Strolling Sights: Hill In the City

It's often said that life is made out of little snippets that you must make the effort to find. 

I didn't use to believe it. 

My life had always been centered on the planned, the pre-planned, the pre-pre-planned. 

And because I'd been so used to the big dos and the efforts and the organization, it seemed like the right thing to do. 

But then one day I discovered that Life isn't only about having a Day or a Week or a Month. 

It is about the Moments within the Hours and the Minutes that exist within the Day.  

My whole perspective changed.

Surprises became rampant- more familiar- and I learnt to dwell in the Moment rather than to either have a Plan or not do it at all.

I had no idea where my feet would lead me to on this day that I went up and around Pearl's Hill. 

I hadn't even planned to go there.

All I wanted to do was to take a picture of the old State Courts from street level. (Don't ask me why- it's just one of the weird things that I sometimes do) But in the midst of finding a good vantage point I found myself on the overhead bridge spanning the entrance to the CTE Tunnel- and decided there and then that it was time I went up the hill behind the block of flats. 

I'll tell you honestly- it felt like I'd entered another world. 

No, I'm not exaggerating.

We are a small country. 

Any space we have that isn't urbanized feels like a whole new world entire. It's like you've stepped into a place of the past, yet also a place of the present, and the future. 

Because there you are- at this altitude- surrounded by all these trees and flowers and grass- yet, at any one point, at any one spot- whichever way you turn- you see elements of the city all around you.

Climbing up from the road behind Sheng Siong, you first pass by the gate of a nursing home then the road curves around the hill ahead of you. Take a left, and you'll find yourself at the foot of a long stretch of steps that seem to stretch all the way into the distance towards the summit. If you've never hiked before or if you aren't the outdoorsy type, at first sight the steps might seem daunting, but it gets better. 

The view helps. 

So is the sight of the huge concrete wall encircling the underground reservoir at the top. 

Yep, just like Fort Canning, Pearl's Hill has an underground reservoir. 

Which concrete wall you can't take picture of because no photography is allowed. 

What is allowed is a circuit around the wall- that I did- following the path- until I came to a space looking out towards Hotel Re and York Hill across the highway.

Here there was some sort of shaded picnic spot, a grove of trees, and a shelter.  A wet wipe (because I'm a girl), a bit of water, and I decided it were best I take the route opposite from where I'd come up from.

After all if you're going to hike up the hill on a hot, sunny afternoon, you might as well make the best of it. 

So down the hill on the other side I went, where- to my surprise- there was a little pond, and I found myself looking about for turtles that might be popping their heads out of the water, but there didn't seem to be any... 

I didn't make an entire round of the park to where I'd first climbed up from. Instead I took a detour, going down a steep-looking staircase to the side of the hill where the international hostel is, along Pearl's Hill Terrace where the back of what once used to be the Ministry of Interior is, and down the slope to Eu Tong Sen Street.

Maybe I should have stopped to admire the view a little more. 

But the day had been hot, the sun was setting, I'd seen Keppel in the distance, I'd seen the layout of Singapore General Hospital from her slopes on this side, and it was enough to make me wonder how the view might have been years and years ago when the prison still stood below. 

Golden Jade Restaurant

I've taken to Mainland cuisine quite recently, in particular Mala Xiang Guo, and whilst I have had the dish at a couple of places here and there around the island, there's one- at a lorong in Geylang- that somehow seems to stand out to me. 

It is a quirky place- despite being called the grandiose name of Golden Jade- so don't come expecting gleaming chandeliers, tapestry hanging on walls, wait staff in neatly pressed uniforms and luxurious seating. 

No, there is none of these. 

What you get is booth seating (thankfully quite comfortable), at parts peeling wallpapered walls, and regular, normal-looking LED light fixtures too commonplace to be of any special mention. 

The place, however, is atypical Mainland diner cozy where practicality and functionality override the planned-for aesthetics- but hey, the service is reasonable, the food comes in great portions, and most importantly it tastes good.

We had three different dishes for dinner that evening. 

