The view from the train

Today I had the pleasure of attending 2 lectures on China at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), one of the 2 big universities in Singapore. Lucky for me my job requires me to know a lot about what's going on in the APAC region so sometimes I get to listen to the experts.

NTU is located waaaaay in the west. Coincidentally my husband works for NTU and so when we first arrived in Singapore we lived on the campus for a month. Hence, after today's seminars I had my bearings to take the bus to the subway system home.

The public transportation here is very good, safe, clean, inexpensive and quick. The green line goes from east to west. You can ride the whole line in about an hour. Today I got on at pioneer, almost all the way west. Rode the train about halfway across the island to tiong bahru. Most of the ride was in an above ground train so I thought I would share some glimpses from the train on this cloudy afternoon...

Tracks are blocked by a wall with doors that align with the train

The station

Arrows showing to wait on the side while people exit the train. And yes people line up at the red arrows.

Government housing

The pagoda at the Chinese Garden

One of the many malls at mrt stops...and yes that is a Swensen's!

Singapore polytechnic 

New mall at Buona Vista

Church

Condo

Porsche dealership

Govt housing...80% of Singaporeans live in these apartments

After the train ride I took another bus and got home before the rain.

Peranakan.... your word of the day

Living in Singapore I find myself satiated when it comes to culture and food.  The mix of ethnicities that have made Singapore what it is today is full of amazing flavors and influences.

The word of the day for this blog is "Peranakan", a word that you probably have not come across unless you (a) have traveled or lived in SE Asia or (b) study SE Asian studies.  Peranakan literally means "locally born" and today is the term used to describe the mix of Chinese and peninsular Malay culture that is found in Singapore.  There is a Peranakan museum here.  On their website they say "The Peranakan cultrure is a unique hybrid culture that is still part of Singapore's living heritage".

So far in this blog I have barely mentioned food..not sure why that is as the gastronomy is a huge part of the Singapore experience and, quite frankly, an instrumental part of my life.  I like to consider myself somewhat of a foodie although true foodies would probably disagree.  When I cook it's mostly from scratch (ingredients that have no ingredients). I will be sharing a lot about the food in Singapore and my thoughts in general.  Cooking and general eating is a huge part of my family's life, and for that reason I decided that my husband and I would start exploring some of the Peranakan restaurants that offer a modern interpretation of traditional Singapore food.  Tonight was our first Peranakan culinary adventure, and trust me it will not be our last.

The restaurant is called Candlenut and is located very near to Tiong Bahru, an old but supertrendy neighborhood in Singapore and, luckily, very close to my apartment.  I was unable to get an 8 pm dinner reservation (always a good sign) so we headed over for our 8:30.  The experience and food did not disappoint.  We had 2 appetizers - one was  a prawn salad served in lettuce cups; the other was a chicken broth soup with crab meatballs and bamboo (the menu said the soup simmers for 5 hours so I was intrigued.  It was great).  The mains were out of this world.  I had local snapper in a curry sauce with french beans, tomato and eggplant.  The sauce was velvety and just spicy enough.  My husband had lamb rendang, servedon the bone with a spicy sauce.  Service was amazing and the restaurant was small-ish but lively and everything was delicious.  We will be back and it is now on my list to bring out-of-towners for a taste of Peranakan food.

Snapper curry and lamb rendang at candlenut restaurant

Snapper curry closeup

Banana cake, homemade ice cream and banana 'brulée'

Looking very forward to our next Peranakan dinner...and to sharing more about the food of Singapore.