Tenants!

A friend once told me that she'd tenanted out a room in her flat to the same tenant for four years. 

That information caught me by surprise. 

Because, see, even though I'm not personally familiar with rental (and all that), I've heard stories- and as far as I know- it really is a rare thing that a tenant will rent a single room- in a three-bedroom apartment- staying together with the landlord- and for so long. 

A couple of months- maybe. 

A year- doable. 

But four whole years? 

That's definitely some cordial relationship going on there. 

Yeah, you can say I'm cynical. 

But whilst renting a room can be a tricky thing, renting out a room can also be a tricky thing too. 

In this world there're good tenants. 

There're crazy ones too. 

I've heard of good tenants whom, even though they do hang out in the living room and cook up a storm in the kitchen on the weekends, tend to spend most of their time in their own rooms and keep the rest of the house respectable. 

These are the ones who blast hip hop music to destress when they're back from work but care enough to adjust the volume so as not to disturb the elderly landlord sleeping in the room next door. 

Some tenants spend most, if not, all of their time in their rooms, only coming out when they want to do the laundry, go out, or shower. These are the tenants who make a special trip to IKEA and march back with comforters, cushions, table lamps, clocks, even mirrors, and (somehow) manage to survive on tea and cereals, or instant noodles, in their rooms when they're at home. They're the ones who buy air fresheners for their rooms, and spend most of their time on their laptops in their rooms working on projects and assignments as well. 

Not that they're complete introverts. 

They just seem to not mind being by themselves. 

Amongst those who prefer being by themselves are also those who decide to rent the entire apartment- pay for it- and make the whole place their own. 

The landlord told me that when they dropped into the apartment to pick up a couple of things, they were greeted by the homely sight of a checkered tablecloth draped over the coffee table- and a tenant at the dining table eating out of a tub of strawberry ice cream. 

The landlord was impressed. 

Here's the thing however. 

for every one good tenant, there is also a challenging one. 

There are tenants whom were renting two rooms (out of three) for a period of only three months but somewhere past the second month decided that the IKEA sofa in the hall was too small for their liking and went to get their own, unceremoniously dumping the smaller one by the water meter outside. 

There are tenants who get all hoity-toity (simply because they're young and because they come from Europe) and start describing a condominium apartment a 'HDB' because it has no balcony. 

These are the tenants who tell you that the place is filthy but who leave their rooms in a mess (how do they sleep at night), don't remove their shoes outside the house but instead carry the dust and dirt into the house through the living room and kitchen right up to their rooms. 

It's their way of life, the landlord grumbled to me, but how not to have a dirty house like that? 

The landlord couldn't understand how people could be this messy. 

"What, they have pixies in their home?"

But if arrogant upstarts and dusty persons made for headaches, what made it impossible were the dubious, questionable standards of hygiene some of her tenants had.  

Nothing is worse than a refrigerator shelf stained with spilled raw chicken blood after a tenant has taken out a piece to cook and is too lazy to tighten the bag properly. 

Nothing is worse than a house filled with stale smoke and grease because a tenant chooses the cheapest, smokiest cooking oil- and leaves the chicken wing oddly positioned in the pan for half an hour whilst the oil splatters everywhere. 

"There's no use cleaning up," she complained. "It starts all over again tomorrow."

This- she told me- had to be one of the worst tenant experienced she'd ever had in her life. 

It was a nightmare. 

Worse than a nightmare.

There were cigarette butts on the floor (in a non smoking house!) 

The remnant chicken bones of a finished meal were left on the plate on the dining table for more than ten hours in the sweltering afternoon heat- whilst the tenant stayed in the room blasting loud music, playing video games. 

Maybe the tenant thought the frail-looking elderly landlord would be impressed by the sounds of the game, and the accompanied sounds of gameplay. 

She was not. 

This was a landlord who had been familiar with computers and computer games for more than a decade, and who had, in one of her latter business ventures operated a LAN gaming shop when that trend was in its heyday. 

No, the dropping of f-bombs from one player did not intimidate her. 

She'd had had nine of them doing the same thing at the same time in the same place on two different games. 

