Didn’t feel like doing a photoshop image this week, and wanted to add a little more variety to my blog, so here’s another post on Singapore! It’s been over a month since the trip, so some of the memories have already started to fade a bit. It’s still all good to remember some of these great experiences though!
Above is a delicious Mr. Bean pancake, filled with an assortment of delicious fillings, including Kaya, Chocolate, Peanut, Red Bean, etc. :9
I really like the mascot design. It’s super adorable. These food shops can typically found on the underground levels of most malls (it’s interesting how mall designs there are quite standard!)
Carrot Cake! It’s so good! Typical true Singaporean style take-out comes in a waxed paper wrapping. It’s quite friendly on the environment that way, although I have yet to see a recycle bin in Singapore. ._.
Delicious roasted chicken rice. Chicken rice is still my favorite, especially roasted chicken rice!
Of course, being of Western born tastes, I still prefer my chicken DEEP FRIED! I wish I wish I wish there was a Long John Silver’s in Vancouver! Those deep fried crumbs are the best!
Probably the largest KFC I’ve ever seen in my whole life. This thing literally takes up the entire one side of this building. Obviously, KFC is more prominent in Singapore than in Vancouver. Vancouver just has tiny little hut-sized establishments.
I’m assuming this is the reason why KFC is so successful in Singapore. They serve breakfast! One of particular note is the congee for $3.50. There are a lot of Malay people that eat it at KFC for some reason. I’ve yet to really understand why, but since Malay make up a pretty large cultural population in Singapore, and KFC is Halaal standard approved, it may be why.
This is a KFC breakfast sandwich. It’s like a Snacker, except with no lettuce, and a slice of scrambled egg. It actually tastes very good, and does fit the “breakfast” category due to the egg. It’s like eating a McMuffin!
A chilli dispenser. An interesting note, most Singaporean food establishments use chilli as their main condiment, like how we use ketchup in most western food cultures. You literally have to ask the cashier for ketchup like you would ask for hot sauce in North America.
“Blur like sotong, hot like cuttlefish!”
Is okeh, nevahmine lah. Is jus singlish!
Curry Puff! It’s like a deep fried pastry with curry filling!
It’s delicious smelling buns! They look real, but are fake stress balls that smell nice. These were bought as gifts for friends. I especially like the turtle bun!
Another KFC breakfast. All things considering, the price is incredibly reasonable for so much food!
Durian! Don’t worry if you don’t know what it is. Once you smell one, you will never forget.
The inside “meat”. Honestly, I have no idea why people love eating this. It smells like garbage. Oh, I’m sorry, it’s an aroma. My wife absolutely loves this stuff. I typically have to close the door when she eats it. “Sorry honey, I have a headache, please stay away from me for 24hrs.
This is inside Vivo City. It’s HUUGE! (but not super huge). The intricate design choices are quite nice to look at. You can tell that the architectural design was definitely aiming towards a surreal, sophisticated and modern design. What’s attractive about this mall is not the shops, because you can find all the same shops anywhere else in Singapore. It’s definitely meant for tourists, the way it’s designed.
At the back of the mall is a balcony overlooking a big boat. How it manages to get in and out with such accuracy is baffling, because it’s literally a foot away from the dock to hull.
A Japanese flag and a Singaporean flag together. This floored me. Those that know Singapore’s history will understand how both progressive, and offensive this is depending on your point of view.
I like this shot! If you didn’t know it was a boat, you’d thought you were looking at the future from a 1990’s artist rendition from a Popular Mechanics magazine!
Not too far off in the distance is the harbor for Singapore’s import and exports. I’ve never seen a mall built this close to such an industrial area. It’s an eyesore and a wonder at the same time.
On the roof of the mall is a natural wonderland. This is quite amazing – trees, shrubbery, grass, flowers, water, on a roof! Everything looks and feels very serene like a scenic park! You almost totally forget that you’re on the top level of some giant mall built next to an industrial harbor!
A naked kid running around in the water. The water goes right up to the edge!
Strange balls are littered around throughout the “park”.
Daiso! There’s one in Vancouver too! But it looks to me like the one in Vancouver is better decorated.
