Thursday, October 23, 2008

Day 06: Changi, Bak Kut Teh, Pretty Bags

How does one know that they’ve touched down in Changi and not KLIA? Go to the toilet. Look for the toilet seat sanitizer. Try it. If it works, you’re NOT in KLIA. I know because I have tried many toilet stalls in KLIA in most of my trips to the airport. Not a single one of those thingamajigs work. But in Changi? The very first one worked, and every one I’ve tried after that, works too. Malaysia toilets 0 : Singapore toilets 1. Every other public toilet in Singapore I’ve visited was dry, filled with toilet tissues, doesn’t stink, is clean. Malaysia toilets 0 : Singapore toilets 4. Why can’t we fucking KEEP OUR TOILETS CLEAN. Singapore was once part of Malaysia! They can’t have evolved much more than us!!! This is completely unacceptable man!!! We have the internet, the twin towers, our own fucking national car(s), bluetooth technology, satellite tv and yet we can’t keep our toilets clean and in working order what kind of ridiculous third world fucked up tree-living mentality is this COME ON.

I’ve asked a few Singaporeans about the tissue paper thing, but until now, nobody can explain how it came about. Dissapointed. But I shall persevere.

Had bak kut teh for dinner today. Another disappointment. Well, it wasn’t as bad as the first time Singaporean bak kut teh I ever had, which was basically black pepper soup. Ugh. The bak kut teh I had tonight was almost like what we might have in Malaysia, except it’s a hundred times more diluted to the point where the herbal taste is nothing more than a subtle hint, a lingering memory of what it used to be. And you know what sucks the most. It smelt so good! It looked so good! But once you taste it… ARGHHH YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG. WHY MUST EVERY FREAKING PIECE OF SHIT FOOD I HAVE HERE TASTE SO BLAND WHY WHY WHY. HULKRAGE STOMP ON FOOD STALLS. Malaysia 10000 : Singapore -100000. One of the only 3 major reasons stopping me from liking Singapore too much is THE FOOD THE FOOD THE FOOD OHGODWHYYYYY WHYYYYYYYY ARE YOU GUYS NOT GETTING IT RIGHT!!!! Eating food here is like eating… water. There’s only so much bland food a Malaysian can take without having to suppress the strong of urge of killing yourself. Oh well. One man’s meat, is another man’s…. plain boiled water.

I noticed that in the business centre every other female is carrying some kind of high-end bag. Chanel, Coach, LV, Dior, Gucci. I bet if someone did a survey, they will find that almost every other woman owns at least 2-3 branded bags each. Fake or not. Problem is I don’t know if I should envy them. Work so hard. Spend so much time at work. Pour so much sweat, effort and blood into that deadline. Earn so much money. Buy more pretty things. It feels, rather empty and shallow. Sure it’s really nice to earn pretty things all the time – but is that really it? Earning money just to own a bunch of stuff? I know that the people behind multibillion dollar industry will tell you that I’m just a poor sad sour grape but I want more than just pretty things. I would love to have a bunch of niceties but at the end of the day, they are just things. Not experiences. Not value added. It doesn’t make me a better person (though it sure could make me a prettier person haha). But what does, really?

Work hard. buy stuff. work hard. buy stuff. work hard. buy stuff. how can we ever find real happiness like that ar?

I’m still holding on to the dream where I’d make enough money to start my travel around the world stint some day. So much to see. So much to taste. So much to experience. So much to learn. So much to blog about (hahaha). Some day. Soon, I hope. Soon.

24 comments:

  1. Have you gone to a Botak Jones? Great fries. Not too bad prices for good western food. Also, I like Cedele's pasta carbonara; there's one above Borders.

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  2. I can visit you to keep you company. If you promise that you won't totally turn psycho and attack me. Oh wait, maybe I am the psycho. Or not. But I can provide mostly harmless entertainment and company.

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  3. Okay okay okay. I'll call my friends tonight and try to find some good places for you to eat. Can't have you eating just water, now can I?
    Don't be jealous of all those chicks with nice bags. You can't take that stuff with you when you die - just a sense that you lived a good life.

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  4. u might as well mix the soup with Kilkenny.

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  5. Felt totally the same like you over the "material" stuff years back on those girls. Even worst some girls keep up with you in every sense just to make a point that she is 'better than you.' Bitch. Solution - do the things am totally in love with which if totally unmaterial. No bitch can come near that I say... look who has the last laugh now? Heh heh...

