Sunday, April 24, 2011 (Singapore)

HOME COOKING! Tonight we were invited to the home of Fei Tan and her parents (Francis and Claire) in the Ghim Moh section of Singapore (near the Buona Vista MRT stop. It was a lot of fun. Joined by two friends of the Tans, the diners included (from left, above) Clare, Elsie, Francis, Sandy, Greg and Fei. We ate (among other things) curried chicken, pork on steamed buns, a Peranakan version of a spring roll, mango salad and garlic stems. Desert included longans, jackfruit, Chinese pears and watermelon.
In 2006, after the last General Election, the Economist said Singaporeans were "politics-shy". That did NOT seem to be the case last night. Lots of chatter and intriguing predictions about the upcoming election. Bread-and-butter issues are really taking root.

HAWKER-CENTER TOUR CONTINUES: For the third day in a row, we had lunch at one of Singapore's many hawker centers. This one was at Newton Food Center, which is generally considered the most popular, certainly among tourists. Because it's Easter, we caught it at a fairly quiet time. That's good because we wanted some elbow room for eating one of Singapore's favorite dishes: BBQ STING RAY. It was delicious.
The sambal stingray with an oyster omelet and some rice (above). We bought the ray at an A-rated stall--Sheng Da BBQ Seafood (right). So, we have made quite some headway in munching our way along the food chain. The animals we have consumed since coming here include:

donkey
squid
crab
abalone
chicken
beef
mutton
grouper
Ikan Nila Goreng (aka the Sundanese "Dancing Fish")
octopus

That's what we can remember as of today. I suppose horse and dog could be added to the list. We're just not sure. One big question: Now that we have established that BBQ Stingray is our annual Easter lunch, where will we find it next year?

CRANE UPDATE: Upward swings continue at the Tanjong Pagar Container Terminal here in Singapore. The "down" cranes still outnumber the "up" cranes by quite a bit according to the latest Singapore Crane Index Limited Economic Indicator. Here's the latest look-out-the-window tally:

Date: April 25
Time: 10 a.m. (Singapore time)
Cranes Up (inactive): 8
Cranes Down (active): 17
CRANES MISSING (puzzling): 2