A day on Pulau Ubin and Chek Jawa (August 2014)

Pulau Ubin, Singapore

One positive thing about being an Overseas Singaporean is the pleasure I discover playing tourist in my own country each time I return home. When I was a teenager, I thought that it would be really cool to travel around the world and stay on my own. I still think it great, but I also look forward to seeing my parents in our old flat and getting back into "the routine" once I'm back on the island. Just thinking about this makes me homesick and with age the feeling intensifies.

Singapore is both a concrete jungle and a garden city. It is both a modern city and a place steeped in traditions practised by those who occupy its heartlands. I have learnt over the years to look beyond the facades of modernity into the true Singapore where new and old, east and west merge or co-exist in various degrees. We really do have the best of many worlds.

Last August, I finally brought my family of 5 to Pulau Ubin. The last time I visited was probably back in the 1990s when I was an Elderly Befriender volunteer with the Ang Mo Kio Social Service Centre. Us volunteers occasionally received training from the social workers and we also had bonding trips to help us remain more coherent as a group (consisting of people from very diverse backgrounds and ages as it was).

From Changi Point to Pulau Ubin jetty

Today, Pulau Ubin (Granite Island) probably has one of the last kampongs left in Singapore. Heard that only 38 people lived on the 10km2 island in 2012, from the few thousand back in the 1960s. We took a bumboat from Changi Point Ferry Terminal one morning after it had 12 passengers onboard.

Hub loved the island - the laid-back, old Singapore feel, the greenery, mud tracks, wooden houses...It was almost like stepping back into time, into another world. And it's so cool because it's so near to modern Singapore.

The Village

Make a quick visit to the public toilets near the jetty before you set out to explore the island unless you fancy doing it out in the nature with possible visits from gigantic monitor lizards while you are at it. We came across one as we were cycling and it was impressive how it hit a van (with its powerful tail) which was parked next to it (the driver stopped to take a picture of said lizard). It was scary and fascinating at the same time. There was also a family of wild pigs near Chek Jawa that residents seemed to be familiar with.

Some of the wild residents

Before we rented our bikes (easy to do so from any of the several shops lining the main street of the main village), we visited a vegetable garden (with deadly mosquitoes, so do come equipped with long sleeves and pants or powerful creams) and walked through the village. The bikes had seen better days, but what the heck, it's all part of the rustic nature of the island, besides they were not expensive to rent. A couple of cyclists have lost on their lives on "cemetery road" while going downhill or engaging abrupt ends so do consider hiring a helmet too.

Quarry lakes and wooden houses

We discovered that Ubin has a world-class Ketam mountain biking trail, and saw a couple of guys with special bikes going on it. It poured at some point when we were on the island and we took shelter in one of the various shelters along the tracks. Fortunately, rain doesn't usually last long in Singapore, you get a shower and then life continues.

The island is very green and the quarry lakes are beautiful. We didn't go on any guided tour because the timing wasn't right, but do check out the NParks website for guided walks or visits on the island.

Chek Jawa

We did visit Chek Jawa though. There is a boardwalk (through mangroves and the coastline) that is open daily from 8:30am to 6pm and you leave your bikes in a parking area near its entrance. We also climbed up the Jejawi Tower for a view of the canopy and surrounding islands. I loved the viewing jetty in the sea, felt just so calm and peaceful.

View of the canopy

Before leaving the island, those who love seafood could dine in the village. We didn't since the younger kids do not eat seafood, but I heard the food there was quite good.

On certain Sundays, I believe that a Malay cooking class is held in one of the wooden houses, maybe I'll return one of these days for the experience. I've never lived in a kampong before, having started out my life in a 3-room HDB flat in Toa Payoh.

Bye bye Ubin!

I hope that Pulau Ubin would be allowed to remain idyllic and not too developed so that mainlanders could have somewhere to go to if they would like to take a break from city life; not to mention remember a bit of the past by.

Remembering Mr Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015)

Thank you, Mr. Lee, you will always be my hero! R.I.P.

I am who I am - because you were

I can lift my head high and walk with my back straight - because of you

I dare to dream and I dare to do - because you did

I have the courage of my convictions - because you had them first.

