Potty in a Box

So usually the shower is surrounded by glass, but the toilet isn't.  Not so in The Grand Hyatt Mumbai.

India

I spent the last few days on business in India, both Mumbai and Bangalore.  The last time was in India was about 7 years ago when I spent a week in Mumbai.

A lot hasn’t changed in India in the intervening years—there are still a lot of people and even more traffic.  Simple trips of 5-7km can take 45 minutes or more.  And while Mumbai has bad traffic, Bangalore has worse traffic.  Even arriving in Bangalore at 10pm means a 90-minute drive (about 35km).  Add the traffic to the practice of India Standard Time (in which appointment times are more of a suggestion than a hard fact) and bottom line is that things take a while.  And being in traffic is kinda like riding along with Mario Kart—chaos!

But there has been a lot that has changed.  The infrastructure in the Bandra Kura Complex (BKC) is much more complete than before.  Roads are good (full, but good), parking structures. But for the amount of traffic and tuk-tuks you could be in a lot of US cities.  There are hipster bars and restaurants on ground level of the bigger office buildings.

Our offices are similar to SF-- open concept, foosball tables, etc.  The Bangalore office even has large red London phone booths as telephone rooms.  Very Silicon Valley.  Even the airports are nicer than they were-- high ceilings, good food, nice lounges.

Bottom line is that I enjoyed India more that last time which is good because I will be heading back for business.  And Julie and Christopher want to visit Agra and see the Taj Mahal.  Good thing I have a multiple entry visa.

 

 

 

 

Haji Lane

Across the street from my service apartment is Haji Lane, reportedly the narrowest street in Singapore.  The street is lined with an eclectic collection of small restaurants, bars, and shops—most I would call hipster.

Some of the walls are covered with graffiti, but this being Singapore it is graffiti that is neat, orderly, and within the lines.  And because of that, it has become a tourist attraction where tourists (and others I assume) take pictures in front of this wall art.

This is a street that I have taken in small bites and enjoyed every one.

 

Checking Out Newton



Newton MRT Station

Julie and I have been pouring over information about Singapore for several months.  Now I am here and able to see things in person.  My first impression is just how small this country is—reportedly, the longest road in Singapore is the 25km Bukit Timah Road.  There is a bike ride around the whole country that is 128km.  I am pretty good with maps and their scale, but even I didn’t realize just how close neighborhoods are here.  Today I thought I would check out one of the neighborhoods we have been eyeing on ProperyGuru, so I took the MRT up 3 stops to Newton.



Scotts Road

Newton Skyline

Walking out of the station after less than 10 minutes on the train it immediately felt different than where my temporary apartment is near Kampong Glam/Bugis and certainly different than my office neighborhood in the CBD-- this was much more residential.  Shopping in one train stop in either direction, Orchard Road or Novena.  The Newton Food Center anchors the neighborhood and where I was planning on eating lunch after exploring.

Evelyn Buildings
(the condos have balconies!)

One of the condo buildings that we had looked at online was Residences at Evelyn (mainly because that’s Julie's mom's name), so that’s the direction I headed.  It is odd to have high-rises right in residential neighborhoods across the street for 2 story houses, but this is Singapore.  Who knows if we will end up there, but I liked the immediate neighborhood and the whole Newton area.



After a while of walking around, I was ready for lunch and had a nice stroll down streets and paths to the Newton hawker center.  Being about 100 miles north of the equator means that things are lush and green in Singapore and there is open space to appreciate it.

At the hawker center I found a stand I liked ( Bangkok Express), chope a table, and ordered a seafood Pad Thai and mushroom broth for less than $4 US.



Bangkok Express Stall

Shared Tables



A generous portion with shrimp, squid, and freshly ground peanuts it might be the best pad thai I have ever had.  

Lunch Time!

CLOSED!

 

The only bad thing was the beer stand was closed.  Oh well, that would have more than doubled the price of my lunch. 

So I liked Newton, but have other areas to explore too: Holland Village, Orchard Road, Novena, and Burkit Timah.  If anyone has opinions on these or other neighborhoods, we would love to hear them.



Even Singapore's Graffiti is Orderly



Not in the US Anymore

Last week I took a bus out to Queenstown to see the Ikea there.  It was pretty much like the ones at home: crowded and a bunch of Swedish product names.

There was one difference that I noted in the checkout area: at least two of the checkers wore hijabs in "Ikea blue".  Singapore is a country that embraces diversity and freedom of religion in every day life.

Two Favorites!

Last week I found two restaurants that stood above the rest for a couple of different reasons:  One value, one cool, both great.

Saveur – You would probably walk by this French restaurant if you didn’t know it was there.  Located a 10 minute walk from my apartment on Purvis Street this place is a real value.  Formica tables and multiple servers this restaurant doesn’t have the charm of a Denny’s, but the food value is something else.  I had the 3 course “set menu”.

The appetizer was seared foie gras on creamy lentils with truffle oil. 

Just the right size and yummy!

My entrée was seared pork belly in a simple French bean stew.  Julie and I have a rule to always try pork belly when it’s on the menu and I think this is the 3^rd or 4^th time since I have been in Singapore.  And this is the second best (see below for the best).

Dessert was a pistachio panna cota served shilled and not too sweet.  The pistachios were front and center and I thoroughly enjoyed it—I don’t say that about a lot of desserts.

All of this with a glass of a French cabernet was about USD$30. 

Vatos -- Earlier in the week I went to a Korean taco restaurant recommended by 2 different people at work, just a short walk down Beach Road.  It is located in a colonial preservation building, very cool vibe inside.

