Those (Favourite?) Things Left Behind

Despite my oft professed love for Asian food, I miss pizza. Terribly. I've been having cravings for flatbreads from Twisted Tomato, an Italian restaurant in Kelowna. Not sure why my imagination is fixed on pizza, though it is likely a combination of the sharp decrease in both bread and cheese consumption since arrival. To tell the truth, things have become so bad that I purchased a Groupon for half price pie. Ruh-oh.

Don't get me wrong, I love summer as much as the next Island or Okanagan resident, but it wouldn't hurt to have a little bit of temperature variation out here. Day time highs? 32. Night time highs? 28. I don't think I've turned my ceiling fan off or closed my window since arrival. I sleep on top of my sheets. The only respite from the heat possible is the time spent in lectures, where the theatres and class rooms are kept at a frigid 18 or so. Not cool. Not cool at all.

Being a modern city that never really shuts down (the Mustafa department store never closes!) there's quite a bit of ambient light. Combine that with the haze from Sumatran forest fires, and you've got a situation where it is nearly impossible to see stars. A friend of mine spotted one the other night and we all oohed and aahed. One star. I mean, it's not like stars are an important part of my life, but you certainly notice when they are not there.

I'm just gonna come straight out and say I miss wine. There's wine here, even some of the Australian wines I know from back home. But I don't just want wine, I want wine with my wine friends. I want my quiet nights in with a nice dinner and a glass or two of red. Or white, if I'm sipping from a glass of Tantalus Riesling. Also, wine is expensive here, just like every other alcoholic beverage. Gotta love those sin taxes. And yes, that is what they are officially called.

This one requires quite a bit of explanation. I miss the right hand rule. Remember back to my True Colours post, where I revealed that I am a rational and independent green. Now think about driving. Depending on where you live, traffic flows on either the left or right side of the road. In Canada we drive on the right, in Singapore they drive on the left. This rule commonly extends to pedestrians as well: you walk on the right, especially when going up stairs. Naturally, I assumed the same would apply here, except on the left of whatever walkway I found myself. Wrong. So incredibly wrong. There is absolutely no set practice or etiquette for walking. It's a total free for all. You want to get down the stairs? Make your own way up. You want to dodge the incredibly slow walker in front of you? Find whatever route is available. See a spot you can squeeze through? Use those elbows!

I swear I'm not passive aggressive right meow.

first photo by sassyradish, second photo by acidpix, third photo by Dennis Barnes, fourth photo by willy-photographer, fifth photo by otama

my Favourite Things, Food in Singapore Edition

Y'know how lemonade is the refreshing drink of choice in the summer? Here, that honour goes to lime juice. I sampled it my very first day here, and have been in love ever since. For a while I was going on one a day. Now I've branched out into all the different juices you can get, most all of which are fresh squeezed and therefore rad.

I'm in love with Indian food. The Indians tease me about having the Indian dinner every single night, but what can I say? It's the most delicious thing on the menu. If I just want a quick snack, though, roti prata is my usual go to. It's not your typical fried roti, and I always take my stuffed with eggs. Then there's the side of curry sauce to dip in, which I end up eating with a spoon when I've inhaled all the bread. Mmm.

This may have originally been a favourite of mine from living in Victoria, but my love for hot pot bibimbop extends to Singapore, too! Korean food is widely available in Singapore, and even in the heat and humidity I don't mind sweating a little more over a hot plate and a side of kimchi. 

Every night I have at least one cup of hot Milo, a drink that is sort of  like hocho but definitely not. During the day I'll also drink it cold over ice, often ordering it as a Milo dinosaur. And just what is this Milo dinosaur, I hear you ask? Well, it's a regular glass of iced Milo with an extra scoop of the powdered mix on top. It be delicious.

Bread Talk is a chain of bakeries, and every time I walk in I am completely overwhelmed. It's all self service, so at the entrance you pick up a tray and tongs. After wandering around the store trying not to spill drool on the baked goods you take you heavy laden tray to the cashier and pay for you spoils. I try to limit myself to four purchases at a time, two savoury and two sweet. Faves include the chocolate cream cheese bun, mushroom hot dog bun, and garlic chicken sausage pizza.

The majority of my vegetable intake comes from lunches at stalls that sell laksa yong tau foo, which is a type of soup. First, you pick up a bowl and fill it with whatever vegetables, cooked eggs, tofu, and meat products you wish, and then hand it over to the cashier. Your choices are quickly boiled and then placed back in the bowl with your choice of broth. I always have laksa, which is a spicy coconut curry much like Thai red curry. I may or may not grab some of that right now, as the photo is of one of the couple stalls at NUS.

