Fruit Of The Month

I saw this idea on another Singapore blog, and thought I'd try and do it too.  Each month I'll feature a fruit that we don't usually see in the states.  This month's selection is the Dragon Fruit, or the Pitaya. I went to my favorite wet market with a new friend I met in our building, named Belinda. She's from the UK.  She brought her Ama (nanny) and baby, and we had a fun time.  She really liked "my" wet market, and next week, we are trying hers.  

The Ama; Lolly, was really knowledgeable about the tropical fruits, that I typically avoid, just because I don't know what the heck they are.  She bought a dragon fruit, and I asked her what it was.  She went on to explain it's kinda like a kiwi, and you peel the crazy looking skin like an orange.  Belinda said that they have been making the most delicious  smoothies with it, and I should try it.  She also said the color was "most amazing".  I was NOT prepared.  The girl who sold me my dragon fruit also, in the typical, straightforward, no holds barred, way of Singaopreans, explained how to peel it, and said it was good for "cleaning the intestines" and my favorite; "don't be alarmed if the toilet is pink"  Lovely!  All this was said with a straight face, and I think my immature giggles were irritating her.  They definitely don't hold back here in Sing...like the very kind man that said to me in the grocery store " You have a big body!" Um....really?  Thanks Captain Obvious.  It seems they have a thought, and just say it, no filters here...I am used to it now, and actually look forward to the refreshing honesty I am occasionally thrown.

Anyway, back to the fruit.  I decided to make Larry and I a smoothie the next day, and like the cute little newlywed I am, still get up with him in the mornings for work.  I hear this changes...I've tried to mentally prepare Larry.  But for now, as I'm not working, I like to get up, and help get him rolling.  I was in the kitchen, peeling the fruit, and in my sleepy, no coffee yet, 6 am haze, I couldn't believe my eyes! The fruit was the most beautiful shocking hot pink color I've ever seen!  I was amazed....and ran with the fruit into Larry's bathroom to show him.  He was sleepy too, but tried to muster up some enthusiasm and agreed it was a pretty cool color. The smoothies turned out yummy, and we both really liked it.  The recipe is below.  I know I've seen dragon fruit in the states, so if you see it, and are feeling adventurous, give it a try!  The color alone is worth it!  Check this out too, pretty interesting!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_fruit

DRAGON FRUIT SMOOTHIES

• 1 dragon fruit, peeled, and cut into big chunks.  Cut an end, and peel down, like an orange.
• 2 frozen bananas, peeled, and cut into little chunks.
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (any yogurt would work)
• approximately 1/2 cup milk, more or less, depending on how thick you like it.
• 2 or 3 packets of splenda.  The dragon fruit itself isn't very sweet.  I thought it needed a little kick, but you can omit this if you want.   
  

Blend it all up in the blender, and Voila...breakfast is served!  Let me know if you try it!

A Coke And A Smile

This just makes me smile...I brought the bottle back from Bali, and I think the juxtaposition of the beautiful, tropical flowers, and the blatant American consumerism is a crack up.  Leave it to an American expat to find this beautiful!

Shiny, Happy People

I have noticed in Sing, that some of the time, the people don't smile much, and just seem to be going through the motions of their day.  Get up, work, go home, work, go to bed, do it all over again the next day.  Couple that with the heat, crowds, and general hustle and bustle of living on a small island with 4.5 million people, it can wear a person down.  But not today...I just got home from my favorite wet market, and after a lively conversation and slightly scary cab ride over, I made my usual rounds.  I first went up to the hawker stand on the second floor, and got some yummy (and I do mean YUMMY) dumplings to bring home for lunch.  The woman who cooked them was super sweet, very talkative, and really seemed to put her heart into her stand.  It was spotless, efficient, and the food is delish.  Cheap too!

Then I tucked my dumplings into my giant carrier bag from ikea, and went down to find my favorite veggie guy.  He is truly a shiny, happy person.  He is always delighted to see me, and today said " aahhh, where you been, gone too long!  Big list?"  and when I showed him the giant list, he quickly got to work, and passed me a basket to start loading stuff in.  Potatoes, carrots, lettuce, beans, the whole shebang.  He always gives me a fair price, and I don't haggle with him. I always find something extra in my bag when I get home, like a bunch of fresh green onions, or some herbs.  Once, he forgot to put my lettuce in my bag, and the next time I went he gave me 3 for free.    He's just a peach.  I can get frustrated sometimes, by the different way people are, sometimes rude, pushy, and blatantly obvious about staring.  And I know I still have culture shock, but he always makes my day, and I leave the wet market feeling good about being in Singapore.  This particular wet market is super nice, clean, bright, and by now, after seeing me for 5 months, I don't get many looks.  