Suffice it to say she was more amused than impressed. 

Because for all the masochistic, spoilt brat, 'my game is more important than cleaning up' attitude- it was very clear that the tenant was not leveling up.

Despite being on the game for more than six hours every day. 

Tembeling That Side

It's an oft-assumed notion when someone mentions Joo Chiat that the place is just Joo Chiat Road and the heritage shop houses running alongside it. 

But it isn't. 

Joo Chiat has her own stories, her own history, her own secrets, her own nooks and corners. 

She's an area that- even with the inclusion of Joo Chiat Place, Joo Chiat Lane, Joo Chiat Terrace, and Joo Chiat Avenue- is much more. 

I don't profess to know the place in her entirety. 

But I do profess to want to know more about her, and the roads that surround her. 

It is for this reason that on one particular evening (when I had time to kill) I decided it be a good idea to gander around some roads which I'd always been interested in. 

Funny thing was I'd actually no idea where to begin. 

At first I thought of heading towards the Marshall Lane/Haig Road side, but then I realized I'd biked there not too long ago and I remembered the area well. 

After that I thought of the Everitt, North Everitt, Jln Nangka area, but then the idea of walking the entire Koon Seng Road just for those three streets got me a little huffled. 

So- after standing for a while at the cross junction of Joo Chiat Road, Koon Seng Road and Dunman Road- I decided I'd make my way towards Tembeling Road instead. 

For friends unfamiliar with the area, Tembeling Road is basically this one long road that runs almost parallel to her more famous counterpart- Joo Chiat Road- and it starts from East Coast Road on the southern end, ending at Joo Chiat Place on the northern end. 

Intersected by Koon Seng Road, the southern stretch towards East Coast Road is more residential- you get terrace houses and condominium apartments. The northern stretch, however, seems to be where the interesting part is- and so that's where I went. 

First thing that greeted me after I made a left from Koon Seng Road onto Tembeling was a stretch of shop houses. 

Now, they might be quieter and less conspicuous than those shop houses behind, but on this quiet stretch alone you will find a daycare center, a place offering premium cuts of meats imported from Japan, and a newly opened eating place offering (South?) Indian cuisine. Further on at a  corner unit is a store known for its traditional Teochew kuehs. 

After the kueh store came an alley, then a cul de sac with quaint three-storeyed buildings of (maybe) 70s design on either side. One thing about these buildings (I think they're cool) is that I often find myself wondering how the apartments look like. What's the layout like? Are they spacious? Are they sunny? How large is the kitchen? What is the bathroom like? Why do some people use the balcony like a storeroom whilst others don't? 

The exteriors of the buildings here didn't offer much clues to how the interiors looked like- but I thought the occupants were probably more of the practical type.

Opposite this road was a park. Next to it was the side gate of a primary school.

This side of the road, however, I came upon a Chinese temple. I'm afraid I don't know the name, but I've heard of its popularity, especially on certain dates, and even on this bright, sunny evening there were devotees offering their prayers outside the semi-closed (Covid-restricted) gates. 

From here I took a right onto Joo Chiat Place, coming upon more shop houses and more shops. 

Here at the junction of Tembeling and Joo Chiat Place was a newly opened fruit shop, after which was a braised duck eating house (haven't been there in a long time), a gym, a pet hotel, an interior design firm, then Kim Choo Kueh Chang. 

There're two outlets in the area (I think) but this is the one that most visitors on walking tours come to. 

No surprise- there're a variety of bak zhang hanging tantalizingly above the counter, there're the boxes of colorful nonya kuehs, the jars of cookies on the shelves, and the pre-packed desserts in the chiller. They make for some good conversation, and some hard decisions. :)

Directly across the road from Kim Choo is Smokey's- a casual, cozy place known for its American cuisine, steaks, nachos and chili. They're quite pet-friendly too. Last time we were there we sat alfresco with our nachos, our burger and our chili entertained by two adorable doggos beneath the table beside.  

I don't know much else about this commercial stretch of Joo Chiat Place, but ice-cream supplier Chip Guan Heng's here, as well as two coffee shops- one famous for wanton mee, the other famous for its char kuay teow. 