Lime juice photo by Charles Haynes, roti prata photo by jeanyim, bibimbop photo by jbcurio, Milo photo by CLF, Bread Talk photo by midthought, laksa yong tau foo photo by 22n.

a Few More of those Favourite Things

Haven't posted any "real" blog stuff in a while, so I might as well do a list post. Here's what's keeping me going right meow:

Tim Horton's coffee and donuts are a Canadian staple. I love my double-doubles, sour cream glazed, chocolate glazed, maple dips, and turkey clubs. Unfortunately I can't get those in Singapore. I'm trying to do the math on how many Tim Bits (donut holes) I'll need to buy in Vancouver for my flight to Shanghai.

McDonald's Dollar Drink Days are one of the first signs of summer. As terrible as it may be, I love going into the drive-thru and coming out with a large Diet Coke for a little bit of spare change. I'm in at least four times a week. I may have an addiction.

Adele, particularly her song Rolling in the Deep, is one of my go-to summer playlist favourites. Even better are the amount of great covers of her material, so I can have multiples of the same song on my playlist and sing to each one. Also, I finally figured out what all the background singers' lines are. Victory!

Roller Coaster Tycoon became one of my favourite games the moment I started playing it. I recently reinstalled it on my family PC and have been glued to that machine ever since. My only problem is that I tend to make the rides "too intense" so no-one will go on them. Boo on you, wussy AI.

Living on an island and being able to hit the beach and the fact that it is finally hot outside. I love beach combing, suntanning, swimming, having bonfires, and all that good outdoor summer seaside stuff. Thankfully my next move will be to a tropical island. I might have plotted this in advance.



images by flamster2468, StayProud, jprice325, Mike Overall, and me

a Few of those Favourite Things

I've been watching my friend Annie Cristina do it for a while now, and, like a good many of the things on my blog, I decided to steal the form of the post from her. Hah! It's a reciprocal relationship, I swear. So, here we are: some of my favourite things at the moment.

Kimchi

I really don't know what to say about it. Describing it to people always makes it sound bad. Well, if you don't know, kimchi is a Korean staple, and is typically cabbage leaves (sui choy as far as I know) pickled/fermented with garlic and spices. I usually use mine to make stir fries or soup, and kimchi soup is a definite favourite thing.

The batch I made today included baby bok choy, spicy pepperoni, shitake mushrooms, onions, more garlic, and tofu. I considered adding some noodles, but there was already too much goodness to handle.

Adidas ClimaWarm Fleece Jacket

It's rare that I go a day without wearing this fleece at least once. While it may officially be spring in the Okanagan, we're still fluctuating between warm-ish 8 degree days with sun and colder -5 degree days with snow. I'm never sure what's going on outside, I just throw my hands in the air and accept it.

What I like the most about this fleece, I think, is that it's somewhat fitted, so I can wear it under a jacket without much bulk. And yes, I will layer jackets over jackets; I'm an island boy, and I still don't cope well with cold. Hence I'm moving to Singapore for a while.

Janelle Monae

Seriously, how many times has this woman appeared on my blog? Answer: not enough.

Despite having only one full length album out, Janelle never ceases to surprise me. I've been following her for a few months now, and I must say that I was thrown into a fit of hysterics when she announced a Vancouver date on her next tour. So I've got my tickets, and I'm counting the days until I get to see something like this live.

Stash Acai Herbal Tea

I always thought myself to be a hocho man, 100%. Turns out I have a bit of a soft spot for tea, as well. Last year I started into various chai blends (vanilla chai tastes like Christmas), but recently I've switched to herbals. My fave right meow? Acai.

I'm still not sure how to say it, but that doesn't stop me from drinking about a cup a day. And this is in addition to my hocho habit. And my double-double habit. And Pepsi habit. So, new favourite thing: caffeine!

Green Metropolis (by David Owen)

This semester I started my studies in urban geography and community planning in earnest, and a lot of what I'm reading and learning about absolutely fascinates me. A lot of it really rocks my boat, too, especially coming from British Columbia.

For example: Manhattan is one of the models for environmental sustainability and city growth. Huh. I'm only one chapter into the book, so I haven't gotten into his arguments quite yet, but my interest has certainly been piqued. Here's hoping it's as good as the cover makes it look!


Finally, and I know some of you have seen me spam posting this on my Facebook page, I'm participating in a head-shave on Friday (gulp!), with the pledge money I raise going toward the Canadian Cancer Society. I'm very apprehensive, as I have never shaved my head, and washed my toques in preparation to cover my near-baldness. So optimistic, eh? It would be rad if you could pledge a little toward my goal, or just write some words of encouragement. Thanks!

photos by Marc Matsumoto (c) [ No Recipes ], Adidas, Janelle Monae, Mexycan, David Owen