No one has inspired and motivated me as much as you had, Sir. I thank you for a life of struggle, of tough decisions (and the courage it took to make them), of vision, of leadership by example and of devotion to the Nation. May you join your beloved wife in rest and in peace. 

Thank you, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. 

I promise to always try my best and keep the flame burning, that we do not squander all that you have built for and with us.

Majullah Singapura!

Three Mornings at Willing Hearts : Feeding the Needy in Singapore

Eldest Son cooking rice @Willing Hearts

The Young Adult has/had CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) obligations to fulfil as part of his IB (International Baccalaureate) Diploma and as usual was lacking behind. Mum had to come to the rescue and it was fortunate that a charity food kitchen like Willing Hearts exists in Singapore. Anybody is welcome to help out though they prefer volunteers to turn up before sunrise and if possible stay till at least lunch time.

Fate was kind to us because my parents' flat happened to be a short taxi ride away from the food kitchen (at Genting Lane, though they have since moved to bigger premises in Jalan Ubi). It was still tough having to wake the boy up very early during his vacation, but he was keen to clock enough charity hours for CAS so he was pretty cooperative.

Willing Hearts at 6am

We arrived at the industrial building when it was still dark and quiet and I decided to stay and help out too since I have always wanted to serve in a food kitchen. I guess one is also more motivated when one knows that one would be helping one's own countrymen, especially senior citizens for whom I have a tender spot.

There were many stations at which one could choose to help out, from washing and cooking rice, to washing and preparing vegetables and meat, to cooking, packing, delivering the food etc. The YA started out cooking rice and being the dyspraxic child that he is, spent the rest of his 3 mornings there cooking rice. I started out cooking rice too, but quickly decided that I wanted to see something else and ended up helping to pack the food which was more interesting because it was different depending on what they had in the pantry and who it was meant for. Needless to say I also tasted a bit of what I was packing to see what the recipients were in for. There was this fried rice with dried shrimp (from a can) that was actually quite tasty though I thought it didn't look appetising (looks can be deceiving).

Cooking rice for thousands of people

We were there from Sunday till Tuesday (in July 2014) and got to see the changing demography of the volunteers. In the week, the food kitchen could usually depend on a vibrant, efficient and fierce group of tai tais that included both locals and expats. They would bark out orders and move really quickly because they have been doing this almost every day for a number of years now. On weekends, there will be mainly corporate volunteers, students and working individuals who feel a need to offer occasional help. Then, there are a few people who turn up every day rain or shine, including Tony Tay the retiree who started the kitchen and an electrical engineer (in red T-shirt) who helps out every morning before he goes to work!

Volunteers at work; Tony the founder is the guy in dark blue T-shirt looking at his phone

The thing that bothers me is that people think that there are only needy people in developing countries. There are needy people in all societies and the ones that live in relatively rich countries are often forgotten or ignored because they are not so visible. When we were there, the food kitchen was churning out meals for more than 4000 people each time, mostly for the elderly and the underprivileged, regardless of race or religion (the kitchen doesn't serve pork or lard). I heard that they now offer dental and TCM services as well in their new premises.

It was nearly lunch time when we were done!

Tony said that the YA should accompany one of their vans when they go around delivering the packed lunches and that he would surely find meaning in what he had been doing. I was certainly tempted to take him up on it if we were not already busy with other more personal obligations. The Willing Hearts would definitely be a stop for us now when we visit Singapore, CAS or no CAS. I am keen to see their new kitchen and hope that my other children will also find understanding if they had the chance to (physically) serve others less fortunate than themselves. Meanwhile, if you were hesitating about whether to help out or not, please go ahead and do it at least once. Just being commanded by the tai tai army would be an experience in itself!   

Chinese New Year 2012

CNY 2012

I left Singapore in September 1995 and have probably celebrated Chinese New Year once before I got married. After that it was too expensive to travel home just for a week, with summer being the preferred period for home visits.