An endless maze of escalators. Feels like the movie Labyrinth.
More shots as the sun is setting. Yes, we’re still on the roof of Vivo City.
Since it was nearing Xmas, a massive (and I do mean massive) Xmas tree was erected.
This is one of the food courts in the mall, called Food Republic. There’s another Food Republic at Suntec with similar decor of old-china. The lanterns and all-wood setting is a really nice touch.
Just outside the food court. You can see a bunch of typical Singaporean girls and boys.
Delicious snacks! Many of these products are not available in Vancouver, unfortunately. I first had Cheezels from Australia, and I love Twisties (they’re like Cheesies but with a large assortment of flavors such as chicken).
So each of those strange globes contain some sort of interesting contribution to society or the world, or some great accomplishment. There are a lot of them, and they’re all displayed prominently under the beating heat of the Singapore sun.
This particular one is a scaled replica. Good for dollfie?
The palm trees growing here floor me. Yes! We’re still on the roof! I’ve honestly, never seen anything like it.
In the same evening, we went to Marina Barrage. Unfortunately, my piece of crap point and shoot couldn’t take very good pictures at night. The architecture is absolutely amazing. Singaporeans amaze me with the amount of stuff they can build in such a small space, and short period of time. There were A LOT of amazing photo opportunity places here that I was unable to capture!
Absolutely beautiful skyline of Singapore from here. Too bad my camera sucks. Fortunately, there are many photos taken online of the most beautiful skylines of Singapore from Marina Barrage. And also, there are some sweet pix from Kodomut and Paper Shot too!
Singapore is like Japan in many ways. One of which are rows of gashapon machines. My wife decided that she wanted one thing in particular – a Haruhi keychain. Specifically, the schoolgirl outfit Haruhi. What I find interesting is that every time she chooses something from a gashapon machine, that is exactly what she gets. It makes me wonder if Haruhi is the god, or her. Proof:
[pro-player]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCOCn1QsmCg[/pro-player]
The proof is in the pudding, or in this case, the gashapon!
Another typical mall in Singapore. While they sport slightly different designs, the overall jist of it is the same – circular center with small branch-off areas, usually on one or two sides of the mall, and the center is usually for sidewalk sale type deals. Notice the little stalls marked “fitting room” over there. It’s that open!
I’m under the impression that this chocolate company is high-profile expensive. Chocolate potato chips! I love both, so this is a blend of both worlds. It tastes a little odd.
More yummy food! The little slab of meat on top that looks like spam is Otah. It’s essentially ground up fish. Many a Singaporean can attest to how great it tastes. (a bit too spicy for me). The uniqueness of this though, is that it’s made of chicken, (!!) and can be purchased from a single stall in a coffee shop in Bedok. It typically gets a constant line-up of 20+ people, and was also featured on a food critic TV show.
This one wasn’t my meal, so I kinda forgot what it is called… ._.
In Vancouver, establishments usually have a bucket at the door for people to put their umbrellas in before being a patron. Problem with that is there’s no guarantee someone won’t take your umbrella (either by mistake or intentional). It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a stand like this where you can put your umbrella in a bag and keep it with you.
More KFC. I love KFC, so I just had to eat a lunch. I was disappointed. It’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. Not gonna say anymore other than I felt sick after eating it. (and it wasn’t even a big meal!) The plus side is that the service was excellent. The cashier who took my order was the nicest, happiest, and most polite cashier I’ve ever met. Maybe Singapore’s Four Million Smiles Campaign actually worked?
Was shocked to see a Carl’s Jr. here in Singapore too. Vancouver doesn’t even have one!!
But it does have a Subway. The unfortunate thing is that Vancouver Subways tend to have this weird smell. Most of us think it’s the bread they use. There was also a huge stink with credit cards being skimmed, so we started calling it Skimway. It looks like they offer the same subs in Singapore.
Some inventive hotdog ingredients at some bakery. Not sure what is in there, but I can see lettuce, maybe it’s mayo, and chilli sauce? They look delicious though.
These signs (and variations) are EVERYWHERE on public transit. Singapore often does these campaigns to make Singaporeans more aware of themselves and be nice to other people. Honestly, if you need a campaign to do it, something is very very wrong. It’s worse when it doesn’t work either. Many Singaporeans can attest to that.