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  6. Erm about those bags, earning spore dollars and buying those stuff are comparatively much cheaper than here in malaysia. Even the same model LV bag it is at least 10% more expensive here (not now la due to forex exchange) compared to spore. So yea, if u have a choice why not, LV aint so bad, it grows on u. But yea, its just so damn expensive to buy as a malaysian. when you're wokrring in spore, basically you have more options with the same amount of money u gonna spend, simple.

    and one of the ways to tell if its fake or not is by the color of its stitch, the way its done, and also that the word LV is never ever cut off if u notice closely on its monogram collection.

    work, buy more, work, buy more, is better than work, eat , work , and eat teehehe. BUY MORE! spend more! this will help slow down or reverse recession!

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  7. Work hard. buy stuff. work hard. buy stuff. work hard. buy stuff. how can we ever find real happiness like that ar?

    Isn't that our one and only one true purpose in existence?

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  8. If it makes you feel better (or worse), in 1970 when I visited Singapore I did visit a toilet which was smelly and not up to the standards Singapore now has. Though, it was still better than the toilet I used in Malaysia last year, because it was dry and had toilet paper.

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  9. Being from food central up north before, I found food in the red dot totally disagreeable when I set foot on its shores.However... it slowly grows on you.Singaporeans tend to be more health conscious ( medical costs very high) so the move to less sugar, msg and salt in food.Now after being here longer than Pg, I have grown accustomed to the food here so much so that the food back home has gotten too sweet and salty although i still profess to a weakness for Pg mee goreng (best in the world ever!).And the other benefit is that you won't find excessive pesticides in your veggies,boric acid in your noodles,hormones in your pork and melamine in your milk.

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  10. WOI YOU COMPARE SO MUCH MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE infrastructure....


    But you forgot to compare Singapore men and Malaysian men!

    Go go go go go! We wanna see FA compare Singapore and Malaysian men!

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  11. I love Munich airport's toilets.

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  12. This is why, I have a very VERY NEGATIVE impression on Singaporean women.

    I'm so not looking for a wife there man, cause they'd be looking at my wallet first.

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  13. Hmm, Malaysian food is very tasty, but very salty and oily.
    Did you know that Malaysia has one of the highest obesity rates in Asia? Malaysians eat do much and don't have national service (a proper one like Singapore's) haha.

    Anyway, Singapore has one of the highest rates of cancer.
    I'm guessing its because people eat processed food most of the time.
    And the stress! =)

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  14. Try the balestier bah kut teh. its nice; not too bland, spicy enough (for me at least).

    In SG, many places sell common foods like bah kut teh, chicken rice, blah blah blah... but the good ones are all hidden in ulu corners of the country. you just have to sniff them out. Haha xD

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  15. In Malaysia - who rules? The Malay la, who else? What happened next? (Bring your own toilet paper and pay RM 0.20 next time if you wanna go wee wee in Malaysia.

    To solve this problem, the Malaysian government comes out with a genius solution - to build a RM 270,000 toilet. Donca know? Malaysia BOLEH…

    Check out at:
    http://dalenzo.blogspot.com/2006/12/how-much-does-your-toilet-costs.html


    While in Singapore ---> the Chinese 'Rules'... (Who gonna sit there to collect your 20 cents?? Just pay the tax.. The Singaporean government will take care of everything even make sure the public toilet never run out of paper - as Time is Money. Rub fast fast then get back to work! As you earn more, you pay more tax too!)

    You can now spot the differences. ;)

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  16. amen, i HATE the pepper soup they call bak kut teh. it's hard to find msian herbal bak kut teh here. apparently, singaporeans seem to like it peppery.

    there's one place i keep going to. soon yee klang (of course) bak kut teh on beach road. it's somewhere opposite concourse. go check yellowpages, maps or something.

    there're actually two shops there selling klang bak kut teh, but soon yee has the dry version, which is great. try and hope u like it.

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  17. Spore bak kut teh the pepper one theres a place tats not too bad. tanjong pager where u renew passport

    then also u shud go bedok try out the sarawak laksa, tel:9814 2634/ 9162 7824

    or theres this place called max bencoolen st near nanyang school of fine arts and hotel 88. western food and home made gelato- i recommend the honey chicken if they still have it or the sesame chicken. =)
    tel: 9270 2114

    best food i think in spore is tako pachi. u haven tried tat yet eh.. thats good too..in orchard taka or bishan. prawn flavour the best

    =) spore food u need explore. some good some not good =) js like msia =) am msian myself but i think where ever u go there will be good food just u need to hunt for them

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  18. i am a malaysian who studied and now working in Singapore and I, like you is not too fond of Singaporean food. FA, here is a thought for u to ponder. Have you noticed, its the EXACT same food with the EXACT same taste and EXACT the same serving style at every hawker centre. You will definitely have chicken rice, ban mian, economy rice (just to name the few) at EVERY single hawker centre.