The first being, of course, Mala Xiang Guo- the very reason I'd come to this restaurant for- and, having gotten full liberty to pick out the ingredients for our meal, chose two kinds of mushrooms, one portion of fried bean curd, one portion of bean curd skin, a selection of seaweed, and a selection of cabbage.

The dish, when served to our table, was delicious. 

If there's one thing I love about Mala Xiang Guo, it is that the dish is remarkably all-inclusive. Doesn't matter whether you're vegetarian or keto, doesn't matter whether you like spice or not, this is a dish that suits every palate. 

You can have a full selection of vegetables (like we did) and make your dinner a herbivore. You can have a full selection of meats and make your dinner a carnivore. Or, you can have a balance of both, which will then make your dinner an omnivore.

If you need the spice, just go for it. 

If you don't want the spice, you can have none of it as well. 

It's all very flexible. 

Me, I loved how the flavors of the oils enhanced all the ingredients I'd chosen- even the plainest of the plainest that was fried bean curd. 

And I loved how the dining experience- picking up each item with the chopsticks, nibbling it slowly (because of the mala)- forced me to slow down, letting me savor my food more. 

On hindsight, I should have ordered lettuce instead of cabbage (I don't buy from the wet market much so the Chinese characters had me confused) because I like the leaves, and I should not have underestimated the strength of their "least spicy". 

Trust me, it was very spicy!!

Good thing we had two other dishes- one of which was fried lamb- that, I soon discovered, was very effective in balancing out the spice of the Mala from your tongue.

Now, at other times I probably might have squealed at the strong, gamey taste of the meat-it really gave me barbaric carnivorous feels I'm not joking- but not that day. 

That day I learnt to appreciate the richness of its taste. 

As slowly, carefully, I worked through the plate- with hands, chopsticks and fork- piece by piece, bone by bone. 

ECP and Marina Barrage's Other Side

One of my favorite things about cycling is that I get to go to places that I normally wouldn't have a chance to go, or which I wouldn't think of going if I were not already halfway there.

Places like these be like Sarimbun, Neo Tiew Crescent, and Jalan Bahar. 

No one goes to Lim Chu Kang Road unless for a specific purpose. 

And no one goes all the way to Sarimbun unless you're heading to the Outward Bound Camp.

Lim Chu Kang is the through road I take coming from Jalan Bahar to Neo Tiew and Kranji. 

Sarimbun is another route altogether- I went halfway- saw it was too dark- and turned back.

I haven't been to these places in a long while. 

These days- what with social distancing and SAH- I tend to stick to areas nearer on the east side. 

Either Changi Village-Pasir Ris-Tampines-Bedok via the East Coast Park PCN, or Marina Barrage-Shenton Way-Keppel-Telok Blangah-Henderson-Chinatown-Kallang. 

There're several new places, however, that I do wish to go.

Like the new Jurassic Mile that opened not too long ago 

And the other side of Marina Barrage which I recently discovered. 

It was a gorgeous, sunny day when, instead of taking the Fort Road-Tanjong Rhu route to Gardens as I normally do, I decided to follow the other cyclists and take the bridge. 

The route wasn't hard- I basically followed everyone- but I did have to spin a circle when I turned out onto the road and forgot where the exact entrance of the Gardens was. 

I'm familiar with this place; I come here often, by day and by night, but not once ever- I tell you- have I made a left after crossing the bridge that spans the Marina Reservoir.

Until today.

Where I discovered, to my surprise and delight, just how quiet, and beautiful this side of the Barrage was. There were no children. There were no crowds. People drove in, parked their cars, and headed towards the Gardens. No one chose to linger by the breakwater. 

I had the space almost all to myself. 

And I fell in love with it. 

There's something very soothing about hearing the waves crash against the rocks of the breakwater. 

There's also something very hopeful about throwing your gaze over the surface of the waters to the horizon beyond- and know that the world's waiting for you out there. 

In a year like this where plans have gone to naught, where lives have been adjusted and have had to adapt, where business travel has become a process and where leisure travel is nearly impossible, views like these are the assurances we all need. 