The rest of the road seems to be mostly residential. 

At least that's what I saw. 

On one side there were the beautifully restored heritage-certified shop house homes. On the other side there were the (more modern) terrace houses, each of individual design. 

Not that the quaintness disappeared. 

Ahead, near the Still Road junction on was an apartment building of (maybe) the 50s and 60s, including one which used to be the residence of Singapore's National Anthem composer Zubir Said. 

I don't know which side of the building the apartment is. 

So I didn't take a picture. 

But I thought I'd take a picture of the lane near where the building stood.  

Strangely enough, it was also here- nearing the crossroads- that I found myself having to make the decision between turning back, hopping on a bus, or carrying on.

Tell you the truth- for a while I stood there- not knowing quite what I should do. 

On one hand I was feeling a little tired. 

On the other hand, the opposite side of the road (still) beckoned. 

After turning about in a couple of circles, I decided that since I'd already come this far, I might as well carry on and see how much further my (tired) feet could go. 

So across the busy Still Road I went- into the enclave known as Telok Kurau.

I'm not familiar with this enclave- I don't know where the turns are and the only thing I know about this place is that it is mostly residential, and that there are several school buildings- from decades past- about. 

It takes a bit of a slow walk to realize that indeed, whilst there is Lorong M, Lorong K, Lorong H and so on- somewhere in the center between Changi Road and East Coast Road is in fact *still* Joo Chiat Place- a continuity from the Joo Chiat Place which I'd previously walked. 

I can't visualize how this road would have looked in earlier days. 

But today there are semi-Ds, terraced houses and condominium apartments on this road. 

There is what used to be a very small hawker center at the junction with Still Road. 

There is Parkway East Hospital and a charming little coffee shop at the junction with Telok Kurau Road. 

And further on, leading towards Telok Kurau Park and the canal, is an arts place, a pottery studio and a special education school. 

This evening I didn't walk the end to the canal side. 

There were errands elsewhere awaiting me to do. 

So up the bus I hopped- and left. 

It's been a while since I did this impromptu walk in the enclave. 

I can't say that I know this place like the back of my hand. 

Neither can I say that I remember everything that I saw on this two hour stroll.

But the impressions I received from this area I remember. 

And I remember them well. 

Maybe in life there are impressions you don't forget. 

And maybe in life there are impressions you see clearer when you're looking at an expanded Google Map.  

85 Fengshan

My friend asked me if I had come before.

I said I couldn't remember. 

I might have come once, or twice, in the last few years. 

I might not have.

Maybe I came a very, very long time ago. 

But that was was a long, long time ago. 

It wasn't the same for my friend the East-sider, however, who not only had great memories of the times he'd come here for late-night supper with Family, he had also fond memories of the food they'd had here.

Noob that I was had no idea what was best here, so off my friend went, and very soon, came back bearing a plate of flour crackers and ngoh hiang from the ngoh hiang stall he and his family used to buy. 

The taste, he said, was still the same- little rolls containing minced meat and chopped water chestnuts, and big crunchy crackers that (I mistakenly thought) were supposed to come with a prawn head tucked inside. 

There was no prawn, of course. 

But this one was incredibly fun to eat. 

Super deep fried, it crumbled easily into pieces at the very first bite- and made for perfect nibbling all through dinner. 

Here's the funny thing: I Don't know  the name of this cracker. 

Neither does my friend. 

I guess we'll just keep calling it flour crackers.

Along with the nibbles from the ngoh hiang stall were the BBQ chicken wings. 

Don't underestimate these little bites- they might be a familiar sight at outdoor barbecues- but there's something about the way they're done here that make you want to order more. 

I suppose it's the way they marinate them.

Or it might be the way that they're constantly turned 360 degrees over the heat such that each piece comes out perfectly barbecued- with very crispy (and oily) chicken skin, and tender, flavorful, juicy meat. 

My friend ate his using his hands. 

I had mine with the aid of a tissue grasped in my hand. 

BBQ chicken wings are a staple of Fengshan, by the way. 

Never miss out on them when you're there. 

It would feel a bit of a waste otherwise. 