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  19. Im a student here in SG but I'm from Malaysia, east malaysia to be exact. and i guess, clean toilets in Singapore normally can be found in the city area and Changi. Have u been to the remote area yet?? The toilets smells like a huge basin of urine. yuck! if u go to the malls on weekends, im telling ya, u'll see how smelly and dirty the toilets are.

    and and i agree with u abt the foods!! I seldom eat outside now because everytime when i order something, i will always end up eating halfway!!! I think because we malaysian are too use with our foods and Malaysia foods are the best seriously.
    sometimes I think (no offense) some cook their food here just to make money but not the food art itself.

    But then again, one thing abt Singapore food, they use less aji and salt which I think they are very concern with health. While malaysian food, we tuang EVERYTHING. :p

    aiyak.. really ar. I'm based around the CBD area.. so I guess they make extra effort with the toilets. hehe

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  20. Fireangel!!

    I love your posts! Come visit switz someday and I'll show you around!

    P.S: LV, Gucci and all those brands are so common here and not considered a luxury. No one will bat an eye if you have it or not. Very different from how the Asians view and worship these brands.

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  21. Interesting post.
    Sounds like you are quite envious about those girls with the bags especially since you admitted you do like "pretty things".
    Well, I find that many Malaysian girls I know in Australia are pretty much the same - they live, sleep, breathe and brag about LV, Chanel, etc. They can't live without these things. Its much more of a social status in Malaysia than it is in Singapore, considering many conversations I've been privy to with my Malaysian friends can actually center around the "types of LV bags" they own. Riiiight.
    About the food. Well, think about it. Would you find it annoying when you have an Indian friend and all they ever bitched about was how "bland" Chinese food is, even Malaysian/Singaporean food?
    Because all they can eat is - curry. Even their tea has garam masala and chilli powder in it (trust me, many families serve these things up to you when you visit their homes.). Everything has to be spicy, clogged with spices and well, there's no sense of 'enjoying' the natural taste of the food and having the seasonings compliment the food as opposed to just slathering 'stuff' over to cover the taste.
    And then all they can ever whinge about over and over is how wonderful Indian food is and blah blah blah?
    Get a grip! Try to enjoy food cooked differently. If a Malaysian can slurp up raw sashimi at a Japanese restaurant how does Singaporean food (and ALL of it at that) taste 'bland'?
    You're obviously not much of a food connoisseur, considering how Singaporean food is considered 'bland' to you.
    You'd die if you tried French cooking. Rich. Simple. But probably in your words. Bland. The blasphemy!

    FA: You need to seriously take a chill pill and stop defending /refuting every single point about singapore which I dont like. It's not as though I dislike everything about this place. I give credit when credit's due and I slag off when I personally don't like certain things. So why do you ONLY pick on the negative aspects? And to get all emo and defensive over some stranger's obversations? Geezus, YOU need to get a grip.

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  22. hmmm...the famous bak kut teh chain is at balestiar stretch and parking's pretty much a bitch over there , try maxwell hawker centre , hong lim hawker, amoy food centre , Chomp Chomp for better hawker food. like in many places, some of the food sellers are just making a living and not totally bent on "food art", hence there are loadsa hawkers whose standard is probably below par. i've my fair share of disappointments in Malaysia too. some of the commenters are right in the aspect where singaporeans are more health conscious, in fact, we have those 'healthier' choice logos on our supermarket food stuffs and we are encouraged to ask our hawkers for 'less oil less salt'. it's part of national education, as medical costs is really expensive here.some locals like to put it this way, in sg, you can die but DONT FALL SICK!

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  23. hmm about the difference between singapore's food and malaysia's food... i guess its a culture thing? malaysia's food are strong in flavour as compared to singapore's, but we've all grown accustomed to this taste that you think is bland. so i don't know, i think you have to look harder if you want food that tastes as strong as malaysia's food. because our tastebuds are so used to this bland taste that i didn't even realise our food is considered bland until i read your posts. LOL.

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  24. peppery bak kut teh? is bak kut teh supposed to be spicy??

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