What makes this space all the more special is that there aren't many of such spaces with the same views on our island. There's only other one I know of- near Siloso Point within the compound of Shangri La's Rasa Sentosa Resort- and which happens to be inaccessible to the general public this year.  

But I didn't stay there very long. 

One attracts a lot of (concerned) attention if you hang around at a contemplative place like this for too long a time. 

So I took a drink of water, whispered a prayer, made sure I had enough breaths of the sea salt air, and off on a familiar route to the Gardens side I went. 

Maybe it were the lack of crowds. 

Maybe it were I got emboldened by the sense of freedom that being on Daffy brings.

But here I went a little wild, pretending not to see a sign that said "no bikes" :P and sneakily slow-rode my way into a section of the Gardens that I think is sort of the back area (but open to the public), and where I managed to take a few pictures of Marina Bay Sands silhouetted amongst the leaves, and of the famous Supertrees.

Maxim's Turkish in Kampong Glam

One afternoon a couple of months back we dropped into the Kampong Glam Arab Street enclave. 

Somewhere along the way, in the midst of wandering past the indie boutiques, the ice-cream parlors and the stores selling quirky decorative knick-knacks, we decided it was a good idea to do an early dinner.

Now, the Arab Street enclave is the place to be when you want a shot at Middle Eastern food (and if don't know where to look). No worries if you're unfamiliar with the cuisine- this place offers you a myriad of introductions that the uninitiated will be able to appreciate.

There're many places here that you can choose from. Lebanese, Persian, Moroccan, Turkish etc. 

We took a walk along the paved streets, studied the menus from a couple of restaurants, and after some deliberation, decided on Maxim Grill near the Beach Road side.

Maxim Grill serves Turkish food, and with us being familiar with the cuisine of the land, it was a choice that we gravitated to. 

At first we thought we might stick with our favorites- beef wraps, kebabs and lentil soup- but a quick look at the menu made us think otherwise.  

There were very interesting dishes, and many choices. We could have hot appetizers including Halloumi and Falafel, the first of which is grilled goat's cheese, and the second of which is fried chickpea and mint fritters. We could also have  Lavas, which is Turkish balloon bread served with roasted sesame seeds, or Yaprak Sarmasi, which pickled rolled vine leaves with a rice filling. 

But a bit of discussion after- there always is one- we settled on the Pide, the Beyti Kebab, and the Babaganoush. 

I had wanted to have the Tereyagli Ekmek- homemade Turkish bread with butter) or the Lavas plus the baklava for dessert but got subtly reminded that we already had a lot of bread... 

Which, of course was true. 

Beyti Kebab is a dish of flame-grilled ground meats wrapped in a Turkish flat bread topped with homemade sauce, and Pide is the Turkish version of pizza that is really a flattened loaf of bread that we chose the toppings of lamb, and cheese. 

Also I had forgotten that the portions here weren't going to be small. 

In fact, both the chicken beyti kebab and the pide turned out to be rather large for just us two- and even the babaganoush- supposedly an appetizer of roasted eggplant, yogurt and garlic- could by itself have been a full meal.

 

It was a wonderful dinner we had. 

The beyti kebabs, warm to the fingers when they arrived at our table, were hearty and delicious, full with the juices from the grilled chicken. Sliced so carefully that it was easy to pick up with our forks, every bite had the tender of the meat mixed with the soft, melty textures of the bread.

The pide- served to us on a beautifully plated platter- was just as lovely. Decorated with parsley and onion (artistically) strewn across the boat-shaped bread, the dish arrived at our table delicately sliced, with each piece hugging tight the chopped lamb beneath a layer of richly melted cheese.

We ate mostly everything with our hands. 

I don't know whether that's good dining etiquette in Turkish culture, but sitting on a bench with colorful cushions surrounded by tall palm trees and balmy late afternoon winds, somehow, that seemed the most natural thing to do. 

Except for the babaganoush, of course, which I happily scooped up with my fork, and which in fact was a requested order of mine, because I love everything eggplant, and I love roasted eggplant better.