I should know; I've been back there a couple of times since the time of these pictures- and not on all of those occasions I've been able to have the wings. 

That's fine however; I went there (specially) for the porridge, and this century egg pork porridge is really, really, really good too.

I'm not exaggerating. 

We had it on this first time that I was there. 

And it's got me going back there twice since then. 

Thick and smooth like a hug that embraces your throat with comforting warmth, each bowl's got plenty of ingredients that you can either swirl them around and mix them with each spoonful, or you can leave them aside and alternate them with the smooth, almost silky rice porridge. 

My bowl had pork balls, pork slices, century eggs, plus spring onions, fried shallots, and a generous portion of crispy youtiao.

One thing I love about this porridge is the memories that it brings me. 

I've grown up eating porridge of the thick, thick kind, and even though I've been to places where the quality is Cantonese, not many of them come close to the homecooked style that speaks to me.

This one does. 

It makes me think of the slow-cooker porridges we used to make for Saturday dinners at home. 

It makes me think of how I liked scraping the sticky leftover bits from the sides of the cooker pot. 

And it makes me think of Saturday mornings at the market downstairs where we'd go to get fresh ingredients. 

The Family's gone towards the cold platter route with our century eggs these days, so, yes, I'm glad- I'm really, really glad- that I've found a porridge stall (in a hawker center!) that's worth traveling over an hour for all the way from the other side of town. 

Anti-Vaxxers VS Living Longer

It's Tuesday today. 

Come tomorrow morning- at don't know what time- the unvaccinated in Singapore will be disallowed into all dining places- restaurants, cafes, coffee places, bubble tea places, diners, patisseries, coffee shops and hawker centers.  

That's not all. 

Come October 19th, the unvaccinated will not be permitted into shopping malls and large standalone stores either. 

In recent days- no, actually- since Saturday when this rule was announced- there has been major discussion- on a nationwide level- over these rules. 

Some are for them, some are against them, some think they're too heavy handed, others feel there are too many grey areas that no one knows which is which and which is not and how will it be implemented and so on. 

I don't like to venture too deep into thought processes and opinions and solutions. 

There is no perfect opinion the same way there is no perfect solution. 

It's all very subjective. 

Moreover, to talk about the unvaccinated we have to retreat all the way to who exactly the unvaccinated are. 

I'm not sure- I might be wrong- there could be many subgroups out there, but in general (I think) there are just two main groups of Unvaccinated Persons. 

One group is the Live Long. 

The other is the Anti Vaxxer. 

The Live Long group comprise those who don't wish to be vaccinated for medical related reasons. 

Some of them have been certified. 

Some of them have not. 

There are those who are already taking medication for current conditions (even though not certified by a doctor) 

And there are those who look at the genetic makeup aka biological parents, siblings and close family and make their own estimations. 

Amongst the Live Long group are those who have an aversion (usually longstanding) to any form of drugs in their body, unless absolutely, absolutely necessary. 

And then there are those who have gone through life (more or less) without much health conditions and so do not wish shake the immunity/body system. 

It's not very hard to identify who these "Live Long" individuals are. 

They're the ones who take a rational, subdued, almost regretful tone when speaking about the vaccine because even though they do recognize the need for medical/drug intervention, they regret that they cannot, and don't wish, to risk it for the sake of living longer. 

With them they are very clear on where they stand- and more often than not- they take the road of caution and social responsibility. 

You won't find them gathering in groups of four or five chatting boisterously. 

You won't find them huddled around a table at a coffee shop or a hawker center or intermingling with others. 

These are the ones whom you find sitting alone quietly at a table either having their meal or enjoying a cup of kopi. 

These are the ones whom you find sitting alone at the public spaces for a couple of minutes watching the youth have a random game of basketball. 

And these are the ones who mostly stay home during peak hours and occupy their time with the television and the radio. 

Many of them stay alone. 

Or they stay with another person whom they do not wish to burden. 

Ask them about the vaccine and they will  tell you- somewhat regrettably- that even though they know the virus has really thrown the world into chaos and they (should) go for the jab, they know they have (insert medical condition) or they know their siblings and late parents have had (insert medical condition) and although they know they're at higher risk of the virus, they've weighed their options and the risk of one outweighs the other. 