When we arrived in Shanghai last year, it was just a week before the CNY, so we "celebrated" our first CNY in Asia riding on the free-flow firecrackers around us. Shanghai is usually dead during the holidays as its large migrant population closes all shops/restaurants/services and head home, so we weren't too impressed with the experience.

2 months ago we realised that we would be having a week-long break towards the end of January - because it'd soon be the CNY! And the year of the (water) dragon too. We decided to visit Singapore now that we're closer, but many others had the same idea so SQ was fully booked months in advance. We therefore booked ourselves on China Eastern which honestly was a mistake. In this day and age there is still a regular airline that doesn't offer inflight entertainment, that serves horrible meals (piled high on top of the trolley), that doesn't give you a new set of pillows and blankets on a new flight!

Still, it was exciting celebrating my first CNY in 16 years with my family. What I missed was the reunion dinner on the eve of CNY, embracing the traditions of giving red packets and oranges, staying up late, sleeping with lucky money, watching the Hongbao show on TV, checking out the lanterns in the Chinese garden, doing a spot of last-minute shopping in the night markets, visiting friends and relations, lo-hei, wearing new clothes, catching the Chingay procession...everything I have given up when I started living overseas and married a European.

年年有余

When the Teenager was very small, I kept up with a few of the traditions and organised steamboat dinners with Chinese friends during CNY. Then it fizzled out because Hub never seemed interested enough in my traditions, keeping anyway the barest minimum of his own. Then the babies came along, we moved around more and more and CNY just moved to the back of my mind (and priorities).

This year I stuck 2 red paper cuttings of the character 福 (luck, prosperity) on my doors though I would stop there as I personally find it a little vulgar the Chinese obsession with money (钱 or 财) all times of the year. We should wish for good health and for things to go smoothly - and everything else would follow. You could have all the money in the world, but if you do not have the health to enjoy it, it would be worth nothing.

Lo-Hei

Mum had to help refresh my memory of what needed to be done for CNY, though I didn't participate in the praying since I wouldn't be doing that when the parents leave the world. I wanted to visit the night markets but the skies refused to cooperate, sending the rain promised by the Water Dragon down on us almost every evening.

Treasure pot

We ate reunion dinner as a family though : my own, my brother's and my parents. Only my sis was missing, but she had her Hub's family to eat dinner with. It was an expensive meal filled with lucky and prosperous-sounding dishes though the kids and Hub failed to appreciate it. I had my first lo-hei in donkey years - and still only ate the crackers. But I ate through everything else, especially my favourite Kum Hiong 金香Crabs.

金香Crabs

On the first day we visited my 3rd uncle. It was to be our only visit as most of the relations would gather there so that there would be no need to do the rounds like we used to when we were kids. It was a little disappointing, but let's face it : at my age, most of my parents' older relatives that we used to visit would be dead and we would have little to do with their children or grandchildren. For my parents, with no longer any kids to drag along, they've probably lost most real interest in the visiting so they ended up staying at home watching TV for the past decade. Since we've never been into CNY gambling, we never got into hosting big gatherings either, so all was calm.

This is sad, I suppose. But like everything else there's a time (and place) for celebrating CNY. Take Shanghai, for instance. My Shanghainese friends told me that with small families they no longer see any point in celebrating CNY either. In the big city which becomes dead with most of the migrant workers gone they also fail to gather enough atmosphere for the occasion, having to cook their own meals and just hang around waiting for the shops to open again. Those who can afford it would take the opportunity to travel, since there are basically only 2 holiday periods in China : CNY and the Golden Week in October.

But I talked to my hairdresser yesterday who as a migrant worker went home to his village in Sichuan. There it was the big occasion with waxed meats, big meals (but no touching of sharp objects or fire on the first day), a sharper observance of the traditions, gambling and big red packets. Since he was single, he came home with thousands of Chinese yuan in red packet money. Compared to the 122S$ that each of my kids amassed in their week in Singapore...

红包 money of course is an interesting part of CNY especially for the children. And nowadays it's not like before, you can't usually get your kids to surrender their hoard to you. The amount of money you put into your red packets could also be a study of the differences between the Chinese in different parts of the world.

