September « 2010 « JEWELLE TAN

Air-Conditioned Island

Filed in Good Read | Singapore Leave a comment

I am still reading Tiziano Terzani’s “A fortune teller told me” book right now – and had just completed his take on Singapore.

This is a man who was clearly not a fan of Singapore and its progress.

His few chapters on Singapore clearly showed his irritations on how materialistic Singaporeans had become and how stifling their society was with their rules and regulations.

He repeatedly said that the people of this island state no longer know how to “think”.

He mocked at how Sentosa Island which he called a “copy of tropical paradise” was transformed into a tourist destination – complete with “old British blockhouses” rebuilt from stratch “to be admired by unsuspecting tourists as mementoes of the Second World War”.

Obviously, not someone who would be interested in the Resort World Sentosa or pay premium rates for the Universal Singapore tickets (or even the Universal Orlando tickets, for that matter).

Singaporeans in the mood to be annoyed should definitely read his account.

* Picture : Raffles Avenue facing Singapore Flyer, behind Singapore F1 Bay Grandstand*

30Sep

Jalan Lintas Eateries

Filed in Sabah | Uncategorized Leave a comment

Along Jalan Lintas, a busy dual lane highway which connects the suburbs of Kolombong and Kepayan, are two commercial buildings called D’Junction and Venetian.

D’Junction is popular for it’s 3 restaurants (Indian, Korean and Chinese), night club, karaoke lounge and a massage centre.

We have been to Spice Garden, their Indian restaurant and most recently Royal China, their Chinese restaurant as during our last trip back to Kota Kinabalu, they were having a 50% discount for their breakfast dimsum.

Venetian is slightly further up the road from here. An eye-catching building with large windows shaded with fabric blinds instead of wood venetian blinds, this is basically a club with a restaurant called Tasty Wok.

We have never been to the Venetian but if their breakfast offer is still on when we next go back, we will give it a try.

*Picture : The Venetian Club along Jalan Lintas, Kota Kinabalu*

28Sep

Awesome Singapore

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A friend who just returned from Singapore was impressed with the changes that had taken place since his last trip – 10 years ago.

What’s more, tagging along a couple of friends who went solely for the Singapore Grand Prix which took place last weekend – he had an eye-opening trip into the world of Formula 1 racing.

It matters little that he had not much idea of who the racers are and the competing teams. Or what takes place during this kind of racing weekend.

Or how much walking they will be doing in their Spenco-less footwear, easily losing a few kilograms (if they had not top the calories back on with their food bingeing).

Even getting off at the wrong MRT station – trying to reach Raffles City they went to Raffles Place Station – was an interesting experience.

How can he not be charmed and awed – having bird eye views of the supercars with their thundering engine noises and the spectacular Marina Bay Sands right in front.

I am not sure if he is now a converted F1 fan but I do know that it was the trip of the year for him- as it should from their pictures.

*Picture : Marina Bay Sands taken from the Bay Grandstand*

28Sep

Why Shop Locally

Filed in Brunei Life | Random Leave a comment

In the past, nearly every fancy gadgets or exotic food ingredients or the coolest toys were always brought in from Singapore.

Families who are lucky enough to have members who travel to and fro Singapore regularly can always look forward to having things owned by the select few in the country!

Nowadays, despite being cheaper to travel, we no longer have to buy everything abroad. For us, we buy nearly everything in the country as nearly everything that we need can be found here!

Besides, when it comes to electrical items, it is best to buy locally as the prices are competitive and it is easier to get after sales service – this is especially so for items such as phones and computers.

Because when you find that your item needs repair, even having extra protections such as laptop insurance is useless if you have to send it back to the country where you buy it.

So don’t let that slightly cheaper price make you regret your purchase.

27Sep

Our Deadly Fruit

Filed in Food | TV Show 2 Comments

Bobby Chinn’s World Cafe Asia is one of the few shows that I watch.

And his Melaka segment – which I happened to catch a few weeks ago – is definitely one of the best. When we visited Melaka many years ago, we had our share of the local food – the Nyonya cuisine.

We were not especially impressed with their dishes but this show managed to portray how difficult it was to prepare one of Nyonya cuisine best known dish, the Ayam Buah Keluak – prepared traditionally in an old-fashioned kitchen where equipments like digital scales or blender did not make an appearance.

What is more interesting to me was the fact that buah Keluak (Indonesian) or buah Kepayang (Malay) or Indonesian Black Nuts are highly poisonous fruits if eaten fresh.

Surprisingly, one of my great-grandmother in Keningau used to enjoy this fruit and would let river water runs through a basket of it for several days as one of its detoxifying process.

Had I known more about this fruit then, I am sure I would feel differently!

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