Thursday, June 13, 2019

Asia Trip Part 7: Singapore

Because it was the last stop for the cruise I actually got to spend some time in Singapore, but unfortunately didn't make it in to the more interesting parts of town or eat as much as I wanted of the local cuisine.  I did get to see both the China town and little India parts of the city.

General thoughts: First of all, you do not fuck around with the law in Singapore.  We were given little notices that possession of drugs was a capital offense before the ship even docked, so yeah, there's that.  I don't know what they would do to you if you got in to a bar fight, but I suspect it would start with slivers of bamboo and your fingernails and go downhill from there.  On the upside, I never once concerned myself with someone picking my pocket.

In China town I had a very nice, if forgettable, meal.  I also got to stop in to a Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of China town, which was my first taste of sea cucumber.  I can't say that the sea cucumber had a whole lot of flavor itself, but the dish was delicious, and I actually liked the texture.  I foresee making some myself if I can find sea cucumber to work with.  Definitely one of the better meals, and something I've been wanting to try for some time.  A little later in the trip I had the opportunity to try chili crab at a little outdoor place by the water.  It was good (if messy), but I fail to see what the hype is about; maybe it was just that place.  I never did get to try the fish head curry.

In the visit to little India I managed to show up right in time for a parade which was fairly impressive in it's size, but I left this little bit to talk about until after talking about the food.  There were quite a few men stripped to the waist who were carrying (or so I initially thought) rather large pieces of ornamentation.  Upon closer inspection however, they were carrying them less with their hands and more with a series of piercings through their flesh.  A lot of piercings.  I know religion makes even otherwise rational people do phenomenally stupid things, but that was beyond the pale.

Ultimately, piercings aside I enjoyed Singapore and got to see a pretty good museum; I just wish I'd been able to go out and see more.  It also gains points because damned near everyone spoke English.

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