After the veggies I ran over, leaving my giant bag with my veggie guy, and got enough fruit for Larry and I for a week.  The usual, apples, bananas, pears, mangoes, ect.  The guy I get my mango from asks me every time where I am from, and when I say, I'm from Singapore, he laughs and goes, "no, really, you Aussie?" and I always say," no, U.S."  and he says "oh, right, right, you tell me that already!"  Ha!  Every single time.....

Next, I go get some orchids from the flower guy, and he too is alwasy fair and throws in something extra.  One of the perks of living here is the orchids....I always have a pretty vase full of them on the dining table, and a little vase in our room and bathrooms.  Love them!  And they last forever, a good two weeks usually.

I save the best for last and go to my little tiny egg lady.  She can't speak english, but we communicate beautifully.  She is always super happy to see me, and greets me like a long lost friend.  She likes that I bring my own egg carton, and helps me pick the cleanest, prettiest eggs. All the eggs are brown here, and they don't refrigerate them.  They sometimes have feathers stuck to them too....that took me some getting used to.  But I bring them home, dunk them in a little bleach water, rinse and dry them,  put them in the fridge and I'm good to go.  She also gives me a deal, and throws in 2 extra eggs. 

And today, as a special bonus, I had another lively cab driver on the way home.   He Kept up a running commentary about how the US government and the Sing government are brothers and good family.  He was a hoot, and then went on to say how safe and good Sing is for women.  He hooted and howled when he saw my street is LadyHill, and said " See!  I tell you, we love the ladies here in Sing!  that sign doesn't say ManHill road!" it was pretty funny... he drove me down ito the carpark, because he was "providing taxi service" , and wanted me to know he took that part of his job very seriously.  

Aaahh...it was a good day at the wet market, and a shiny, happy day in Sing.

miss you, love you too!

xoxoxo

p.s. My hubby comes home tomorrow!  can I get a whoop whoop?!?!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Heart day everyone!  It's my favorite day of the year!  Chocolate is calorie free, and love abounds!  woohoo!!  

I took a Cookie decorating class last week, and it was a hoot.  We learned how to pipe, do curlicues, and some other cool stuff I can't remember the names for right now. 

Here are a few pics.

My cute hubby is still in Seattle, but he was a thinker a header, 

and had the hotel across the street send some delish truffles from their

chocolatier, and even had them put in a note he wrote for me.

It was a great surprise...sometimes he's a mush...awww...

Sending chocolate almost makes up for me missing him terribly. Almost.

Happy Valentines day everyone! Love you and miss you all...

now go kiss someone, hurry!!

xoxoxoxoxo!

The Year Of The Rat

                     Happy Chinese New Year!  Festivities are well under way here in Sing!

We've been enjoying all the holiday decorations, treats, and performances.  The air is pretty electric too, it seems along with the break of the rainy season, the holiday puts every one in a great mood.  Larry and I went down to Chinatown the weekend before the actual start of New Year, and had a blast walking around the night market, buying some fun stuff, and of course taking pictures.  Here is a good definition of Chinese New Year.  The fast food chains even get in on the market, and have special menu items, such as "prosperity pizza" at pizza hut, and a special beef and prosperity mushroom sandwich at Mcdonalds, along with a yummy sweet red bean pie.  mmmmm.

The whole city is decked out in red, gold, sparkly lights and pink cherry blossoms.  Colorful lanterns are all over the place, and everywhere you look, there are really wonderful and slightly tacky cardboard cutouts of laughing Buddas.  Tangerines are a common gift, and if you visit another house during the season, you take 2 tangerines with you, and are given 2 when you leave, as a symbol of sweetness and prosperity in the new year.  All the cab drivers have 2 in their car, usually smushed up in the front windows. If you are single, you are giving red envelopes, called ang pao, which translates to red packet.  They are filled with money....how come we never had a nifty tradition like that in the states when I was single?  Our apartment complex hosted a lion dance team, and I took some cool video. I'm trying to figure out how to upload it, I think the file may be too big. Unfortunately, Larry is back in Seattle for work, and is missing all the fun.  Definitely a big bummer, as we have both been looking forward to it since last March, when we came on our honeymoon, and everyone was just finishing up, and walking around in a tangerine, waxed duck, ton o' candy stupor.  I've been doing a little exploring though, and have some good pictures for him.  Here are some below, Happy New Year!

