Little Walk By The River

It's been often said that sunshine, water, sky and fresh air will do a person loads of good.

So this afternoon I stepped away from what I was doing and went out for a breather. 

I didn't know where I was going.

I didn't care.

So my feet took me over this side of the Singapore river that we call Clarke Quay. 

At first I did not know what I was looking for. 

Neither did I know what I was looking at. 

But life is such where it just comes upon you and you end up seeing things you weren't thinking of seeing.

After a bit of a stone (stare) at the long-refurbished godowns, the cool grey sky and the bumboats, I actually began looking at the space around me. 

First thing that halted my steps was this view from the back of a tree not too far from the steps and the water's edge.

Greenery does let you see things a little differently. 

It also gives your spirits a bit of a boost, such that instead of sitting at the edge of the steps as you originally intended to, now you decide to keep going and walk about just a little bit more. 

I went onto the bridge- of which I do not know its name. 

Here, however, instead of looking forward- I spun around and looked back. 

It's strange, but it isn't every day that I stop to take notice of sights such as these. 

Even though I've walked past it (and the Jumbo Seafood Restaurant) a couple of times, I've never stopped to take notice of the roofs, the windows, the colorful pillars along the bank or even the sheltered tent canopies belonging to the restaurants housed inside. 

But today I did. 

And all of a sudden I wondered if these same structures could be found elsewhere. 

Here's the interesting bit.

We're an island but have never really been an island, so I'm pretty sure somewhere in the world there're dockside buildings which look like these, but right now, at least, to me, I'm seeing them here on the banks of the Singapore River, with Merchant Road on one side, overlooking the waters of the river on the other. 

A particular section of this building gave me pause. 

I kept thinking of the European, and/or the Mediterranean. 

Couldn't quite place it but it might have been the roof.  

Or the bright red flowers carefully planted in front. 

I don't know. 

Am not giving it much thought (now) either. 

Maybe one day- when my time is freer and my mind is clearer.

See, we now live in a season where- if we give ourselves time, and stop- just stop- we'll actually be able to see just how big the world was, how big the world is, and how big our own world can be. 

There'll be surprises everywhere. 

I didn't get to take a very long walk that day. 

But it was enough. 

The circuitous route brought me a bit of a breather- I managed to take in new perspectives, new sights- and I'll simply say (with a smile) that I'm thankful, and I'm glad. 

More Korean Fried Chicken!

Not too long ago I wrote about having a dinner of fried chicken at Jinjja Chicken in the Bugis+ mall..

Then this popped up. 

Caught me a little by surprise- I'd completely forgotten about them- this Sunday lunch- which we'd self-collected from some place along East Coast Road and brought to eat back home. 

The specific name of the place I don't remember. 

But it might be K-Chicken. 

Because the chicken of the *fried chicken party* around the coffee table tasted just like the whole fried chicken we had at this East Coast Road place which we'd gone to before.. 

It's funny how your palate remembers things your mind don't.. 

One of the best charms about Korean-style fried chicken is their sauce. 

If at Jinjja Chicken we'd taken the sweet and spicy yangnyum, here we'd decided to go for the original, with a little side serving of sweet (and thick) honey butter sauce. 

It was so good. 

The sweetness wasn't overwhelming. 

And it blended well with the (marinated) salt from the fried chicken. 

Then there were these- the banchan(I think?) cubes of radish soaked in sweetened vinegar. 

They made for a refreshing complement to the chicken meal. 

It's been oft said that Korean-style fried chicken is significantly different from other kinds of fried chicken styles. 

But despite having had it so many times over the years, I still don't know what, or how.

One thing that's pretty obvious, however, is the size of the bird. 

The birds that the Koreans dunk into the deep fryer are bigger. 

I'm not kidding. 

They're really bigger.

The wings in this box were big. 

The drumsticks too. 

Today our meal consisted of all chicken parts. 

I don't think there was breast meat. 

I don't remember eating any. 

What I do remember, however, is the ton of skin.  

The crunch, the taste, the moisture.

You know how some chicken skins, although crunchy with lots of bits, tend to be very hard?

And how some chicken skins, despite being light, are so moist that they have no crunch, nor taste even, at all? 

This chicken balanced it perfectly well all.