I was quite surprised to discover that inflation has not reached angpow money in Singapore. When I was a kid (very long ago), we usually received between S$2 and $10. Apparently kids still receive the same amount today 2-4 decades later. A check with my HK and Chinese friends revealed that the Mainlanders (even my driver) put at least 200 rmb (about S$40) in their red packets, if not 500, even 1800rmb!

They seemed a little more reasonable in Hong Kong though, kids usually get between 40 and 80 HKD (in pairs of red packets though) and elderly parents will get much more. I chose to do $6, $8, $12, $18 on average. We agreed that the red packet is a way of giving blessing, so the money shouldn't matter. It shouldn't ruin the giver, shouldn't be a race to see who can give more, shouldn't provide one with yet another opportunity to show off one's wealth. And kids shouldn't become greedy about receiving red packets. There is the whole year for one to show one's family that one cares, why wait for the CNY?

One thing we agreed with Hub and the kids at the end of our stay was that a week is too short a time for visiting Singapore. There was so much I couldn't do, so many friends I couldn't meet up with, so many things I've yet to eat.

年年高升

Sticky rice cake dipped in egg and pan fried

We are coming to the end of the CNY - tomorrow? I fried my own sticky rice cake年糕 (offered by Hub's Chinese colleague) for the occasion, nudged the kids to let off a few of the harmless fireworks (to no avail), and will go to bed wondering what I could/should do next year to make CNY a more meaningful occasion for my kids and myself.

祝大家龙年大吉，身体健康，万事如意。

Singapore Zoological Gardens August 2011

Out of Mandai

I can still see myself as a very little girl wearing a panda T-shirt with my name on it visiting the Singapore Zoological Gardens. As my mother's first and only child at that time, she must have felt obliged to bring me to the zoo at least once - something of a hassle in those days when you realise how far away Mandai is.

Even nowadays it wasn't exactly an easy place to reach. My favourite route would be via Ang Mo Kio, taking a direct bus from the terminus, passing by the Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium. You may remember that I do not live in Singapore, have not been since September 1995.

Fruit bat kept exposing himself to me

In my absence from the homeland I have lost my paternal aunt and the family has had the remains of my grandparents and other late family members moved to the same place. The whole family therefore sits in Block B in a quiet, green environment rendered only a little less peaceful occasionally by the SSAF when they practise their shooting in the surrounding forests. I personally would find it a little nerve-wrecking walking around in a forest so near where thousands of Singapore's dead were housed. Especially when we were in the middle of the 7th lunar month (aka Hungry Ghosts' Festival) when we visited.

What are you looking at?

Beautiful chameleon

So whenever we go to the Zoo (which usually takes place each time we're back) I would try to stop along the way and pay my respects to our beloved dead. I still have not decided if I would like to rest in Singapore or remain with my husband and children the day I pass on, it's just not an easy decision to make. Actually, that's not true. I want to become a diamond, a true family heirloom. Just not sure if I want to be round brilliant cut or cushion...

Gigantic...

Anyway, I digress as usual. So as the indulgent, loving mother that I am, I brought my kids to the Singapore Zoo which turned out to be wonderful as usual, though I wouldn't recommend the boat ride, there being nothing to see along the way and it being a little slow-moving. I totally love the Orang Utans, white Tigers, even the snakes. The baboon enclosure was really impressive, I spent a good 10 minutes watching a grown male masturbating in front of us. Though I also noticed electric wires in the trees where the Orang Utans were which explained how they managed to keep them up there - "free". Somehow I found that a little disturbing.

Tea time for the orang utans

Still, compared to most other zoos I've visited, the Singapore one is way ahead in organisation, landscaping and humane treatment of its animals. Until someone checks the psychological health of those animals, of course. I would go crazy if I had to turn around in the same space day in and out, see those human visitors and not be able to eat them, for example.

Lion's den

White tigers having a swim

Universal Studios Singapore

Universal Studios Singapore

This year you wouldn't see me blogging about Gardaland since we're now thousands of kms away from Italy. I haven't had the courage to visit Chinese theme parks due to the squeeze factor. But Universal Studios Singapore on Sentosa Island came to the rescue and plugged the theme park void for the year.