That being said, there are also the "Live Longs" who throw all caution to the wind and really, really, really, REALLY live. 

Their attitude leans towards the "bochup heck care que sera sera haiya whatever then whatever" kind. 

These are the ones who go to the very same places as their more cautious counterparts do, but where those might be eating char siew rice alone by themselves, they'll (likely) not be eating *only* the char siew rice, but might also have a bit of wanton noodles, a bit of chicken rice, a bit of chap cai png, some beers, the cai tow kuay, and maybe even bee hoon from the zichar stall. 

And since a person cant eat all of that by themselves, along comes the interaction, the chatter, the chuckles, the coffee shop talk, the 'tasks' at the coffee shop, and of course, the intermingling as well. 

Let's just say there're a lot of heys and hellos with them. 

(That's not to say that they're the Unvaccinated Persons- many of them have gotten the jab- that's just to say that there're the Unvaccinated ones who do go out and live life never mind the future) 

I'm more sympathetic with this group when it comes to the new rules. 

I'm, however, far less sympathetic with the other group. 

The Anti-Vaxxers.

If it hadn't been reported that there're Telegram groups, I wouldn't have known that there were that large a community around. 

It's quite hard to differentiate an Anti Vaxxer from a Live Long for the reason that Anti Vaxxers use the same (medical) reasons for refusing the vaccination.  

But, given a recent news report, and given the one time where I 'couldn't stand it anymore' and interacted with one, may I just say that these Anti Vaxxers don't just stick to the medical reasons, or the "live long" reasons, but instead have many other (oft longwinded) explanations that somehow seem to have a similar sort of reaction and belief pattern? 

For one thing, they're very religious. 

Okay, I don't mean religious as how we describe the religious (believers) of the worlds' known faiths. 

But I mean religious as in how they're very, very passionate about what it is they believe in. 

Which is strange, because I don't even know what it is they believe in. 

For one thing- and this I'm quite sure- it isn't the known faiths of the world- even though a good number of them claim to be followers and worshippers- and can quote (bits and pieces) of the faith they say they are in. 

Come to think of it, those I've observed so far seem to like quoting (or misquoting) the Bible. 

They call you (all of you) "sheeple". (Which is dumb as heck because as far as I know there're not that many Faiths that have a Shepherd and Sheep- I know only of one- and so if we're following the 'wrong' shepherd, then they must be following the 'right' one, but they don't behave like the 'right' one, they don't know who the 'right' one is either, and when confronted with this question, they can't answer except to go defensive and call you dumb sheep all over again)

They take verses out of context. (Including but not excluding the Sermon on the Mount) 

They focus on the devil more than they focus on God and faith-based teaching or even on the verses in the Bible (Because somehow the vaccine is an act of the devil and the devil is smarter than us- but hey, WHERE then is the Lord?)

There're a lot of nasty words firing from their mouths, trust me. 

It can't even be called toxic- because it isn't. 

With toxic people there's usually an identifiable psychological issue that a skilled psychiatrist or psychologist can decipher its root. With these people, it's more like there's some sort of Anger that's concealed beneath the surface which then is spat out through words (it's often words) that contain a mix of condemnation, condescension, sarcasm, spite and goodness knows what else which (although make them sound intellectual- all the big words) do nothing but create fear, worry, panic, guilt and most importantly, are not kind. 

The lack of kindness is not in any faith, I do say. 

Which then makes me wonder- why out of all the religious texts in this world they would choose only the Bible to 'quote' from? Why not.. I don't know.. other texts from other faiths? Surely they too have been translated to English that these intellectual ones can understand?  

Not just the Christianity faith that is pulled into this whole debate, there're also a lot of conspiracy theories floating about. 

In the last couple of months alone I've heard that the Illuminati were responsible for the vaccines, I've heard that the Freemasons had something to do with it, and that all these vaccines were the same as what Josef Mengele did to the Jews during the Holocaust. 