The problem is, these campaigns typically have a very negative reinforcement, like how a parent would try to rear their children “Don’t chew gum, or you will be fined! Don’t litter, or you will be fined!” They seem to be trying a more positive approach this time, but it’s still not there yet. I saw another one of these signs where one of the points literally said “Don’t pretend you are sleeping!” WTF Singapore?! You guys pretend to be sleeping so that you don’t have to yield your seat to an elderly person?!
Speaking of chewing gum, this is legalized chewing gum. Most everybody knows, it’s a criminal offense to chew gum in Singapore. (I believe it’s capital punishment 😉 But if it’s for oral hygiene, then it’s okay.
I reluctantly end this post with a photo of my last dinner this Lumix FX-9 took. Delicious Satay is delicious. With the exception of Tropica, I’ve yet to eat satay good enough to rival this.
I’ll post a final Singapore photo post the next time I don’t feel like doing a photoshop post. Hopefully I’ll get my groove back soon.
Man lol from this post I can really tell you like KFC a lot 😀
And damn you are making me hungry!! Hope to see your next photoshop post soon ^^
Thanks Chubbybots!
I don’t eat KFC a lot, but I do love the taste of Singapore KFC (from 4 years back). So it’s more of a novelty than anything to eat a breakfast and a lunch from KFC. It’s too bad it didn’t taste nearly as good anymore.
Back to visit Singapore? ^^; I lol’ed at sotong quote, ya it’s just Singlish. I think I’m going to either KL or Singapore this March during school holiday, to hunt some figures of course XD
^^ Yeah, it was high time I paid Singapore another visit since a month has passed! lol
I’ve never been to KL! I should go sometime! If you take pix, let me know, cuz I wanna see!
sure no problem ^^
This is what you ate? Next time you come I’ll bring you around to eat true blue SG food.
lol I’d like that very much!
After spending all that time in the chem lab durians smell GREAT!!
lol! I find it pretty interesting that neither of us ended in the careers we studied for. 🙂
That’s a lot of food 😀 Since i don’t like chicken it wasn’t very pleasant to me looool
KFC is nearly nonexistent in Belgium but i kinda feel happy about it ^^
In fact i don’t enjoy big malls too … except for clothing !!
Do they have huuuuuuuuuuge clothes shop there ???
I heard about Durian a lot and i know how it’s supposed to smell. I guess it’s hard to imagine without actually smelling one.
So your wife love these ? Must be hard for you 🙂
Interesting ’bout chewing gum lol, didn’t know that. You can be arrested for chewing a gum ? Really ?
You don’t like chicken? Aw, that’s too bad. I definitely prefer chicken over pork or beef most of the time (I like most meat though. :))
The clothing shops in Singapore are pretty small. They’re like boutiques. Only a few of them are large (more on that next time).
Durian smells pretty bad, yeah. It’s harder for my wife than me, because she doesn’t get to eat it very often. lol!
You definitely can be arrested for chewing gum, and given a fine. That’s about the extent of it. It’s because littered gum makes a mess and is hard to remove from concrete. It does look pretty ugly.
That rooftop area looks very nice!
The KFC servings in Singapore look much better than the ones in Japan (where a KFC “meal” is barely a meal). Thankfully the sizes here in Australia are fairly generous.
The sizes in Canada are very generous too! The Singapore portions are pretty small, actually. The scale may have fooled you on some of those shots. You see, the chicken burgers in the pictures are about the size of your fist. ._.
I typically have to close the door when she eats it. “Sorry honey, I have a headache, please stay away from me for 24hrs.
Ahahaha!! I know, right? How can people eat something that smells so bad? ._.
Oh and as for this dish in pic 40, I think that’s Nasi Lemak
^^ Edited your comment for format and link editing.
Yeah, I hate the smell, unfortunately for my wife.
And you’re right! That dish is Nasi Lemak! ^_^ wife told me so too. 😀
That Otah or what it’s called looks quite tasty.
^^ It was! Just a little too spicy for me. Many people that didn’t know it was chicken really thought it was fish!
Testing whether commenting issue fixed.
