Singapore - A Gastro Maestro.

Singapore is unique in many ways. It is one of the three surviving city states in the world. It has gone from being a British crown colony merged with Malaysia, to a Japanese occupied war-torn city to now a booming, populous sovereign state. Since 1905, it has also changed its timezone 6 times. Pretty impressive for a place that is only 2/3rd the size of New York City, right?

Well, all this history can get a bit heady if it doesn’t translate on to your plate. And it does. Thanks to its incredibly diverse population and culture, the food scene of Singapore is unlike any other. My husband and I have been to Singapore twice and both times have returned with serious food coma. This is our Singapore food sojourn, some highly-anticipated favourites, some dubious experiments, some dreamy delicacies but all totally memorable.

Chilli Crab

This is a postcard tourist delicacy and no wonder why. Supposed to have had with the shell on, this succulent fleshy creation is Singapore’s no.1 culinary export to the world. Try both the butter garlic & black pepper options, and definitely keep a tissue box handy.  

Where: Jumbo

Peranakan

This is where culture meets culinary. For centuries, countless Chinese families immigrated from Mainland Chine to the regions now called Penang (Northern Malaysia), Indonesia and Singapore. Known as Peranakan Chinese or Straits Chinese, these people married the locals and with that developed a unique flavourful cuisine of their own. In fact the beloved Laksa is a culinary creation of this ethnicity. You can always tell Peranakan cuisine by its abundant use of coconut milk, laksa leaves, lemongrass and tamarind. Among desserts, you must try the Sago Gula Melaka, which is a palm jaggery/sugar shaved ice dessert, light and packed with flavour, it ends your meal on a happy, blissful note.

DUCK SALAD

BEEF RENDANG

LADYFINGER SAMBAL

FISH HEAD CURRY

SINGAPORE LAKSA

SAGO GULA MELAKA

Where: The Blue Ginger

Roti Prata

Soft, aromatic and fluffy, these flour flatbreads are served with a spicy savoury meat (mostly chicken) curry. They come in onion, cheese and other delicious stuffings and prove to be an ideal early evening snack with friends.

Where: Mr. & Mrs. Mohgan’s

Street grub

For all those wanting to pig out in the city, be pleased to know that Singapore has some of the most delicious meat dishes – be it duck, beef or pork. And you don’t really have to shell out a fortune to taste these glocal grubs. Some unmissables are Hainanese chicken rice, spicy pork noodles, BBQ duck with tofu rice, red bean dumplings, Singapore spicy sausages, deep fried pork balls, roasted pork belly. If you want to go out on a limb and try something radical and really local, I would suggest the durian coffee. It is creamy and rich with the signature garlicy flavour of durian. Legend has it that people have passed out on the smell of this oddly-expensive fruit so the challenge is not for the weak-hearted.

SPICY PORK NOODLES

RED BEAN BUNS

SPICY SAUSAGES

ASSORTED STREET FOOD

ROASTED DUCK

ROASTED DUCK RICE PLATE

ROASTED PORK

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE

FRIED WANTONS

DUCK IN RED BEAN GRAVY

Where: Maxwell Food Centre, ChinaTown

Din Tai Fung

From a failed cooking oil business to making the best dumplings in Asia (if not the world), founder Yang Bing-yi has scripted one of the biggest food success stories in history. His little drops of heaven, golf-balled sized, white translucent dumplings filled with pork, shrimps and chives are things to cherish forever. In fact, it’s something that makes you keep coming back for more. Although almost everything on the menu is lip-smackingly good, my best lunch was pork xiao long baos with the lemongrass juice.

PORK XIAO LONG BAO

Thirst Quenchers

Singapore has some of the fastest walkers on the planet, which means it has some really cool and delicious ways to re-hydrate. 

HANDCRAFTED BEERS AT CLARK QUAY

THE HUMBLE JASMINE GREEN TEA

OPTIONS GALORE

All this food talk made you hungry? Maybe it’s time to plan a quick trip to Singapore. The clammy tropical weather doesn’t really provide a “best time to travel” tip, but if you plan it around a national holiday like Christmas or the Chinese New Year, you are sure to experience an even more enriching culture fest. Time to Singapore, la!

When power corrupts

When power corrupts…

Is corporate India misogynistic? Is a question I’ve been asking myself for a few weeks now. Very recently the news of TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar surfaced about sexually harassing a woman. Not long after, more such allegations surfaced from multiple women coming out and openly speaking about facing similar workplace issues. The funny thing is though, there is no official FIR from these complainant. They are either anonymous blog posts or casual disclosures of the matter. The first reaction whenever we hear news of a woman complaining of harassment at work is victim-shaming. We imagine there are vested interests and we say, “She’s doing it for money.” If that is the case, then why not fuel the fire with an FIR, why not come out in the open and really get the bull by its horns. Why be anonymous? What is the vested interest there? If multiple women have come forward, in one way or other, means that this is more than a smokescreen. And after listening to Mr. Kumar stereotype “heterosexual & single” men, I am convinced this man needs therapy and education. Over the years, we have seen powerful men, from Trump to Phaneesh Murthy to Tarun Tejpal, abuse power on women. When you hold such tremendous financial and social power over your juniors, when you are a star on the rise, then you come with a sense of entitlement, and with a sense of lawlessness that makes you feel you can get away with anything. This leads you to rise above your position, your responsibilities and see the world beneath with a pair of supremacy-tinted glasses. A British historian once said “power tends to corrupt”. It is only the most matured and evolved of minds that go unfazed with power. Men of a different mental-build handle power of position and respect for others in the same degree. Most men corrupt.  

Harassment doesn’t always have to start with a hand run-down on the thigh. It could start small – with personal things, which leads to dependency and even promises of career advancement. And as the pressure builds on, so does the severity of the abuse and assault. And when it is time to end or “abort” mission, there is the proverbial wrongful termination of employment.

In a workplace where the sex ratio is skewed, harassment is commonplace and happens to us all, we admit it or not. The gravity of it varies. Solution: To not keep quiet. To talk about it, share the experience because if he has done it to you, he probably has done it others before you. And in cases like these, the only way to stop the victim-shamers is with proof of numbers.

You see what you want to see.

No matter how much you try to change perception, people will see what they want to see. They are so bound by their own thoughts and their "world views" that they don't let new light shine through the darkness. It indirectly bullies you, it makes you question your ability and worst of all, it makes you hate something you love. These people are wound up by their ways. Their stubborn minds make them slaves of misconception. Their refusal to open their eyes makes others blinded as well, especially those who aren't brave enough to follow their own instinct.

Advice is to stay away from much negatives. But the issue is that life is full of such negatives. The trick is to shrug it off and not let it affect you. What has no power over you can never sway you to change. And you don't need to if you know you're doing your best. So, at a time when I am facing a certain dilemma of "who I am" and "Who I should be".. I choose to remain to be who I am and nothing changes that. I continue to smile and wave, and joke and chat but they will never know of my self-awareness. My silence may mistaken for weakness and they will never know the strength at my core that stopped me from breaking down and molding into someone I am not.