China on my mind

Beijing was the only place I ever visited in China between the mid 1980s and 1998. I never got to like the city any better even as I watched her remake herself from a grim grey bureaucratic nanny to a grabby greedy garish capitalist whore.

When we went to Xi'an in February this year, it was a full 10 years since I was last in the country. We did not expect much. If we had a decent level of comfort with accommodation, could get around by taxi without too much hassle, ate familiar food that was edible, end the day without spittle on our shoes, we would not complain.

Xi'an was so unexpectedly enjoyable. The people who smiled and went the extra mile when we needed help. The taxi driver who undercharged me because he did not have the exact change (I regret that I was too stunned to tell him to keep the change). The locals who were, well, just regular folks going about their own business.

If Beijing shut my heart and closed my mind, Xi'an awakened a sense of excited curiosity and optimism about the country and her people.

So in short time, we went to Chengdu. Where we continued to form favourable impresssions of a country coming into its own. Chengdu reminds me of Singapore in the 1970s, when the old stood side by side with the new, a transient period of co-existence before one fades to form yet another historic chapter so the other could forge ahead.

There is incongruency in this transitionary phase. I think of the trio of lady musicians on classical Chinese musical instruments (above picture) setting the mood at lunch time on a day in March in a restaurant in Chengdu. Everything felt so right. Unexpectedly, they struck up Auld Lang Syne.Why? WTF? I realised that this was the last song of the last set only when the stage lights dimmed and the musicians left the stage. So there was logic behind what first appeared to be illogical. I like that they tried to be international. I have lived through this stage in the transformation years of Singapore too.

And so I look forward to visiting China again. And again. While the charm of the old still exists to satisfy our sense of the grand and the gracious . While the pragmatic new accords us the comfort and convenience of modern day expectations.

Lost in Translation

Har?
(for Singapore readers)

Huh?
(for everyone else)

Qingshiqiao Marketplace

how much is that doggie in the window
the one with the waggley tail
how much is that doggie in the window
I do hope that doggie's for sale

recorded by Patti Page, 1953

The city-centre Qingshiqiao Market is a bustling slice of Chengdu life. The tightly-packed market is filled with a bewildering array of food, plants and pets, including bonsai trees, fighting crickets, eels and birds.

source: www.whatsonwhen.com

The marketplace may well have been a busy and exciting place to pick up garden supplies, pets and food at one time. But these days, it is a quiet alley with few vendors still plying their trade. But we were glad we visited the place before it is totally gone.

Sichuan Night

The man and I were inspired by our recent foray into Sichuan food that we decided to add mapo tofu and Sichuan chicken to our menu for the friends over the weekend.

We even used Sichuan red chilis and peppercorns that we brought back with us from Chengdu.

We must have done passably well. All the food were polished off in record time.

This was one of the most enjoyable home dinners I have had in a long time. It was a special gathering of special friends. We did plenty of catching up with
the newly-weds, the soon-to-be-first-time-mother, and the favourite celebrity-personality.

For many reasons, we do not get together as often as we would like. But when we do, it is always an occasion to remember.

Chengdu - Storehouse of Heaven

who will buy my sweet red roses?
two blooms for a penny

Oliver! soundtrack

Chengdu enjoys favorable agricultural conditions, and it has long been known as the Storehouse of Heaven. It is the important production base of commercial vegetable oil, vegetables, fruits and Chinese medical herbs.

source: Chengdu Agriculture

The Hot, the Spicy and the Oily - Sichuan food

We read up on Sichuan cuisine and looked forward to experiencing the unique "tongue numbing" quality of notoriously spicy hot dishes created from their exquisite blend of chili peppers and peppercorns.