I can't speak for the Illuminati or the Freemasons but I do know that Israel vaccinated quite a good percentage of their people, including the Shoah survivors, and I doubt very much those survivors compared the vaccine to that of what they went through in Auschwitz-Birkenau. 

There's quite a lot of deceit and guilt tripping going around the Anti Vaxxers. 

Some of them claim that they should take a particular drug over the other, and maybe there are people who use it as a form of treatment but such advice is all fine and friendly until a particular person acts upon it, consuming said drug (which they paid money to same Anti Vaxxer for, no less) after having gotten a dose of a 'less dangerous, less sinful' vaccine. 

It's quite obvious by now where my leanings lie. 

Which brings me to the whole point of all this blather. 

Maybe it's necessary to place in some measures. 

Maybe it's necessary to be stricter. (Not like it wasn't done before)

But the Live Longs and the Anti Vaxxers aren't of the same category. 

They don't hold the same beliefs, they don't say the same things, they don't behave the same way, they don't even dispense the same advice. 

And so I find it a huge pity that because of one side (whom I'll daringly say are self centered) the other side has had their lives disrupted, their social interactions compromised, and their regular errands thrown into chaos. 

You might disagree with me, but even though I might be able to understand why Unvaccinated Persons can't sit in coffee shops and hawker centers (over exuberance, late night coffee shop talk, masks off thingy), I'm afraid I can't see the same logic for denied entry into shopping malls. 

Before we go into the 'haiya what's the big deal just don't shop lor', we have to put into perspective what shopping malls mean to the lives of Singaporeans. Unlike other countries where retail space and retail footfall are not major factors of the annual calculations, here on our little island, they are. 

What that means to us the consumer and local dweller is that many- many- of our regular services, errands and lifestyles are built around the stores available only in the malls. 

Mind, it isn't just the Pioneer Gen who are Unvaccinated. Younger ones might fall in the Live Long category too. Why does a Live Long Merdeka or Boomer have to be denied entry to, say, HOOGA, UNIQLO, MARKS & SPENCER, SCOOPZ, MUJI or even DAISO (because the Anti Vaxxer Merdeka or Boomer type is denied)?

There are stores in these malls that are just not present in the 'downstairs' shops. That's just how it is- for our island- and somehow- somehow- I find it a little hard to accept that the rules should be the same for all Unvaccinated Persons, especially since there are now no more empty seats in the malls, the SDAs are very onz in their job, they can't dine in at food court or restaurant, they can't snack behind one pillar- it's not permitted (I should know) and their masks are on almost all the time.

It's already hard enough for the Live Long Unvaccinated Persons to be denied the dine-in liveliness of our coffee shop/hawker atmosphere.

Let's not deny them entry into an aspect of what is a very fluid part of our economy. 

Let's not shut them off from the world they did work hard for and contribute to.

And even if they be the anti-vaxxer kind, there's not so much impact on prevention as the fact that they now have 'another' reason to justify their Anger, and in any case, they can mingle and dispense the same sort of advice to their followers/friends/listeners elsewhere on this island, can't they? 

North Miznon

Seeing these pictures of my Dinner at Israeli restaurant North Miznon make me wish I'd followed my instincts to use the phone instead of the camera. 

But I was stubborn... and blindly hopeful.

Of course it is apparent now that I need the miracle from the magic of a software.

Which I don't have. 

So... these pictures will just have to do. 

 

They look weird, I know. 

Next time I'll go with my social-media brain instead of my hungry-customer brain- because the food here definitely deserves much more than these overly-expressive pictures that make the food look so much less appetizing than what they really were. 

It was our first time. 

As would have been for many a customer- the restaurant having opened only just a week earlier from the time we dined there. 

The place had come recommended by a friend who'd introduced it as the second dining concept from chef Eyal Shani- the same chef who'd also helmed the kitchen of the now one-year-old Israeli street food place further down the road.  

All this, however, I found out only after we'd been seated, and only whilst I was looking at the menu. 

Having not (yet) been to the other, let's just say that I, umm, (sort of) confused the two.

See, where I'd been looking for casual eats like Eggs No Steak, Falafel Burger or Ribeye Steak with Egg on the menu, what I saw was Slow Roasted Whole Indian Cabbage Head, Fennel Bulb, Seafood Platter, Burning Yellow Potato, and variations of steak. 

