Welcome to Blackberry Juice! Now you can follow the escapades of your adventurers in real time as your faithful correspondent braves battered thumbs and the corporate wanker tag to pound out reports from far flung locales on his ubiquitous blackberry.
Destination one: the gleaming concrete, steel and glass island nation of Singapore. Or perhaps that should be "the island corporation of Singapore Inc". The first thought that stikes as one breezes through the seemlessly efficient customs at Changi airport and past the line of MP5 toting security guards, is that this is a nation with its vision firmly on the future and capitalism at its heart. From the spotless MRT metro to the endless array of towering shopping centres, the pursuit of progress and profit by the central planners is everywhere. So is Starbucks.
For the most part, the focus on commercialism works, but when it doesn't it definitely doesn't. As in the case of a "bushwalk" on the tourist Sentosa Island where the Singaporian idea of getting back to nature is pumping water up some concrete blocks to create the "wild thundering falls". Good one.
But let's not get sidetracked from the real reason for a two day stopover... The food! This is one island where the standard mei-ism "I'm hungry!" was finally going to be silenced. A kg of chili crab, a couple of stewed bull frogs, a pile of fried venison, a mound of lemon chicken...and a silent mei. Well, until we step outside into the 30 degree heat and the "I'm hot... I'm thirst... I'm tired" track gets stuck on repeat.
Anyway, time to hit the yum cha to kick off the day. Over and out, next stop London.
Destination one: the gleaming concrete, steel and glass island nation of Singapore. Or perhaps that should be "the island corporation of Singapore Inc". The first thought that stikes as one breezes through the seemlessly efficient customs at Changi airport and past the line of MP5 toting security guards, is that this is a nation with its vision firmly on the future and capitalism at its heart. From the spotless MRT metro to the endless array of towering shopping centres, the pursuit of progress and profit by the central planners is everywhere. So is Starbucks.
For the most part, the focus on commercialism works, but when it doesn't it definitely doesn't. As in the case of a "bushwalk" on the tourist Sentosa Island where the Singaporian idea of getting back to nature is pumping water up some concrete blocks to create the "wild thundering falls". Good one.
But let's not get sidetracked from the real reason for a two day stopover... The food! This is one island where the standard mei-ism "I'm hungry!" was finally going to be silenced. A kg of chili crab, a couple of stewed bull frogs, a pile of fried venison, a mound of lemon chicken...and a silent mei. Well, until we step outside into the 30 degree heat and the "I'm hot... I'm thirst... I'm tired" track gets stuck on repeat.
Anyway, time to hit the yum cha to kick off the day. Over and out, next stop London.
1 comment:
a couple of stewed bull frogs
Really? Perhaps you should have tried to persuade them that cane toads make a tasty and nutritious dish (or an interesting side order with your Starbucks), and Australia would be forever in your debt.
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