Looks like you’re in the clear! So wordpress admin got back to you or not?
They did, told me to get in touch with Akismet,and they fixed it, heh.
Mr Bean mascot is really adorable! Just for it and without even knowing the food’s quality, i would probably enter to eat 🙂
For Fries, if you travel to Europe one day, you should go in Belgium. Fries here are very very good 🙂
Those small anti-stress breads are also cute! Would loved to get one 🙂
This maul is really impressive! I don’t believe my eyes. I think if i would visit it, i just couldn’t know where to look.
Your wife is very lucky to always get what she wants 😀 It’s the complete opposite for me ^^ (You want to Paris if i understand it well ? Long ago ?)
Thanks for sharing this with us and to get us hungry with all those delicious dishes.
I remember there was a Mr Bean mascot keychain that was handed out in limited quantities. It had a little felt on the back so you can use it to clean your cellphone screen. I wish I had one of those.
In Canada, we have a particular dish called Poutine. (yes, it’s french!). It’s french fries topped with mozzarella cheese curds, and smothered in gravy. It’s oh so delicious! I have it once in a while. :9
There are quite a few impressive looking malls in Singapore. It’s one of the things I love most about Singapore – just being able to go anywhere and just SHOP!
I haven’t been to Paris. It would be nice to go there sometime. ^^
Haha, guess its time to see your food pics xD. Very delicious pics :9. I learned something new with chili being in condiment dispensers lol. I got the smelly bread as a gift too. Mine is melon pan with a smiley face on it :D.
lol! I’m totally enjoying your pix on Disneyland. Chococat is my favorite. Good choice!
The melon pan with the smiley face on it? Is it the turtle bun that I have in my picture?
Haha, thanks. More in the shape of the one with the >u< face, though mine is a OuO look, but with the melon pan grooves like the other.
hey cool! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that one then! You must take a picture and show me!
I can see that you really enjoy the local food in singapore, except… durian…. ^^;
Hope that you can do an intro on cuisine in Vancouver too.. =)
I might do one on vancouver cuisine, but it’d be relatively boring, since most Vancouver cuisine consists of hamburgers and fries. Any chinese food and whatnot can be found anywhere else in the world, and probably tastes better there too. :\
Maybe can do one to compare hamburgers and fries in Vancouver to the rest of the world like Singapore. But so far i didnt try out much of local Singapore hamburgers places other those fast food restaurant. ^^;
Heh, that would be interesting.
It seems that hamburgers aren’t as popular in Singapore. There aren’t as many restaurants as other countries. Probably because there are a lot of people who don’t eat cow because of religious beliefs.
I have had hamburgers in Singapore though – from Burger King, and McDonald’s. And honestly, they taste the same – like cardboard. Well, Burger King tastes better, but not by much.
Hamburgers in singapore.. or maybe rest of the asia… are small~ usually you need to order a meal plus upsize to fill your stomach. I heard in western countries the burgers are much more bigger in sizes.
Haha, if you go tot he Mcdonald’s in Japan they have “extra big” burgers on special now. There was a 7-layer burger too when Windows 7 was released in Japan.
7 layers?! Holy crap! I’ve seen a Mega Mac in Singapore, and I was shocked. Only recently did I see it here in Canada, called the Double Big Mac. Essentially a Big Mac with 4 patties instead of two.
Yeah, they are bigger in western countries. Asian countries tend to have smaller portions all around though, not just for hamburgers.
However, USA seems to have even larger portions than Canada. Their regular sized drink is our upsized drink. Their upsized drink is like a 2L bottle or something crazy!
If you watch the documentary “Supersize Me” you’ll see just how big North American portions are. It’s crazy!
Singapore looks like a delightful mix of East and West. Reminisce of good ol’ Hong Kong… Sigh, Canada sucks the big ones >.>
Comparatively though, Singapore looks remarkably clean 🙂
Well, fast food is better over here, I’ll give Toronto that much.
Ah yes, durian. I actually never found it THAT unbearable. I don’t like it, but I can stomach it. I once pretended to retch at the thought of it so that my relatives would bribe me to eat some for their entertainment, though (unknowingly to them, I had the most fun $-$).