Took me a minute or two to reset my bearings before reading the menu with a new eye. 

We'd hoped to order the famed Sirloin Roast Beef Carpaccio on the Rock, but with us being the second turn, it was no more available, so my dining companion decided to have his steak in another style instead. 

Arranged strategically (like a flower, I thought) over a bed of tahini, topped with a generous heap of finely chopped tomatoes, the beef slices were perfect in terms of thickness, in texture, and in taste. 

If my dining companion was delighted with the meat, I, on the other hand, was enthralled by the tahini. 

I'm not exaggerating. 

I really fell in love with it. 

You might say that it's not such a big deal, that tahini is available in specialty stores and supermarkets, and that it's nothing more than just ground-up sesame- but you don't know the feeling it gives you when you take the first bite of beef and tahini together, and then a few seconds later realize that the smooth, creamy, salty, near-milky flavor is not cheese. 

The joy of having tahini together with the beef overwhelmed me so much I ended up yammering happily about it all through my own meal of big spinach leaves and cute soft (Viennese?) potatoes sitting snug in a lake of beautiful yellow (I don't know how it's prepared) cheese.

Some might argue that this is no different than creamed spinach. 

But spinach and cream don't offer you the same warmth that spinach, potatoes and cheese do. 

You know, if there's one word that best describes the food here, it would be exactly this: Warmth. 

I felt it everywhere. 

In the beef, in the tahini, in the tomatoes heaped upon the beef, even in the delicate soft potatoes, the clear lake of yellowy cheese- and especially- especially in their focaccia bread. 

I've never had focaccia bread like this before. 

Maybe I'm too much of a casual diner, but for some reason the bread gave me serious thin-crust pizza vibes.

Layered with onion, tomato and green peppers, accompanied by a dip made of sour cream and Yemeni zhug (green peppers seasoned with garlic, olives and coriander), their bread was crisp on the bite, warm on the palate and, so welcoming even as you felt the gently warmed olive oil (generously drizzled over the bread) slid down your throat into your stomach, and into your heart. 

This was another dish that we fell straightaway in love.

So good it was that we continued to savor the bread all through our meal, even through dessert. 

I wish we'd ordered the "Cardboard"- a tasting platter of all the desserts available- but us being full by then, we decided to go for just the Malabi instead. 

A traditional dessert- the Israeli rosewater milk pudding made me think of our local bandung, but unprocessed, way less sweet, and certainly, much healthier. 

I'd like to try the Sirloin Roast Beef Carpaccio on the Rock next time we come. 

I'd also like to try the 'Cardboard' desserts (do they allow sharing?)

And I'd certainly leave more room for the bread.

Because- as noob as I am when it comes to food- I appreciate the re-interpretation of familiar favorites and casual eats. 

Maybe I don't know what it means to have lemon butter with crab, squid and prawns. 

Maybe I don't know what it's supposed to mean when one has a fennel bulb or a whole head of cabbage for dinner. 

But I do know what it means when one can't have a cheeseburger. 

I do know what it means when one has to go for cheese over cream. 

And I do know what it means when the usual pizza is out of the question (or limited) and so better it is to have lots, and lots of clean-tasting, fresh, pure-oil, crispy bread free-flow.   

It's signature, and it's a good deal. ;)

Ruins & Rambutans @ Thomson Nature Park

An acquaintance told me about the ruins of a Hainan Village "amongst the trees!" that she'd seen whilst forest bathing in Thomson Nature Park.

And because 2021 seems to be the year where I explore the parks of the Central Catchment Area, I went. 

One of the best things about going to a new place is when you find yourself discovering more stuff than what you'd originally planned. 

I thought the (only) thing I was going to see were the ruins (amongst the trees). 

As it turned out, I left the place with a little bit more. 

Thomson Nature Park situates itself between the reservoirs of Upper/Lower Peirce, Upper/Lower Seletar, and Windsor Nature Park. 