Like it wasn't very moist- none of that wet sup-sup texture that  undercooked fried chickens have- but the skin slid easily off the meat and, once inside my mouth, burst off a mixture of flavors (including marination and oil) onto my tongue. 

I loved it 

I loved the crunch even better. 

It was, shall I say, comforting. 

Not hard, no taste of stale oil, and it felt really fun just chewing it down. 

If I thought the skin of the chicken was delightful, the meat of the bird did not disappoint either. 

The meat itself of course had a flavor but I couldn't tell what, and honestly, I didn't really care. 

There was no need for additional ketchup.

Nor a need for the honey butter. 

But, us being us, we dipped the chicken meat from our wings and our drumsticks into the sauce and enjoyed it whole anyway. 

Fish & Co Salted Egg Style

This was our first time eating fried white bait at Fish & Co. 

Chances are, it might also be our last. 

I can't say that it wasn't good. 

But different people have different tastes and ours, perhaps, leans more towards waning more of the meat of the bait rather than the crisp of the batter skin. 

At first I thought it might have been just that one particular bait  I  was chewing- maybe I happened to get one of the skinny ones- but two thirds through our little dish we realized they were all the same. 

So we just nibbled on it- taking as much of its delish sauce as we could- and quietly told ourselves to order other appetizers the next time.

Okay, let's be rational about it.

I'm not familiar with fried white bait, sp what to expect, I don't know.

Like, are they all this small? 

And are they all supposed to taste clean and plain when eaten without the batter? 

It gave good nibbles, but I kept getting reminders of ikan bilis despite the obvious difference in size.

I don't know why. 

Good thing it was that our main order brought something familiar to our palates, and we wasted no time slicing into two the thickly battered, huge piece of fish fillet which we'd previously agreed to share. 

I might be mistaken, but I thought the fish here at Novena Square larger than those served at some of the other outlets which I'd been to. 

Maybe we were hungry. 

But (looking at these pictures) I really do think the fillet was bigger.

 

The fish was just as I remembered- hot, crisp, tasty batter wrapped around the soft, melt-in-your-mouth flesh of (what I think) is either a fillet of cod, or dory.  

I especially loved the crisp.

Funny thing is, I can't tell whether it's dory or cod- not being skilled enough to tell the difference.

But I wouldn't be surprised if it were dory- that, as I've been told, seems to be the go-to for most (affordably priced) fish & chip dishes in Singapore here

I'm not very particular about what kind of fish they offer me- especially since I'm going to eat it all battered and fried- but I think it sort of enhances the meal if I get to choose my own fish, whether it be haddock, snapper, pomfret, cod or pollock, don't you think?

Coming here to Fish & Co for dinner forged a new experience for my companion and I. 

It was the hour. 

We hadn't stayed so late in this area for dinner ever before. 

There had never been a necessity. 

(And I sincerely Hope there won't ever be). 

I'd likely make the same order of Salted Egg Fish & Chips again if I happen to be at their other outlets (Paragon and Bugis+) next time. 

But I might decide to indulge myself with their Seafood Platter.

Or I might relish in memories and go for the eye-boggling but meaty triangular-shaped deep fried swordfish collar. 

If they still have it. 

(Do they?)

Annex 2 The Old Block

Blessed is one who has been granted permission to go about the grounds of the hospital during an (unfortunate) season when a loved one is hospitalized upstairs. 

We had expected her to be bedded in a regular ward in the main block of the hospital.

Not here. 

So much so that we couldn't find Ward 86 on the Directory Board and upon asking the Information Lady, found out that we had to go past the A&E all the way to Annexe 2 on the old block side. 

Miss Brown had never been admitted to this side of the hospital before. 

Of course, she had never been admitted for suspected pneumonia before either- and Ward 86 (as the nurse told me) had many patients either suffering from pneumonia, or suspected of it. 

It wasn't hard for us to get to the Annexe. 

But we weren't familiar with the visitor procedures and it took us a bit of time.

It was required for us to visit Miss Brown separately, so I was alone when I stepped out of the lift onto the corridor landing of the 6th floor. 

Immediately I felt a hint of deja vu.

Like something that I had seen sometime, somewhere before. 