Ha ha ha that’s pretty sweet! I can’t stomach it, so it’s very brave of you to be able to, and earn money doing it! Maybe I can try that with alcohol, since I’m not fond of it, but can drink it.
Singapore food definitely does have a mix of east and west, but it’s definitely mostly east. You’d get 1 out of 10 stalls that served western food. Last time I posted food of Singapore, it was mostly asian foods, so this time I thought I’d put a little more western food in, so people could see if it’s any different. I have to say, from my own experiences, western food in Singapore isn’t as good as western food in the west (for obvious reasons).
Been following your (new blog) for a while. It’s definitely interesting! Keep it up!
WOWWW, this is simply amazing! Great pics, and I felt like I was there lol.
Thanks FaS! I’ll try to post more pix some other time. 🙂
I love all the pictures!! AWW that mr.bean thing is so cute!! I should have that as my mascot for my blog xD KFC has breakfast food?! I never seen that before. I always thought that Singapore was so dull and boring but after seeing all your pics it totally changed what I thought it looked like, honestly this is the best picture post I have ever seen! I actually stayed read eveeerrything, it was so interesting. I love all the food pictures the best ^^ it looks delicious :q
Thanks for checking out my blog! I have a few more posts on Singapore and its food. It’s definitely interesting that KFC has breakfast in Singapore. In Hong Kong too! Singapore is far from dull and boring, from what I’ve experienced. It’s like a fusion of all sorts of different cultures!
Mmmmmm carrot cakeeeee, damn I miss popiah I wonder if I can replicate it here *rubs chin*
Hmmm… if you manage to replicate it, let me know! 😀
You’ve never seen those plastic bags for umbrellas except in Singapore? That’s odd. But then these things are uncommon in the UK as well; in fact a lot of people I know there don’t use umbrellas over there – including myself (only in the UK though).
lol durians. My family doesn’t eat it either. Btw apparently there are signs showing no durians allowed in Singapore rail stations. Is that true?
I haven’t traveled to many places, so yeah, I’ve only seen these bags in Singapore.
Yes, it’s true! There are signs on public transit that show you’re not allowed to bring durians on there. They give you a fine! I’m assuming you’re not allowed to specifically bring open durians on there, otherwise the durian market would disappear, since so many people take public transit!
The great selection of food is the thing I miss the most when traveling back home to the States
Heya interesting read, hope you like singapore.
On a side note, i really don’t find the japanese flag and singapore flag flying together on the ship to be in anyway a pain or what not (despite being a singaporean and knowing our history) In Fact i think it’s great our countries flag can be flown next to each other without anyone protesting or what not. =DD
Thanks! I did enjoy Singapore very much! It was a lot of fun!
I’m guessing most people of this current generation wouldn’t mind the flags being together. (Singaporeans purchase so many Japanese products anyway, and even hold many of their pop-culture as part of their own daily lives).
Probably the older generation and even some of the surviving people of that generation may think otherwise.
I think it’s awesome that we’re now able to put aside our differences and be able to coexist together in one world.
wow great pics.
My Friend and her husband were just there in Dec.
Was supposed to go there too and Japan.. but timing was bad.. and had to cancel.
thanks buddy! Interesting how I was in Singapore in December. You don’t happen to know my wife do you? 😛
Oh if you do get a chance to go to Singapore and Japan again, do go! It’s definitely worth it to visit these two amazing places!
i totally did not nice that you were not in my RSS Reader! D= ZOMG. Added you and finally synced myself to date!
Both the VivoCity Skypark (Roof) and The Marina Barrage are great places to go for figure photography! Wonder if I’ll have a chance to take you there the next time we meet? ^^;
Heya zh3us! It would definitely be nice to go to Marina Barrage during the day! I’m sure we’ll meet again too!
Hey Im fron Singapore and i stumbled upon ur blog on Google. Damn u should have tried the Zinger from KFC! If u said asian burgers are smaller, that is bcoz the O R Fish burger u bought is just a “budget” burger. We asians like fast meals. And for local delights, u should have tried Laksa and Wanton Noodles! laksa is a bit too spicy maybe for u guys but its a definitely must eat dish