Remembering

It's funny what will trigger memories.  Sometimes, it is a song, or a person that reminds you of someone or something.  Sometimes it's a smell.  I'm big on sniffing, it's one of my stronger senses (making up for my crappy hearing, maybe).  I can get a whiff of new plastic, and am instantly transported back to the christmas mornings of my childhood.  Aaahhh....nothing like the smell of a new barbie in the morning.  Or bleach, and I'm right back in my childhood home. In my single, dating days, the guy had to 'smell right' or I was out of there.  Not just cologne or that kinda thing, but I could always just get a sense of the person if it wasn 't quite right.  Good thing Lar smelled ok!  If I need comfort, his chest is the first place I go for a big sniff.

Music is also huge for me, and I have to be careful not to listen to certain songs or artists if I'm in a blue mood, as it will plunge me deeper.  Same goes for happy stuff.  I can hear Tom Petty's "Free Fallin" and think of my Sister and Jimeyer free falling and being goofy, an am instantly feeling happy.

I recently read a travel log,  and in it the author mused that each time she travels, she seems to take someone in memory with her, as much as she takes away new experiences.  I loved this idea.  So many things have reminded me of my two Grandmothers since I have been in Sing. Both gone now, I feel them all the time here. I feel my Grandma Kay (aka: Big Red) in the the really nifty grasscloth place mats, and satin chinese wall hangings she would have loved, and I'm sure, had in her own home.  So many of the tchotchke type things I pick up here and there, in Singapore, and in our travels, remind me of her.  I know I look a lot like her; I have her complexion, face shape, and eye color.  But never has it been more apparent that I seem to also have her penchant for the slightly tacky.  Leopard print was her favorite.  I love it too.  I feel she would have been dazzled beyond belief at all the fabulous treasures in China town and Little India.  I can't count how many times I've said to Larry, "Oh, Big Red would LOVE that". Gone With The Wind was her very favorite book and movie, and it was on t.v. the other day.  I watched the whole thing, just because I thought I should at some point in my life, to see what she thought was so great about it.  I get it, I loved it. So I can now attribute my sometimes overly romantic and emotional side partly to her.

I also sense my Grams (aka:Mart).  The minute I found out we had marble and hardwood floors, my heart ached a little because she would have loved nothing more than to help me figure out how to wash and care for them.  She would have loved the swanky drapes, and approved of the tiled kitchen (easy cleanup). And in her own funny way, would have made a few wise cracks about who was riding who when we rode the elephants.  She is with me as I figure out how to get stains out of my husbands clothes, and she would have cracked up at the new tie dye t-shirts Larry now has ( read: too much bleach...ooops.)  I am sometimes looked at as a curiosity here in Sing, mainly because of my size.  It gets old, and sometimes I get my feelings hurt. I use her method of defense that she taught me as a child and I was being stared at "Just look at their shoes."  It works!  She lovingly pops into my head when I'm being a wimp, and I smile as I hear her voice and the trademark "ohfergodsake, get a grip".  I think she would be happy with the progress I've made working out, and she would remind me I only need to lose "hhmm...maybe 1 or 2 pounds".  I smelled her perfume; white linen, the other day, and thought "Hi Grams, felt like coming to the wet market, huh?".  I saw a movie she would have loved "I am Legend" and even though I hated all the violence and suspense,  I think she was enjoying it through me.  It was right up her alley.  Yuck.

In their own different ways, they were both really good Grandmas.  I miss them so much, and hope I gave them as much by being their granddaughter, as they have given me.  So, at this point in my life, when I am so far from family and home, I like to think two very special ladies are along for the ride.  And loving every minute.

And the winner is....

Hello everyone!  I just loved all your ideas, and the late saturday night entries and ensuing internet hi-jinx had Larry and I laughing for the whole week.  I now know where I get my surpreme dorkiness from.  I come by it naturally.  I am related to a big bunch of goofballs. (I'm referring to the drunken posts from my family members, those of you who were sober, please ignore)  Thanks to all who entered, it was really hard to pick. I've taken so long to pick, because every time I go to do it, I have a small anxiety attack...what if those that aren't picked are hurt?  I am very thankful I don't have the kinda of job that requires big decisions concerning other people...ugh.(ok, yes, I know I'm not working right now, but you know what I mean)  Below are all the ideas:

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Ok, I came up with another idea. Add in some thoughts from the hubby. This is all new too. So, maybe you could give him a paragraph to tell his thoughts. Every once in a while. If he's shy, he can tell you and you can write it for him. But, how's he enjoying living there? How is he adapting. And of course, he can also tell about how fantastic it is to be married to you! LaTrisha

OK, I know I'm late, and I have no good excuse. And, the ideas already listed are great, so I had a tough time coming up with some more. But here goes:
1. What I love about Singapore
2. Technology That Empowers Me
3. Somebody Has to Say It
4. Ten Guilty Pleasures
5. Friends I Cant Wait to Meet
6. Interview With a Local
7. Favorite New Foods
8. What things cost in Singapore
9. Links to my favorite blogs
10. Top 10 Favorite Things about Larry

Have fun! Terri J

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Wow Pam, so rich and beautiful are all those places you have been! I'm glad you guys are checking things out. What is your favorite dish so far? Music?

Peace and Love,
Connie Koss Hansen

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How about your deep deep thoughts on how much your life has changed. Sort of how different everything is, like you did at Christmas time. How it would be different if you were here VS. now being in Singapore and how maybe your values have changed, or maybe your outlook. Whew...................!!!!
Does that make any sense to you?
No matter what I just love your blog and think you are a great writer.
Love,
Mom
xoxoxoxo

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Hi Pam!

Interview a Singapore resident each time you go to a different spot on the island. You could ask the person about their religion, opinions about the USA, their hobbies, or anything you would like to know about. Don't forget to take their picture. Did I win???????

Love,
Mary

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~I would love to see more snapshots of your everyday surroundings, like the grocery store, the library etc.
~I think it would be cool if you started a feature where you try one new food/restaurant and post pics and a review each week.
Or you could try cooking a local dish complete with photos and Lar's opinion (kinda like the pioneer woman).
~You caould have a theme for each day of the week on your blog like Touring Tuesdays or Weird-Sighting Wednesdays.

I read a ton of blogs and enjoy those that post 4-6 times a week, 3-4 paragraphs about their like and include photos 95% of the time. (I know I do *not* do the same on my blog but I dream about it!)

I miss you like crazy BFF.
xoxoxo, deb

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I've been trying to think of something since I saw your post. I like some of the ideas already mentioned. But here's my suggestion: what languages are spoken and can we all learn a new word of phrase once a week? Perhaps something along those lines?

LaTrisha

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Hi Pam, I have loved reading your blog....I would love to see:
1.What is the furniture like in the homes?
2.What are the window coverings, treatments like?
3. Dishes, tableware?
4. Clothing?
5. How they live day to day VS how we live in our homes everyday?
The little things.

Love, Ruth Bischoff

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Hi Pam,
I love all the ideas. I just like to read about all your adventures.
My ideas is I would like to learn about the children and family life there. Do the kids get involved in all the sports and activities like our kids do. Do they have all the techno toys like the kids here, phones, ipods, playstation and so on?
Is there any soccer moms or do most of the mothers work outside of the home.

Love, cousin Jenny Ludwick

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Ok, here is the Latty idea, Brilliant I must say..

idea # 1-You need to get a mascot of some sort, say a little stuffed pickle ( for LAR, he LOVES pickles) & EVERYWHERE you go take the pickle & take, pictures .. In every shot you take the pickle MUST BE IN IT SOMEWHERE so us losers back here in the states can do kinda of a "where Waldo" type thing & look for the pickle. 

Ok, 

Idea # 2
Singapore Trivia ! Ask us questions & give us 1 right answer & 3 wrong answers. Those of us who guess it correct get our names in a hat for a drawing at the end month for some of that poo stuff you love so much. Not sure how you would send it but I am smakin my lips already ! That s*#* SURE LOOKS TASTY! 

Idea # 3:
Do a Deal or No Deal game.. create a board full of numbers that we can pick from. whomever picks the "correct" number gets to send you junk food from Michigan.. I'm thinking Laffy Taffy, Vernors, Koegel Viennas, maybe some Frankenmuth Chicken..

The Latty family

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Second runner up:  Terri J. ~ great ideas, very well thought out!

First runner up: Cousin Jenny ~ good stuff, never even thought to write about that!

And the winner is:

 With the entry that had us laughing and shaking our heads to where the hell we will find a stuffed pickle, The Latty family.

Expect your very exclusive prizes in the mail in about 2 months.  Just kidding, but the mail here is super slooooow, so it will be a while.

Again, all the ideas were awesome, and I will write about them all.  Thanks for all the great ideas!  And I'll do another contest at some point.

xoxoxoxo!

Pam