OK, it's a small one. And best not to visit on weekends and Singapore school holidays. We heeded our own advice and went in the week. Had a great day there and despite turning up after lunch managed to finish almost all the rides. Except for one ride there were no queues and the 2 shows (one with the Shrek Donkey and the other the stunt show Waterworld) we caught were interesting and funny.

Waterworld live stunt show - lots of sound, action, water and smoke

I was actually quite impressed with the park. It was clean, well-maintained and easy to navigate in. The souvenirs were as usual cut-throat pricey (had to really put my foot down with Hub - or the kids would have left with nothing. Cheapskate!) and we didn't try the restaurants, but we've enjoyed the rides especially the Human and Cylon Battlestar Galactica roller coasters. If you turn up in slippers (like I did), not to worry. Just remove them when it's your turn on the ride, you'll love being thrown around barefooted.

Jurassic Park!

There was this indoor roller coaster in the Egyptian zone and it was quite good, the guy sitting next to Hub actually whimpered during the ride. We saw that he covered his face when we went to the photo booth to check out shots taken during the ride! The ride took place in the dark - really cool.

The part where the Human and Cylon roller coasters crossed paths

We also loved the 4D Shrek show. Basically there were rides for all ages though of course if you had a 3-year old who needed to buy a ticket but couldn't do most rides because he was under 1.2m (been there so could empathise), it could feel like a rip off. Baby Boy could do almost everything now except the Galactica roller coasters, hopefully in another year or 2 he'll make it. Then you could also have a kid taller than yourself who's too scared to do anything. There are all sorts of children in this world.

In fact the Teenager would rather spend his time in the Hershey store if you let him. All he could think of were Reese's peanut butter cups.

Visiting Universal Studios was therefore a nice way to spend a day. The next time we'll get a chalet at Sentosa and visit the rest of the island as well. Though tiny, things are always changing there - beauty of our country and its ability to renew constantly.

Gold Class Reunion

Golden gift from and for Gold Class

I do not know if it has happened to you, but when I blew the 35 candles on my birthday cake (not that anybody remembered to get me one) a few years ago, I started feeling nostalgic about a long lost younger me. Many men would start to go to the gym, dye their hair and start an extra-marital relationship, but I found myself more interested than ever in Google.

I paced round my living room trying to remember the names of some of my classmates - from elementary to secondary to high school. Not to forget University and post. The problem is that back in Singapore where I came from, most of us were born with a set of names - that would be translated into mandarin back at school and which wouldn't be used again after we leave school. And in my case, the last time I was in elementary school was 27 years ago, the last time I was in secondary school 23 years ago and so on.

So I spent hours and then days, finally weeks, months and even years (with breaks in between, of course) looking for say, Liu Binbin on Google. Zero success. When I started becoming more active on Facebook, I couldn't find her either. It was frustrating because I could still see binbin in my mind, her sweet little face when we were 9, her older face when we bumped into each other on the public bus as we made our way to our different high schools years later. Then one morning last year, I woke up and remembered that her English name was C. And in the same flash I also remembered the way her surname was spelt. Typed "C..L..BB" on FB and bingo, first face to turn up on the networking site was her. She still looks the same.

Over the next few months I would find a number of my former classmates more or less in this manner. My old pal RW I found on FB through his brother, Uni pals were a little easier to find as some of us would have remained in contact with each other and through this friend and that we often get the ones we've lost. Then I realised that I wasn't the only one getting nostalgic about my old friends, a few of them have gotten into discussion threads on FB to look for the others and that was how I managed to find a couple of my primary schoolmates!

Seafood dinner group

But the most amazing thing that has happened to me in the last few months was Gold Class (GC). I wouldn't go into the details, but suffice to say that out of the blue I found myself reconnected with more than 2 dozen of my former Secondary schoolmates and we have somehow found time to catch up first online and then in person...and it was just so wonderful to find them again after all these years, to know that every one is doing so well, that nobody has aged, that girls you didn't like when you were 15 turned out to be so cool and interesting 23 years down the road, that that little girl in you still exists somehow and likes occasionally to pop out and do a little dance.

