Friday, February 11, 2011

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2011

The Americans Are Coming! The Americans Are Coming! Armed with a letter of introduction from a club with a reciprocating relationship, Sandy and I took a taxi to Claymore Hill Road (off the famous Orchard Road) and secured a four-month membership at The American Club of Singapore. I don't know how many of the 80,000 Americans who are said to be living in Singapore are members of the club, but it's big enough to handle a large number of them. Our first official act was to talk with a travel planner about some vacation ideas and.... buy a cup of coffee. Then we had lunch in the Eagle's Nest restaurant. In keeping with the setting, the menu had plenty of U.S.-related dishes: Buffalo Wings, Idaho Potato Skins and New England Clam Chowder, U.S. Sirloin Steak, Chicken Maryland, California Salad and Philly Steak Sandwich. They were tempting, but the menu had plenty of non-U.S. items (e.g., Cuban Sandwich and a long list of Asian dishes). I opted for an unAmerican-sounding Maharajah Salad (chicken tikka with mint yogurt dressing on greens, carrot, mango, pear, dates and onions). Very good.

Ye Sheng On the Go: After we returned to Battery Road, I walked over to the Cold Storage market at 18 Cross Street. I stocked up, having to buy a jute bag in addition to the food so I could lug it the 12 minute or so walk home. Spent S$52.94. Highlights included some yogurt, Coke Light, oranges, mueslix, Scottish cheddar and grapes. I also got some lime juice. It might become a regular feature. I also noticed that the store sold some on-the-go yu sheng salad ingredients (right). Pre-chopped/pre-shredded, ready for an easy-to-prepare New Year’s meal. I didn't buy it. We don't have long enough chopsticks to properly toss the stuff.
Another Metric Moment: I headed to the gym again. This is Groundhog Day Exercise Program...keep doing it until you get it right. With the metric system in mind, I walked up to a treadmill. Wanting to walk at a four-mile-an-hour pace (while listening to an audiobook of some of W. Somerset Maugham's South Sea tales), I boldly punched in 6.4 in the SPEED category. After nearly flipping off the back of the machine, I realized that this one was calibrated on the feet/miles scale.

1 comment:

  1. Frank, I wish I'd seen you bounce off that treadmill. I just came from the Y where I'm up to 5 mph, jogging a mile in under 13 minutes. Feels good. Enjoy the exercise!

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