I couldnt place it where, or at when. 

Was it at this other (old) hospital somewhere near Bukit Merah where I had once wandered in- for a look- and peered into some of the 'heritage' corridors?

Could it have been the time when I and a few others dropped into this same hospital on a Christmas Eve night with lit candles in our hands as we sang- to the recuperating patients- the carol of Silent Night?

I might have received the same impressions when I happened to visit another (old) hospital along Upper Serangoon Road and caught a quick sight of the one-storey wards that they had over there.

Or, of course, it might even have been the time when my relative was hospitalized in this hospital for a case of bladder stones, something like that, and my family came nearly every day to visit her.

I can't exactly remember. 

Nothing triggered the memory.

Not even the walkway- with its distinctive large green tiles, rows of seats, and pointed roof shelter.

I had (quietly) hoped that seeing the wards here would help me  remember something.

But oy, this is an efficient, modern-day, up to date, full-fledged working hospital, and the wards (even in the old annexe) looked nothing like what they had once been before. 

The only hint was... here. 

The sink. 

In Miss Brown's room. 

And maybe the door, and the window.

It's so much easier to do privacy in the wards these days. 

No more will one need to carry the huge four-paneled blue-cloth dividers to provide privacy between one bed and the next. 

You just pull the curtains shut.

I couldn't get any reminders in the ward where Miss Brown was in. 

But the staircase at the end of the corridor was what made me pause.

You don't see such wide staircases anymore. 

You don't get to see banisters like these nor such spacious staircase landings anymore either. 

At least I think they're no longer built this way. 

There's something comforting about holding on to a banister as wide as the palm of my hand. 

There's also something comforting about seeing staircases built in such a sharp-angled, cubish, yet almost circular way.

One can only imagine how the nurses (in their caps and their white nightingale uniforms) would have greeted each other as they crossed paths climbing up and down these stairs. 

And the doctors. 

Did they move from ward to ward and bed to bed by themselves or in groups? 

Did they hang their stethoscopes round their necks into the pockets of their white coats as they still sometimes today do?

How was it like being a doctor or a nurse here when it was still the main building, I wonder.

Is it any different?

It has been a good number of years. 

How many patients have there been- getting admitted, getting discharged- in and out of these wards and rooms?

And how many visitors have there been- making their way up and down these stairs- to the beds of their loved ones and family? 

You know, there's usually a lot of movement in a hospital.

It's a 24/7, round-the-clock kind of place. 

Here at Annexe 2, however, there's a little bit of quiet space and sanctuary.

There aren't groups of friends and family cloistered around the seats on the corridor here. 

At least I haven't seen any.

Their absence gave the place a restful, serene feel. 

It made you think of the lives that exist, and have existed within this space. 

The purpose of these walls, these corridors, ceiling-top windows, rooms and staircases are not yet fully over.

And they still play their part in this journey of medicine, recovery, life, and living. 

Jinjja Chicken!

This is a very messy-looking dish of a fried chicken meal. 

But it is meant to be. 

And worth the mess it is, too. 

Jinjja Chicken is (usually) not the first place that comes to mind when I think of Korean-style fried chicken in Singapore. 

(I, ummm, have my own favorite place for that)

But these guys had recently moved themselves from the shop house near Bugis Street into Bugis Plus mall itself, and with us feeling more peckish than hungry on this particular day- decided that a meal of fried chicken would be a good weekend dinner. 

There was a bit of contemplation. 

What would we take?

What exactly was best for us to take? 

More often than not, our tastes run to the simple- a nice piece of skillfully fried chicken with tender juicy meat and crisp, crunchy skin. 

But Korean-style fried chicken is a whole different game altogether. 

Because even though you want to have just the original fried chicken, the flavors are very enticing too. 

It's like if you can choose between a soy garlic or a yangnyum versus an original.... well (unless you're not a fan of those flavors).. why not? 

My companion had not thought the regular fried chicken any different from some of our favorite places elsewhere.

So we went for the yangnyum version instead. 

Two different types of chicken we ordered- I don't remember exactly what- but I think one had wings and drumlets whilst the other was something like popcorn chicken- but slightly bigger.