Late-night prata group (2 of them would have been on radio and/or TV before :-))

There were also many inspiring stories among us, so many things we have learnt from one another, so many new perspectives we have gained - and a certain solidarity that was born out of having spent at least 2-4 years (some of them were together since elementary school) together such a long time ago, maybe also because we came from a Christian school. Now, I'm not a Christian, but at this moment I am ready to Praise the Lord for my GC friends, may You keep them safe and happy...Amen.

Cupcake deco group (my very "old" friend A attended my wedding in France though)

On my last trip home I had a really tight schedule but managed to meet a number of my newfound old friends as a group - for prata late one night, for a morning cupcake decorating session, for a seafood dinner...I want to put this down, remember it, savour it.

Pip Pip GC!

Singapore's Food Heritage @ National Museum, Singapore

National Museum, Singapore

The National Museum of Singapore has come up with a food and culture series known as Life & Living and I signed up Hub and myself for the talk titled "Singapore's Food Heritage" - hoping to know more about our hawker culture, how some of our local dishes started out and how they have evolved over the decades. As the talk cost a good S$30 per head and was to be made by a contributor on the popular (the only one mentioned in the Visit Singapore portal) Singaporean food blog ieatishootipost.sg, I imagined that I couldn't go wrong in opting for it instead of another cooking demo at a culinary school.

Talk on Singapore's Food Heritage

I was of course mistaken. But it wasn't something I was to discover immediately as the location was top. The National Museum has undergone quite a makeover since the last time I was there. I love old buildings and am really happy that they have thought to preserve this one. A modern wing made of glass and steel has been built as an annex to the old main building and it introduced light to the whole complex without sticking out like a sore thumb or stealing the show from it.

New wing of National Museum

The talk took place on the ground floor in a spacious and airy room with high ceilings. On the tables were write-ups on various hawker places in Singapore selling Hokkien Prawn Mee, Chicken Rice, Rojak, Ondeh Ondeh, Prawn Mee etc. They commented on the food, provided a few anecdotes on the people running the stalls and shared the addresses. No mention of history, origins of dishes etc which I thought would come later during the talk itself - not.

We started out the afternoon with a guided visit of the exhibition gallery showcasing some of our most popular hawker dishes e.g., satay, laksa etc. There were also exhibits of old mobile satay stalls from the days when we ate out in the streets - before we had our hawker centres. As well as videos demonstrating how to cook some of the dishes - always welcome. The problem is that our nice guide was only 17 - hardly the sort who could remember how it was like in the good ole days. I can probably remember more - because I'm an auntie who has been there done it eaten that. They should have taken one of those uncles from MacDonald's and put him in this gallery instead.

Satay stall from the past

Next, a 21-year old young man named Gregory turned up to give us the talk. I have nothing against young people. They have more time to document themselves and are probably more research-savvy. We were given tiny tasty tasting portions of some of his favourite hawker foods e.g. Katong Laksa, Otah Otah, Hokkien Mee...That he knows and likes his hawker food I have no doubt of. But that he could share anything of Singapore's Food Heritage or hawker culture - I can't say for sure. He was very polite and knew how to excuse and say his thank yous - but couldn't really field questions from the audience about ingredients, how a certain dish started out and evolved (like even I knew that Ba Kut Teh started out as medecine for the poor coolies, for example, and is cooked differently between the Teochews and the Hokkiens), couldn't compare similar dishes from our neighbours and probably doesn't know how to cook. Also lacked some common sense. He should have warned the foreigners in the room to eat the ondeh ondeh in a single bite, for example. So that nobody would get gula melaka splashed onto the front of their clothes.

Tasting portion of Katong Laksa

We left knowing where to find the current good hawker stalls but still ignorant of Singapore's Food Heritage. Without being too academic, still, the word "heritage" brings to mind origins, history, traditions, passing down/inheritance...This talk should be titled "Introduction to Singapore's Hawker Food" or "Where to find Singapore's Best Hawker Foods" instead.

Your auntie me could possibly give a better talk. And save 60 bucks. Imagine the amount of Hokkien Mee you could buy with that.