/** --Progress Bar-- **/

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Something about me & Singapore

I just swinged by my sister blog and this particular entry makes me really sad... Sometimes I wonder if I had made the right decision coming here...

Since it happened that I had been posting entries mentioning Singapore recently, I thought I would also have an entry giving a short intro to my homeland and me.

Home is Singapore to me. Where all my friends and family are. Home is where I had spend the first 25 years of my life at.

Home is also where almost all of my favourite food can be found. As skinny as I am, I love to EAT! My fiance is always saying that there is a fat woman hiding in that scrawny little body. Some of my favourites are: the fried chicken near my parents' flat, Mala Steamboat(I know its not really SEAsian food but I like!), satay, wanton noodle, mee siam, mee rebus, mee soto, char kway teoh, laksa, pig's organs soup, kway chap, Wu Xiang, curry fish head, roti prata, black pepper crab, chili crab, frog legs porridge, my mum's home made noodles, cuttlefish + radish soup, bak kut teh and so many many more.... ... I can go on and on. I miss all that are not found here. And so much is not found here. Singapore food is like Chinese food but yet at the same time totally different. Our food is more of a fusion of Chinese, Malay and Indian food as these are also the 3 major races that can be found there.

I am pretty sure that some of my favourite dishes must be making some of you cringed (pig organs anyone? =P). Hahaha. That is probably the chinese influence. Like my father told my fiance at the dinner table once "We, Chinese, eat everything." My fiance used to complain about the chili sauce(from Singapore) I use (cos it contains belacan). He says it smells like death but to me, it smells heavenly. Now, he is so used to it, he doesn't notice it anymore. ;-)

When I was back in Singapore, I was always dreaming about living in another country, immersing myself in another culture and having a lifestyle that is totally different from the one I had in Singapore. Well, from the looks of things so far, I got my wish. I am here in America, ~9000 miles away from home. The culture is of course totally different. You know the saying, the grass is always greener on the other side. That's the case for me. Now that I am here, I yearned to be back home. Well, that might still happen sometimes in the future. G loves Singapore too and is not opposed to relocating there. If not, there is always the yearly visit back home. Although that is nothing like living there...

Singapore FlagSince my relocation, I feel that my national pride is stronger than ever. I guess this could be due to the fact that I am far away from family and friends. Away from all that is familar. It could also be that the culture is so different, I feel even more strongly to try to hold on to my culture and values and therefore my identity.


I am still very surprised when I see people's eyes lit up with recognition when I mentioned that I am from Singapore. Most of the time, they tell me how much they loved Singapore Airline and of course the reknown Singapore girl! One of the guy even told me that he read somewhere that Singapore Airline has a special brew of perfume that supposedly makes the stewardess more alluring. I immediately called up my friend who is an air stewardess to confirm that and of course, that is totally crap. Interesting rumour, isn't it?


If they had been to Singapore before, they will tell me how much they love it. The food, the shopping, the people, the sights and of course not forgetting, how clean it is! I always beamed with pride whenever I hear these. So far, the highest form of compliments I received for my country comes from a colleague who visited Singapore just last December. She is puzzled why I would ever consider leaving Singapore. Well, love makes people do strange things.

Anyway, I had also complied a small list of links that is all about Singapore in case you are interested to find out more about my beloved tiny little country. Like where on earth it is located, the climate, the population and so on. Please check out the photo links especially. They are amazing. As they have copyrights reserved, I am not sure if I can upload it on my blog.


Image courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board

Here are some links that will provide more information about Singapore:

Image courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board

9 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

I think i had a bottle of that perfume many years ago. quite a delightful frangrance.

hope u will be back soon to enjoy what u have been missing. let me know if u need some local doses. they have the latest A1 Bak Ku Teh instant mee. taste as nice as the real thing.

ok shall stop tempting u. hehe

10 January, 2006 21:15  
Blogger Carin said...

Hi! I'm Carin, just discovered your blog. I enjoyed reading your favorite food list, I like char kway teoh, too, and belacan. I laughed when you said that your fiance said it "smells like death". Nice post.

10 January, 2006 22:08  
Blogger goodkarma said...

Singapore sounds amazing. I love to travel and hope to visit your home country someday!

11 January, 2006 00:14  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh yes, the food, that's sure to be missed. Can't find it anywhere else in the world. But you never know, I saw prata in Hong Kong while wandering around one morning. I guess being in the States is also a wonderful opportunity to savour the things you won't get back here, sort of enjoy the best of both worlds. :)

11 January, 2006 02:48  
Blogger emy said...

Just make sure you plan a food trail when you are back in Singapore to sample all the food you missed. That's the only way to do it :)

11 January, 2006 06:06  
Blogger winnie said...

Aw... now I miss it. I grew up in Jakarta, and visited Singapore at least 2-3 times a year. There was this really good Hai Nam Chicken place that I used to go to every single time. Brings back good memories.

11 January, 2006 06:16  
Blogger somebunnysloveDOTcom said...

Hi Jade,
I caught up on your recent entries, and please do not think that Virginians are ignorant... Especially this 2nd generation Filipina from Virginia Beach, VA. ;)
If you think that those folks you met are bad, you have not been up where I live in Rhode Island... :(
Warm regards,
Kimberly
=:8
Make your mark on http://www.somebunnyslove.com !!

15 January, 2006 00:43  
Blogger Ruth said...

i was born in the US, and if were to relocate to virginia, i would be DEATHLY homesick for california!! everytime we come back from a trip to singapore (husband's family is there), i am always sad to leave! maybe you can convince your fiance to come move to california, where there are alot of singaporeans here too, and local restaurants to remind you of the yummy food =)

07 February, 2006 16:32  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HI, IM LOOKING FOR ANY INFO ON THE PERFUME 'SINGAPORE GIRL'
CREATED BY DADI .
I NEED TO KNOW HOW OLD IT WOULD BE TODAY . AND WAS IT A EXCLUSIVE FRAGRANCE OR MORE READILY USED BY THE CONSUMERS. IVE BEEN GIVEN A BOTTLE OLD BOTTLE
TKS DEBORAH

16 February, 2006 05:37  

Post a Comment

<< Home