26

JUL

SOS

posted on Sunday, 2009

This blog is not a call for help… but it was a distress call nevertheless. The distress call that spelt Shopping Onslaught Singapore.

 

If legs and feet could send out an SOS call, they would have… many times over.

 

On our recent 4-day “tshopnami” trip back home, our legs worked like they hadn’t done so throughout autumn in Perth. From legs of leisure, they became legs of lead.

 

While we know for a fact that time is a standard of measure, time doesn’t seem to be the same in Singapore as it is in Perth. I was stunned at how time just flew by in Singapore… “What, is it really 10pm already?!” as opposed to “Huh, it’s only 7pm now?” in Perth. A timely reminder of how little time we used to have in Singapore.

 

At 10pm in Singapore, shops are still open. Plenteous people are still milling around. At 10pm in Perth, most people “or or koon liao” (baby talk for “sleep already”).

 

Anyway, back to our short trip, a short one for a milestone family celebration.

 

We took the opportunity to eat whatever we couldn’t squeeze in the previous trip. I was more controlled this time and didn’t need to see a doctor for indigestion. Believe me, self-control is definitely a good fruit to cultivate! And we bought all the toothpaste, stationery, videos, etc that we need to last us till the next trip.

 

Never imagine that I would say this… a champion window shopper who had subscribed very much to retail therapy:

 

“I didn’t think I enjoyed shopping this time round…”

 

I don’t mean that the experience was totally void of enjoyment. The things purchased were of either entertainment or functional qualities. All great buys.

 

But the spirit of material pursuits awoke within me as I beheld the dazzling array of merchandise available in Singapore. I love cute things and Asia is the region of cute abundance. A brochure of fantastic mobile phone offers enticed us. The Great Singapore Sale was still on and the banners declaring great discounts screamed out for attention.

 

At the end of the shopping spree, I felt sick. It wasn’t like we had splurged on luxury, non-essential items. But it felt sickening to be spending more than we are used to in Perth.

 

I used to be annoyed when people in Perth say they hate shopping and consumerism. No way these people would ever vote for extended shopping hours or Sunday trading… I’m gonna have to get used to Stone Age.

 

While we earn much less and are taxed more heavily in Australia, we managed to save more money here. Other than the weekly groceries, we hardly buy other stuff for a combination of reasons: nothing much to buy; too expensive; more conscious of finances; etc.

 

Without realising it, not being able to shop at my whim and fancy has developed into a new lifestyle and mentality. It didn’t bother me now if the suburban shops closed by 6pm on most days and closed the entire day on Sundays. There are other things to do like taking evening walks by the coastline, popping out for a cake and cappuccino, pursuing hobbies and sleeping early in preparation of a workday.

 

Perhaps age is catching up? Or is this the so-called quality of life?

 

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11

 

05

JUL

DIY for Lazibones

posted on Sunday, 2009

Still on the topic of food… hmmm… seems to be about food all the time?

Singaporeans remain quite the same everywhere they go. A friend said to us recently, “You can take a Singaporean out of Singapore, but you can never take Singapore out of a Singaporean”… how true! Besides exhibiting bird-like behaviour that had us chirping “cheap, cheap”, we generate great excitement from exchanging information about food, where to eat, what to order etc. Hey, have you been to Spencer Village? Did you try the food at Taurus? Any new contacts or lobangs are readily lapped up. We were so happy to be able to order homemade ba kwa and ba chang, and we can easily get pineapple tarts, frozen satay and even frozen D24 durians from shops.

 

It just never fails to amaze me how the immigrants here are so resourceful in the food department.

My mouth would be wide open (like this…) when people told me that they made curry puffs, baos, ang ku kuehs, ba changs, ba kwa, carrot cakes, preserved fruits…

 

Of course those things had to be made in the first place, but in Singapore, they come ready made.

 

My colleague told me that it was a simple recipe. My hopes were raised at the thought of making my own baos (I can’t stomach the pork here due to a horrible stench that only very few people seemed to detect). Quickly scouted online recipes:

 

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Add 1 cup of flour. Mix thoroughly. Cover with cloth. Let rise 1 hour, until bubbles appear.

Dissolve sugar and vegetable oil in 1/2 cup boiling water. Stir well. Cool until lukewarm. Pour into yeast mixture. Add 3 1/2 cups flour.

Knead dough on lightly floured board until smooth. Put into extra large, greased bowl in a warm place. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

 

Eeeeeek! YEAST?! Will it bite and develop spores on my hands?!

 

Wah, so many steps… see until eyes blur…

 

Until 12 October 2008, the machine “food dryer” never featured in my consciousness. Um, do you dry the fruits in your clothes dryer? Yes, I was naïve enough to ask… seriously thinking about spinning some mangoes in the dryer at home.

 

Allan has started taking on more DIY projects here. Before Perth, he had never fixed a cabinet, changed the shower head or worked on a garden.

 

Didn’t take pictures of Allan fixing up the 2m Ikea bookcase… this is just a small project by comparison.

This was the beginning of the sofa set… which to our shock and disbelief, didn’t get delivered as an assembled product!

 

 

Allan the Tree Wrestler!

 

I was lamenting to him about the challenging bao recipe, and whether he was okay with such a lazy cook of a wife… but he was encouraging… look, we have just started and made much progress already… this is just the next step to explore.

 

The following verses don’t exactly relate to bao recipes and dumb cooks, but Paul the Apostle was certainly against laziness! Guess I will have to start looking for yeast now (that packet on the supermarket shelf looked innocuous enough), and maybe put on mask and gloves while handling it?

 

and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.

Acts 18:3

 

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and

to work with your hands, just as we told you,

so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and

so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

I Thessalonians 4: 11 to 12

 

For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule:

"If a man will not work, he shall not eat."

II Thessalonians 3:10

 

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers,

to keep away from every brother who is idle and

does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

II Thessalonians 3:6