out station to their hometowns for reunion dinner. The rain has made the temperature quite bearable during a time when it is supposed to be over 30C, but of course, exacerbated the traffic jams.
The plan for the next few days will basically be just eating and catching up with family, though I managed to catch one of my ex-colleagues and his wife today. They took me out for banana leaf rice in Puchong, and, as greedy as we were, also went for lau sar bao, the golden duck egg yolk bun. Almost impossible to find in New Zealand, the authentic lau sar bao is salty and sweet, and has a slight grittiness from the duck egg yolk. The bun must be soft and almost cakey, and the inside should look like molten gold, spilling out as you take your first bite. So gooood.
Posted by Jeremy at 9:40am on Wednesday January 25, 2017 :: 0 comments :: 
Singapore
Tuesday May 6, 2014
Finally got a bit of downtime again to do some blogging. After returning from Penang, my sixth uncle hosted us at his house for a couple of nights, treating us to decadent delicacies from his restaurant chain. We had Kobe beef, Iberico pork ribs, salmon, Peking duck, foie gras, Kingfish head... truly amazing food, the quality unsurpassable by anything in New Zealand.
On Saturday, we went for a walk around the Forest Research Insitiute of Malaysia (FRIM) and explored their famous canopy walk. In the evening we gathered for a big Lai Family feast - Chinese rojak, Nasi Lemak, Hokkien Char, banana and sago cakes, kueh muih, tapioca cake and to top it all off, a rich chocolate cake to celebrate my auntie's birthday. Of course there was too much food, but it was awesome and fun to see everyone again.
We flew to Singapore early on Sunday, with a few dramas at the security checkpoint over the body wash and hair gel in my bag (Jetstar offered to check in my bag for free to avoid me having to throw all of those out, which was extremely fortunate. Hopefully I can do that again). I caught up with Kheng Yong and Ted and we went to Gardens by the Bay to see the last day of the tulip festival. The domes are so nice and air conditioned, if only my leg would have stopped playing up, it would have been much more enjoyable.
We had some Satay by the Bay and some stingray too before playing another Escape Room, which, after three hints, we managed to complete with a minute to go! Ted had to leave us for dinner, so the remaining four of us went to a chicken rice place on River Valley Road to eat, before heading home after a long day.
Yesterday we went to the zoo and walked around for a while in the blistering heat. The last time I went to Singapore zoo was about 14 years ago, and this time, having been to Washington DC zoo and Central Park zoo in New York, I wasn't that enthralled. The animals are all lethargic, probably from the heat, it really is quite unpleasant to walk around, and there weren't many animals that I hadn't seen before. The best enclosure was the polar bear's because it was so well air conditioned, lolololol.
That night, my cousin took us out for some famous Singaporean chilli crabs at the No Signboard Seafood Restaurant in Vivocity. The gravy was rich and spicy and tasty, it was so delicious and I had such a good time slurping the sauce up and sucking the meat out if the crab shells and licking my fingers like a savage. Between the three of us, we had a chilli crab, a white pepper crab and cereal prawns - just perfect.
Today I need to find some plastic bottles for my "airplane prohibited liquids, gels and aerosols" and I'll probably end up wandering around the shopping malls for gifts too. Then it's back to KL for a few more days only :(
Posted by Jeremy at 1:37am on Tuesday May 6, 2014 :: 0 comments ::
Back in KL
Monday June 3, 2013
I spent my last full day in Singapore just wandering aimlessly around various touristy spots like Little India, Chinatown, Suntec City (which was under renovation and completely boring) and Raffles City. There was a lot to see, especially around Chinatown, and despite the heat, the walk was pleasant and relaxing. I didn't end up buying anything except food and drinks during the day; given the Singapore dollar is one-to-one with the New Zealand dollar, the better bargains are in Malaysia where our dollar is worth 2.45 Malaysian ringgit.
I made my way back to Orchard Road and went around a few of the shopping malls I had missed on my first visit. It had begun to rain but these smart (yet still crazy) Singaporeans have linked all their shopping malls with underground passageways so you can stay dry and air conditioned. I ended up at 313@Somerset where I had dinner with my cousin who I had been staying with.
After dinner we went to Gardens in the Bay, a large park on the south side of town by the Marina Bay Sands hotel. At night, the canopy is lit up with some amazing light structures and every so often there's a musical show accompanied by some synchronised light choreography. The night view was pretty interesting and much more tolerable in a cooler temperature, but most of the attractions there had closed. Maybe next time I should visit early in the morning.
After a brief flight the next day, we were back in KL just in time for lunch and my auntie and uncle took me to eat some delicious char kuay teow. I didn't want to stuff my face too much because there were some big dinner plans!
Last night for dinner, we were treated to a fantastic dinner at Jaya Palace. Five of dad's six siblings were there, along with various children (my cousins - I counted 10 present from 16 possible). The food was amazing, especially the deep fried duck egg prawns and of course, the abalone, which I love. My uncle had also brought some French wines and some Japanese whiskey for some added joviality, and once dinner had started to wrap up, we busted out the karaoke machine!
I'm hungry now. I think I'll be doing some shopping today and catching up with another one of my cousins who I missed last night. Only a few more nights to go before I return to New Zealand so I guess I should be making the most of it. Eat all the things!
Posted by Jeremy at 12:51am on Monday June 3, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
Sentosa
Friday May 31, 2013
Obelix (of Asterix and Obelix fame) has a penchant for visiting foreign countries and exclaiming that the locals are crazy. Well, here I am in Singapore and yes, these Singaporeans are crazy. They work too hard. They rush everywhere. It's a high stress environment and it's not healthy. They have signs on the bus and trains explaining the correct way to board and alight (give way to people alighting!) because there's always such a mad rush to get on.
I met up with Ted and Amber last night for dinner at the Ion Food Court on Orchard Road. Still wasn't feeling 100% due to the food poisoning, but I tried to eat as much as I could stomach. It helped that it was close to 9pm as Ted had only finished work about 30 minutes prior. It's silly. He works 12 hour days for pittance. Dinner was great, and I enjoyed the mango salad the most. There was plenty to catch up on and it was interesting, yet a bit sad, to hear how they were finding Singaporean life. We left the food court close to 10.30pm and went for dessert at Somerset, before saying our goodbyes. It was close to midnight when I got home and was shocked to hear my cousin was in his bedroom on a conference call to his work.
These Singaporeans are crazy.
Today we spent at Sentosa Island, visiting the Merlion, exploring the SEA Aquarium, riding the luge (the Rotorua one is way better!) and watching the water and lights show. It has been an exhausting day. We got caught out by the thunderstorm a few times but overall the day was filled with fun. The SEA Aquarium boasts the world's largest oceanarium, and it was certainly impressive to witness thousands of fish coexisting in this gigantic tank. Though much of the aquatic life was similar to what Chicago's Shedd Aquarium has, there was plenty more to distinguish the SEA Aquarium from the aquariums I did visit in the US.
Tiiiired.
Posted by Jeremy at 3:19pm on Friday May 31, 2013 :: 0 comments ::
Singapore
Thursday May 30, 2013
Just arrived in Singapore and the weather is predictably hot and muggy at 30 degrees, with thunderstorms on the forecast. I'm feeling much better than yesterday but still not 100% unfortunately. It was pretty grim.
Looking forward to hitting Orchard Road later today and hoping to meet up with the ever elusive Ted, who never even told me he had left New Zealand to go overseas!
Posted by Jeremy at 5:20am on Thursday May 30, 2013 :: 0 comments ::