It's a relatively new park (I think), and- based on the solitude the day I was there- doesn't seem as oft visited as, say, the reserves of MacRitchie, Peirce, Henderson Waves or Seletar. 

Maybe also because it was so quiet that I was able to properly look at the trees, and one of the first things that struck me was how similar the foliage was to that of the Southern Ridges. 

Let me say it first- I'm no plant person- I can't garden, I can't farm, and woe be me if I have to distinguish one tree from the other by only its leaves and bark.

But I can "feel" the difference between one sort of foliage and another, and the trees here reminded me of the forested areas I once saw at Imbiah (Sentosa) and Kent Ridge Park. 

It didn't matter which part of the Park I was walking in- whether this intersection or that intersection, whether this road or that road- the foliage all seemed familiar. 

And, strangely enough, the feeling became more and more profound the deeper I wandered into the Park. 

It might have been the Impressions left behind by the memories. 

Or it might have been the warm mist left lingering by the earlier rains. 

I cannot emphasize enough how quiet Thomson Nature Park, and I seriously suggest *not* going alone (no matter how much you want to space out and be in touch with Nature). 

The whole place is divided into sections, or plots- all of which are presently inaccessible, bordered by rope railings put up by the authorities presumably to keep inexperienced walkers (like me) out. 

You're strongly advised to stick to the designated walking paths that at one time would have been 'kampong' roads leading from the main Upper Thomson Road into the heart of the Village. 

These roads- silent and empty as they are- retain their names, and if you were to stop and close your eyes, you'd might still be able to sense the distinctive kampong road vibes. 

It's hard to put into words what the atmosphere's like- but it immerses you right from the start just as you enter the Park- and doesn't leave you until you step back out onto the main road. 

It's like... have you ever been to a place so enclosed that- were it not for your mobile phone- you might have forgotten that you were in present-day Singapore with her concrete housing board flats, her glass skyscrapers, and her system of MRT lines?  

That's how the whole place made me feel. 

For the entire hour (or so) that I was there, I completely forgot that further up the road northwards were the estates of Yishun and Sembawang, and that coming up from the South I'd passed by Velocity and Courtyard by Marriott right near Novena. 

Thomson Nature Park was like a world cocooned within a larger world within an Earth within a Universe. 

Made me wonder how life was like for those who once lived there. 

The village wasn't isolated- that's for sure. 

Neither was the place without life. 

They might have been a little far from the shop house structures of our present-day enclaves or even the grandiose architectures by the Padang- but they moved in a circle of their own- a circle familiar to them- a circle from sunrise to sunset day on day, year on year. 

I wonder where some of the dwellers are now. 

According to the heritage board along one of the roads, the last Villagers left sometime in the mid-80s. 

That's.. not very long ago. 

It would be lovely to hear some of their stories. 

I'd like to know if they lived in zinc roofed houses or attap roofed ones. 

I'd also like to know how it was like living amongst the solid-looking structures whose moss-covered ruins I saw amidst the trees. 

What were some of these structures used for?

Why did some of them look like they were half buried in the ground? 

Were they meant to be that way?

Ohhh, there're so many questions I'd love to ask. 

How was it like when it rained? Did the mist drive away the humidity the same way it did when I was there? 

Was the rambutan plantation as large as it had always been when it was first established? Where did they sell the rambutans to? Did they make rambutan desserts from the fruit or did they make some sort of jam?

Was it a very lively Village? Did they have a lot of visitors on a regular basis? 

Did they have a school- a primary one at least? 

Did the mobile cinema come to the Village? Where in the area did they set the screen up? Did the drinks and snacks peddlers come? 

I doubt very much I'll get any answers. 

Especially since it can be accepted that- after having had to say goodbye to their dwellings of over 90 years- they might want to cherish their memories within the time of their existence- and leave them there.

They might not want to remember. 

They might not need to remember.

In a way, that's a good thing too. 

After all, the freedom's theirs. 

In this world there are some places best left as they are. 

It is not necessary for us to have all the answers. 

Neither is it necessary for us to probe into years that have been lived and which today dwell in Silence. 

We just need to see them as they are. 

In the distance, in the Moment of Existence.

And in the space of Time to which they belong.