This Korean restaurant has its roots in the KorMex food trucks in Los Angeles (that we first heard about from our friends Brad and Carole).  The South beach Singapore location marks their first international expansion and this pace is great.  

I started out with a wonderful margarita on the rocks.  At about USD$14 it wasn’t cheap, but boy was it tasty. 

Sitting at the bar they brought chips.  A great presentation in that rather than chips there were 3 tostada shells that you broke up and dipped in a rojas or verdes salsa—quite nice.

Then it was time for the pork belly tacos.  A simple Korean sesame marinade made this some of the tastiest pork belly I have ever had.  Topped with lime pickeld red onions it was great.

For less than USD$30, this was a great meal.

Things are Different Here

As an American going through everyday life in Singapore, I notice some things are different here.  I try to notice them or sometimes even take a photo.  Enjoy!

Sign of the Times -- Under the category “I never thought that a sign was needed”, this is in the pantry (kitchen) of our office.

Hygiene – At the risk of being accused of providing a little too much insight, toilet seat covers in public restrooms don’t exist.  Instead, you get a wall mounted antibacterial dispenser that you spray on some toilet tissue and then wipe.  At first I thought it was to reduce waste, but you still use paper—perhaps a little less, but…..

Public Schools – If you are a Singaporean citizen or permanent resident, you must send you children to public school—private schools are not an option.  Now expats can and do use private schools, but the by requiring residents use public schools means that they are high quality and they are consistent across all neighborhoods.  Note how this is the opposite of what happens in the US.

Under Construction – There is some renovation going on at a building I pass by on my way to the MRT station.  The figure seems genuinely sorry and apologetic for doing their job.  Love it!

Verdant Downtown – This is the view out of our office.  Note the amount of green plant, not just trees and grass at street level, but parks in the sky on the other buildings.  This is not just on one or two, but lots of buildings.  And sometimes there are cutouts for plazas 30 or 40 stories above the ground.  Amazing!

 

FOOOOOOODDDDD!

So while almost everything is VERY efficient in Singapore, what’s even better is the vast array of foods—all prices, all types, all hours.

I have had meals of all sorts in the short time (has it been 10 days already?) that I’ve been here.  Never have I eaten so much good food, so close to home (never more than a walk when I'm eating alone), for so little money.  

So I thought that I would share some of my experiences with you and keep updating as time allows.

Peidra Negra --

This is literally across the street from my serviced apartment in Kampong Glam (the Muslim district).  And it’s not bad.  I had the cochinita pibil because I make it myself.  This is a slow cooked pork dish, usually done in limejuice and anchiote paste.  This was a little short on the anchiote paste, but had decent flavor.  And while I could have used more lime pickled red onion slices, the corn tortillas were fresh and hot.  One thing to remember in Singapore while the food is cheap, the alcohol (beer in this case) is not.  My meals was about $9 USD, and the Corona (channeling Julie here) was about $8 USD.  Still, because service charge included means no tipping in Singapore, a great meal for under $20 USD.

NoodleMan -- Last Thursday my friend Shailesh invited me out for dinner.  We have known each other since 2010 and spent time eating together in Mumbai, Singapore, and San Francisco (with our wives there).  He is more than a bit of a foodie so I knew I had something to look forward to.  We headed over to Chinatown (the British were very good about keeping factions separated in their colonies to prevent them from banding together), parked and walked to China Food Street.

China Food Street is very cool.  Each side of the street is lined with small restaurants like Noodle Man.  Down the center of the street are hawker stalls and lots of tables to dine at.  The one thing that you can count on in Singapore is rain and to keep diners drive there is a block long glass awning running down the street.  You eat outside, but stay dry.

Noodle Man makes their own noodles every day.  They start by having a long strand of dough, then stretching and doubling it over and over again until there is a mass of individual noodles.  I have seen it done on YouTube, but never eaten the actual noodles—and they were wonderful.  

High Tech Efficiencies

For those of you that don’t know, Singapore has the justifiable reputation for being at the forefront of technology to everyday life easier.  Everywhere you turn you see practical applications of technology in normal day that make things easier and more efficient.

In my first week in Singapore I had to go to a government office to get my Employment Pass, basically the permit that allows me to live and work in Singapore.  This is the key document that is not just a legal requirement to work, but it is needed to quickly enter the country, to open up a local bank account, to get a cell phone, etc--pretty important.

If I had to do this in the US I would dread.  I’m guessing the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has an aspirational goal to meet the same service level as going to the DMV without an appointment.  My tipoff that might be different in Singapore is when I received my paperwork (electronically I might add).

• The appointment was for 5:45pm on a weekday:  What? I don’t have to take time away from the office? 
• The office is in the CBD (Central Business District—at some point I will write about acronyms in Singapore) to also make it convenient.
• The appointment form came not with just an address, not with just a map, but with photos showing you every turn and door to get there.

Bottom line is that I found the Employee Pass Service Centre  easily and was 15 minutes early for my appointment.

My notice had a barcode for the self-service check-in kiosks in the lobby.  I walked in expecting lines and almost no one was there.  While I was putting down my bag to pull out my paperwork on of the agents came up to help me check-in (so much for “self check-in”).  As I open my file folder she quickly found the right paper and checked me in.

She then escorted me to another agent (while pointing out my name on a video screen showing I had checked in).  I quickly had my picture taken and was asked if I liked it or not before editing and cropping it to the right size.  Then it was time for electronically capture my fingerprints.  The agent noticed that my fingers were dry and brought out lotion to moisturize them to better capture the prints.

I was then thanked, given a tracking number and website,  and told I would have the card in 4 days.  Total time from building entry to building exit?  10 MINUTES!

Things run well here.