We got to try out the popular signature dishes which included

Kung Pao Chicken 宮保雞丁
Twice cooked pork 回鍋肉
Mapo tofu 麻婆豆腐

The food is not chili-pepper hot like where a mere whiff of the chili is enough to induce sweat droplets to pop out on one's forehead. Instead, it is a taste altering medley of tongue numbing sensation when one bites into the peppercorns. A couple of times of this unexpected burst of citrusy-bitter-numbness taking over my taste buds is enough to make me pick out all the peppercorns and sit them aside where they will do no further harm to my culinary enjoyment.

We found the local (read original) version of sichuan food much too oily and salty. The experience helped decide for us to give their famous spicy hotpot meals a miss. We happily complemented our meals with trusty Chinese standards like dim-sum.

We much prefer the internationalised version of Sichuan food for it's tamer and more straightforward taste.

Panda-land

1. Welcome to Panda-land
2. Panda lunch
3. Panda date
4 Panda nursery
5 Panda gym
6 Panda condo
7 Panda loo

The giant panda really is every bit as cute as you always thought he would be :)

Away again

Sinlady will be away again from Sunday till Thursday.

This should be an exciting and culturally enriching trip.

About couplehood

The man and I are convinced that couples who have been together a long time start to be alike in more ways than not.

They seem to have the same likes in movies, books, food. They seem to hold similar views on deeply ingrained values in politics, religion and child-rearing. They usually have the same sense of humour. Eventually, they even dress sort of similar.

And then, they start to look alike. We often look at a man and woman who are obviously together, and we could not decide if they are brother/sister or husband/wife.

And we'd look at each other and say, "You soooo lucky I am good-looking!"

Nasi Padang@Minang House

Of the many nasi padang eateries and restaurants in Singapore, this place is my absolute all-time favourite. The hole in the wall eatery packs in the crowd all its opening hours, but if you are by yourself or with just a small crowd, you always manage to get seated within minutes.

All the dishes are cooked on the premises, so every item is freshly replenished throughout the day. Every dish is distinct in its spicing and as close to homecooked padang cuisine as you can get. The food tends to be just a little too chili-hot and salty but that is easily countered by tucking into their generous portions of fragrant white fluffy steamed rice.

As small as this place is, and as crowded as it gets all day long, I really appreciate that the crew working here do not have the annoying habit of shouting to one another. Some quiet really means a lot at meal time. Especially when it's that one hour time-out from a hectic work day.

Minang House is located at
304 Orchard Road
#02-04 Lucky Plaza
S. 238863
Tel: 6887 4702

On widowhood

The stall that I frequent several times a week for my tall glass of freshly squeezed sugar cane juice was shuttered. On a day that it would normally be open. The neighour food stall operator told me that the husband passed away suddenly the night before.

Long forgotten snippets of conversations with friends pertaining to widowhood came to my mind. Among them:

he: If you die before me, I'd never remarry.
she: Oh please, you can't look after yourself. If some woman loves you enough to want to look after you, you must marry her.

she: You must make enough money so that I don't have to marry another man to raise your children.

she: I could not possible think to go out with anybody after Cliff was gone. We were both virgins when we married. We only knew each other our entire lives. Can you imagine me dating again? At some point, I'd have to say to him, "You want me to do WHAT?"

he: I married almost immediately after my wife died. I could not stand the loneliness.

she: Why would I marry again? I am finally able to live just for myself. Do all the things I have always wanted to do.

I relate to every one of the varied sentiments. One's life has to go on. One copes in whatever way that one can.

I feel for the sugar cane woman's bereavement. But I know she will be fine after a period of grieving her loss. Because life does go on.

Burgers and Frogz and Black Sheep

We like this place for evenings when we want that sinful greasy burger with all the trimmings. The rest of their menu is not too shabby either.

And we really really like that the set-up fits their business. Casual. Outdoorsy. No crowd. Inexpensive. Convenient from home.

And for those who enjoy that pint and more, Hoegaarden on tap. For cheap.

Travel Tales

While I am still in the mood to gripe, let me bring up this other lot of strange people who managed to get us to travel with them.