Shall I say that the chicken pieces- despite looking rather hard when the bowl first arrived at the table- had in fact a very crisp skin and it broke off cleanly at first bite together with the surprisingly tender meat inside? 

And shall I say that yangnyum was an excellent choice for a (different) fried chicken experience because the combination of gochujang, garlic, ketchup (maybe) and sugar (maybe) gave the meat a hint of spicy with a lot of sweet. 

It isn't every day that I get to have chicken drumlets and wings slathered thickly with sweet (very sweet) hot pepper sauce.

We started out the meal eating with knives and forks. 

By the third piece we had progressed to napkins and hands. 

Yes, it was a memorable meal. 

Fun. 

So wonderful, so good. 

City Stroll in August

What do you do when you're in the Marina Bay area, you have time to kill and it's the day before National Day? 

You take pictures. 

Or at least you try to. 

I know I wanted to take a picture of the stage over at the Floating Platform this year. 

Because it (very likely) was going to be the last one, what with the platform being slated for renovation and conversion to be a sort of National Service Monument in the heart of the city. 

I guess we've gotten used somewhat to having  large scale events over here at the platform. 

After all it's been there for almost ten years. 

I had been at Suntec City in the afternoon, so across the road I went, visiting first the new Japanese patisserie under the Chateraise brand, then onto the open space that makes up Millennia Tower and a sort of cascading fountain. 

Here I took the pavement, with the sight of the Singapore Flyer on one side, and the towers of Marina Bay Sands up in front. 

It was nice seeing the scene in perspective.

Especially since I hardly ever take this route. 

When I got (as near as possible) to the stage area, I got my pictures- did my best with them- and stood there a while. 

I don't think I've ever seen an NDP rehearsal up close before. 

This was my first time. 

And it, I have to say, it kind of entertained me. 

See, they happened to be doing camera rehearsals for one of the segments that would be performed the next day. 

They rehearsed part of the pre-show segment. 

They rehearsed the part where the Cabinet would turn up. 

They also rehearsed the part where Madam President and the Prime Minister arrived at the platform.

The funny part came right after, because even though the narrative being read out was an impressive-sounding description of our Navy and Coast Guard's prowess, the waters behind the platform weren't yet closed, and at that very moment as the paragraph was being read out, a brightly-colored, cheerful-looking orange and yellow amphibian from the Duck Tours was making its way past by.

Words dont do justice to the actual scene, which, I'm telling you, made me break out into a smile. 

It wasn't just the scene that made me smile. 

There was the stage too. 

Perhaps I'm overthinking it, but it's not always that I get to see a stage this close, complete with stage lights, sound systems and all. 

But it was time to go- there was no need for me to keep hanging around the place to watch the entire rehearsal. 

So I left. 

Not before taking a final picture of the Marina Bay cityscape- with a peek of the stage.

And after that, I went along the road a short walk away to the library@ esplanade- a place which I once used to go, and which I have not gone for a very, very long time. 

Bishan with Daffy

It was my idea to ride Daffy to a new destination today. 

This is a place where- despite our familiarity with the roads, the connectivity and having been on Upper Thomson Road before- we'd never biked there. 

The intention was to take Upper Paya Lebar Road, MacPherson Road, somewhere on Jalan Toa Payoh (or the PCN) then towards Bishan Park from the Toa Payoh side. 

But my companion suggested a different route. 

And a much more interesting route it turned out to be. 

Instead of heading via Upper Paya Lebar, we made our way down Geylang Road all the way until Geylang Lorong 1 where we made a turn towards Kallang Bahru and Kallang MRT. 

From here we went past factories along Upper Boon Keng Road, crossed over the Kallang River and cycled past more factories old and new on Boon Keng Road.

We got to the junction of Bendeemer Road, carried on, and passed by Serangoon Road before going straight up towards Towner Road. 

I haven't come to this part of Towner Road in three years.

As much as there're several buildings of architectural and heritage interest to me, I haven't had much of a reason to come here.

So it was with a bit of surprise that behind these houses (which I didn't take picture of) were flats, upcoming flats, and two school compounds whose main gates faced each other direct on sight. 

It's safe to say that Towner Road is a cul de sac. 

Except that I don't know if it always was. 

Next to this road was the CTE Expressway across which was a very long overhead bridge. 

