Adrianna Tan
A few less widely known things about #Singapore on the occasion of its 61st birthday.
1. We have urban otters!
They disappeared briefly but you can now see them lots of places. There are various families named for the location they’re from, almost like mafia family names. ‘Bishan otters’ and there’s one named for a club (‘Zouk family otters’)
Adrianna Tan
2. Not Just Bikes ( @notjustbikes) had a recent video showing the pros and cons of Singapore infra. At the beginning of the video it shows the infra (not just AC) that allows people to walk about and commute and live our lives even in an all-year-long 30+C / 90F weather
I experienced similar weather in London and Paris recently and almost died
Adrianna Tan
3. It’s not just skyscrapers.
There’s an active wildlife community and you can participate in some mangrove walks and saltwater crocodile spotting
If you’re Singaporean you can use your free Culture Pass credits to sign up for a walk or workshop with:
Or do a free public tour: https://www.nparks.gov.sg/visit/parks/pasir-ris-park/activities/guided-tours
Adrianna Tan
4. It’s not just one island.
The mainland is where all the infra and action is of course, but there are other islands you could go to.
Lazarus Island is 30 min away by ferry and looks like this.
Take a ferry to St John’s Island from Marina South pier, then walk to Lazarus, or take the new direct ferry from Sentosa Cove Village jetty.
More wildlife minded folks may prefer going to Pulau Ubin from Changi Point jetty. It has one of our last villages, lots of birds, marshland and an old way of life you won’t see on the mainland
https://www.timeout.com/singapore/things-to-do/guide-to-pulau-ubin
Adrianna Tan
5. Most weeks there are events to participate in like bird watching and butterfly walks
Here’s a checklist of birds in Singapore for avid birders:
https://singaporebirds.com/checklist
I used to get an Oriental Pied Hornbill regularly in front of my house, it was glorious
Adrianna Tan
6. More on Pulau Ubin
Activists won a hard fought fight to avoid the development of Chek Jawa Wetlands, two decades ago.
Here are some beautiful shorebirds and others there: https://singaporebirds.com/blog/the-magical-land-of-chek-jawa
Adrianna Tan
7. In Singapore, you can get localized Chinese and Indian foods (totally its own thing), and you can also find local branches of almost every major restaurant chain from China or India there as well. Together, they provide a range of cuisine and regional excellence across all price points.
Murugan Idli tastes exactly like in Chennai, while Madras New Woodlands round the corner is, to me, more local style Tamil. Then there is Tamil food from Sri Lanka which you can find many options for at Tekka market, and also different.
You can have any of these foods at almost any time of the day or night. I don’t think I can even begin to list all the good chains from China.. or all the good local Chinese food.
Adrianna Tan
8. One of my ‘I’ll do anything for this’ foods is the tofu tart at LE Confectionary & Pastry.
Instead of the typical egg tart filling, they fill the tart with a tofu custard that I adore.
Their pineapple tarts are also incredible
I always bring too much of their stuff with me when I leave
Adrianna Tan
9. Singapore’s little India is one of the best places outside of South India to try my favorite regional Indian foods that I can’t easily get outside of India.
Tamil Nadu village style nonveg hearty peasant food.
Off the top of my head I can think of three really good spots in one place:
- Erode Mess
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VybRxMPiqVcfagFM7?g_st=ic
- Courtallam Border Kadai (I’ve actually eaten at this place in Courtallam.. it is good there and also in Little India Singapore!)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/KrwM38Bx5hGA9e9h6?g_st=ic
- Junior Kuppana (a famous chain from Chennai)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/psYTp1FYSiZH31P49?g_st=ic
I love this style of food so much and it pains me to not be able to easily access it.
Adrianna Tan
10. One of my favorite things to do in Singapore is to try to seek out super hyper regional Chinese cuisines.
Heng Hwa food, the food of a group from Fujian, that speaks a different but related language from Hokkien, is incredible. I don’t know many other places where you can get this cuisine easily.
Ming Chung is my fave, but any mall where you see a fancy restaurant named PUTIEN (named for the city that these folks come from), is also good
Adrianna Tan
11. I love taking the MRT but I also enjoy bus rides
Remember to tap in and out of buses (fares are distance-based)
Here’s a video on how to take the train and bus there
You can use credit cards as a transit card but remember that every foreign-issued card incurs an extra transaction fee (not to mention your card also potentially charging you extra for foreign transactions). Best to get a local transit card
Adrianna Tan
12. You can buy freshly squeezed orange juice using your transit card
A delicious intersection of my interests
Adrianna Tan
13. Whenever traveling through places like Singapore and Malaysia, any place purporting to sell ‘western food’ isn’t making it up:
We have a fusion cuisine called ‘western food’.
Basically, the British hired Hainanese people to cook in their homes and in the military barracks. After, the same Hainanese people would make the same food outside for the locals, but add more spices and soy sauce.
So Hainanese western food is essentially late 1800s British military officer food, made by Chinese chefs for people of all other Asian backgrounds.
It’s delicious and I adore it.
There’s also Hainanese-Russian food.
(You can in fact get good French and Italian and other Occidental food. Hehe. They will be named that way, and they won’t be called ‘western food’)
Jon Sullivan
@skinnylatte Happy birthday Singapore. I follow an account on Flickr by budak that posts lots of close-up photos of the extraordinary biodiversity of Singapore. I’m routinely wowed by the extravagant creatures that they find. It’s a special part of the natural world.
Here’s just one recent example.
Adrianna Tan
@joncounts he’s an old friend! @budak wave
David Chartier
@skinnylatte Wife and I visited a friend in Singapore a couple years ago. As a Chicago resident and transit fan, I was in *awe* of the train system there.
Adrianna Tan
@chartier yeah there have been many more new lines and stations since your last visit!
Adrianna Tan
14. Singlish and Singapore English are different.
Singlish is a local creole-like language with its own rules.
Don’t just add ‘lah’ to everything. 99% of the time when someone does that, it’s incorrect. And it’s also not the right word.
Use this guide instead https://medium.com/@visakanv/lah-leh-lor-and-so-on-d5ec2b258fd6
Adrianna Tan
15. Singapore English is NOT just Singlish
It exists on a continuum.
From the basilect to mesolect to acrolect. This corresponds roughly with social class
I think this old video of Ruby Pan talking about the different English accents in Singapore gives a great overview
Adrianna Tan
16. I really enjoyed this video interviewing people who were alive in the 1930s in Singapore
Talking about what it was like, how they grew up.
‘26 languages used in daily life’
Dysmorphia💛🤍💜🖤
@skinnylatte that sounds very appealing but would be odd if you were expecting (generic meaning) western food. It reminds me a bit of Japanese “western style meal” once I realized it was a distinct Japanese cuisine and not actually a western food, I let go of expectations and enjoyed it on its own terms.
Adrianna Tan
@dys_morphia i have to do that with american chinese!
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