Couple #1 persisted, pressed, pleaded for a whole year that we must, must, must go with them to their favourite tropical vacation island destination. They would show us all the new hot spots for sight-seeing, dinner and shopping. We finally agreed, so they made all accommodation and travel arrangement.

We found to our dismay that their idea of a vacation was to check all of us into a zero star villa that was in the middle of no-where with no F&B outlet. For recreation, there was this pond that passed for swimming pool amidst an overgrown jungle that passed for the grounds. Yes, we were mosquito bait at sunset and through the night.

This couple wanted to do nothing but sit around the pond all day, venturing out only for lunch and dinner. We of course started to explore the island on our own after day 2, and met them only at dinner time. Unfailingly, it was immediately home to Camp Swamp after dinner every night. Why?

What we don't get until today is why they insisted we came along when their idea of a vacation was to check into a dump and vegetate?

Couple #2 made us travel to attend the guy's birthday. Only their fun friends would be there, they promised. None of the fuddy-duddy relatives were invited. Well, the guests were all geriatrics, friends and relatives. It was one of the longest dinner parties that I could remember and I was so relieved when everyone called it a night at 10.30pm. *Yawn*

We had agreed to go on condition that we got to see their weekend home in the country. Guess what? They tried to wiggle out of that once we got there, citing too many things to attend to. Well, we stood our ground, and they grudgingly drove us up to the country home for an afternoon. That effectively saved the trip and the friendship, such as it were.

Couple #3 wanted to join us on one of our major shopping and eating trips. Well, the woman and I got along just fine. We had a grand time shopping till dinner time everyday. But the guys were stuck together with no common interest. My guy can quite happily entertain himself for hours at a bookstore or supermarket. The other guy needs to be on the move all the time. Needless to say, them boys did not enjoy each other's company.

All these people have actually asked for us to travel again with them. To locales further and more exotic. For longer periods. Go on a cruise even. I ran the scenario through my mind and shuddered.

The man and I must be doing something perversely right. It's just too bad we don't feel the same about these people as traveling companions.

Too-frequent Visitors

Mostly, we love seeing friends who are in town for a visit. We go out of our way to make time for them, facilitate and fast track their needs, do the research to save them precious time. Their wish is our command. Which we fulfill willingly, gladly, unfailingly.

Except.

There was this one guy. He passes through Singapore coming and going between his original home country and his now adopted home country. At least three times a year. That makes it six transits in 12 months.

He stays with us. He eats off us. He even gets us to pay for his shopping since he never has S$ on him. Then he passes us as helpful Singapore contacts to his equally avaricious and exploitative friends and family.

We finally had enough. Took us four years to reach fed-up point. I know. We are slow like that. Nowadays, we are never in town anymore when he or his friends and family come through.

Except.

There was this one woman. She comes back almost every year. Some years more frequently than that. Invariably she is housed and feted by the handful of friends throughout her month-long stay.

And each time, at the end of her stay, she says to us and the friends, "Oh, you must come visit me so I can return the hospitality."

It crossed our collective mind that she really could show sincere appreciation by returning hospitality just once while she is here. By simply gathering us for a dinner that she can pay for.

Except.

There was this other frequent visitor who stays at different friends' homes for one to two nights of her entire stay. If I go to the trouble of readying the guest room, I figure it is only polite that she should just stay the entire time.

Don't get us wrong. Mostly, we really do love seeing friends when they are in town for a visit.

Except.

The ones who outstay their welcome by being impossibly inconsiderate.

February

was the month with:


- the four-day Chinese New Year weekend

- huayi festival where I caught the totally forgettable Shanghai Blues musical

- many festive dinners and lo-hei's

- a visit from an old girlfriend from schooldays during the festive season

- a quick trip to Xi'an

- an even faster in-and-out visit to Bali for the Paul Ropp sale

We went to work exactly 8 afternoons in the whole month.

I can so get used to living like this :)