We took it- pushing Daffy and Blue up- then entered the estate of Whampoa and Whampoa Drive. 

Probably one of the most underrated yet interesting housing estates this side of town, there's a quaintness to the place which you dont find elsewhere. 

Perhaps it has something to do with the sculpture of the dragon at the front of the housing block. 

Perhaps it has something to do with the compactness of the estate.

Or maybe just the hawker center which, I've heard, has really good breakfast and supper foods. 

We didn't go this side of Whampoa today. 

Instead we made a right, turned onto this little lane and found ourselves on the PCN along the Whampoa River. 

All the way we went- passing by the back of Wheeler's Yard- before we reached the point where Whampoa River crosses the Kallang River lying parallel to the Pan Island Expressway. 

Across the Expressway lay Toa Payoh Swimming Complex, and Lorong 6 Toa Payoh. 

Along this road we went, continuing on to Toa Payoh Lorong 1 before we made a left to Toa Payoh Rise then Braddell Rise before coasting down the hill onto Braddell Road. 

From Braddell Road we crossed beneath the Bishan Flyover (near SPH) into Bishan Road then it was straight up to Bishan Park from there. 

You know it's so funny how I've heard so much about Bishan Park (back then) and Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park (today), but I haven't come here since I was 14 years old. 

That's more than two decades.

It was- of course- a different park then. 

Today it's obvious that the Kallang River runs through it as a sort of last pit stop before Lower Peirce Reservoir, but most of us didn't know that back then.

I certainly didn't. 

The only thing I remembered about Bishan Park was the group that I'd gone with- and the foot reflexology path which I tried for the first time. 

We didn't bike round the whole Bishan Park- we were bum- but we did do a sort of a small round where we came upon a dog park and I paused to watch the doggies run freely around. 

It's quite interesting how my pictures ended up looking like they were part of some NParks circular, but perhaps I was in one of those moods where I was content to take pictures of what I saw around me and stick with it. 

One day- if I feel more energetic and less bum- I might do the entire Bishan Park (including the McDonalds) and then exit down from Upper Thomson Road. 

Today, however, we had dinner at Junction 8 (which, shall I say that the dinner could have been better?) and then decided to go back from the Braddell Road route. 

That was, in fact, my idea, which, as I later discovered, turned out to be a very complicated one. 

We really ought to have gone up towards AMK Avenue 3, Hougang Avenue 2, Hougang Avenue 3 and beyond. 

But no, (adventurous) me decided we should try the Braddell Road route down to MacPherson and back. 

What I didn't count on, however, was just how unfamiliar with the route I was. 

Where, instead of going via Bishan Street 11 and coming out over the bridge to Toa Payoh Lorong 8, I made the mistake of going onto Braddell Road itself, where to my chagrin, I soon found myself in the very dangerous position of having to cut from the last lane to the first lane to get to the lane which would then lead me to Upper Serangoon Road. 

That I soon discovered was not doable.

Judgment prevails, and back onto the pavement I went, only to realize that the pavement led to nowhere. 

So through the blocks I pushed Daffy right back onto Bishan Street 11 and finally onto the bridge. 

Here I made my second mistake. 

It would have been much easier had I stuck to the PCN and gone along the river. 

But no, stubborn me decided that I'd do Braddell Road- completely forgetting that Braddell Road after the CTE is a hill. 

And a very steep, serious hill. 

Yes, I pushed Daffy most of the way. 

I'm not hardcore like that. 

From there it was a straight ride down Upper Serangoon Road towards Woodleigh and Potong Pasir. 

Here, however, my ride companion (who had gone on the PCN) nicely decided to turn back and wait for me at Woodleigh- despite the information that I was already at Potong Pasir and would be at the MacPherson Road turn. 

I'm sorry for the extra effort. 

I should have made myself more clear. 

Fortunately my companion is one of those hardcore gungho riders who won't balk at a couple of (extra) kilometers- unlike me- and so other than a bit of exasperation on my part and a 'i give up' sigh from the other, it really was just a 20 minute wait for me whilst Blue came scooting back down. 

It wasn't straightforward from here after. 

We went onto MacPherson Road all the way down until we got to Paya Lebar Road, and returned back east side from there.