Smoke on the Water

Cough, cough – greetings from hazy Singapore. Here we’ve been encountering a month worth of Beijing-style air, not from factories but from clearing forests for palm oil farms in Indonesia.

  

The haze varies each year in its severity but this year it’s not only been severe but it’s been very long lived. While we’ve been hiding out inside we’ve learned a few things during the worst haze this year. 

No those aren't storm clouds

• PSI is different than AQI (Air Quality Index – which most of the world uses.) This is Singapore’s own air rating system.
• While we think its bad at a 300+ psi in Singapore we can stay inside and turn on the air conditioner and our air purifiers. There are reports that in Indonesia it’s over 2000 psi.
• At over 300 psi, the Ministry closes their schools, like they did on Friday.
• In these conditions you want a mask that is labeled N95 to properly filter the air.
• You look ridiculous in a mask no matter how hard you try. (Raegen said I looked like Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Personally I was thinking more of a cartoon duck.)
• While we’d all love to boycott unsustainable palm oil so the harmful haze stops happening but it is literally in everything we use from margarine, lipgloss, vegetable oil to ice cream (gasp – not ice cream!)

• For a list of companies who are using sustainable palm oil click here. In case you’re curious, Target, Subway and Costco rank at the bottom.
• Most of the investors in these palm oil farms live in Singapore.  Oh the irony.

Think of us while you’re out on a jog or driving with the windows open and send some fresh air karma our way!

Until then,

Amy & Raegen

Scooting Through Saigon

We’ve already given you a little taste of our trip to Ho Chi Minh in Hungry in Ho Chi Minh. Now that brings us to our Saturday night activity – a foodie tour with XO Tours. The tour boasts that you will not eat ‘typical’ Vietnamese food that you’d see in a restaurant. Boy were they right.

The night started with three lovely ladies who were our drivers for the evening picking us up on three mopeds. There’s no way for me to tell you the details and excitement we experienced on this adventure as it would be three pages long. We explored five different districts within the city and enjoyed every minute of it.

When we were leaving Chinatown it started to rain so we all put on our rain gear. (Yes we know we look like cartoon penguins).  Then the real rain came. It was raining so hard that it hurt your face while cruising on the scooter. I can’t explain how (although watching the video below may help) but that downpour made the night go from epic to legendary. We were driving on the back of scooters over rivers and through the heart of the city through the city getting absolutely soaked.

During the tour we had bo hue (beef noodle soup), grilled goat, okra, frog legs, shrimp, and Vietnamese spirits. The last stop of the night in District Four was certainly the most unique food we’ve had. This place had great seafood but then came the Vietnamese delicacy called balut. (If you have a weak stomach stop reading here and skip to the bottom.) Balut is a fertilized duck egg that grows for 2-4 weeks. It’s then cooked like a hard boiled egg and eaten the same way. Yes there is a bird in there. Trust me, I still think it’s gross. We all accepted the challenge and Mario* was the first to finish his and then Raegen. I will proudly say I tried half but once one of the girls showed me a photo on her phone of  a cross section of the egg I couldn’t do it anymore.

Driving home along the river in the post-rain fresh air was just what the doctor ordered and a great way to wrap up a trip of a lifetime.

Happy Trails,

Amy & Raegen

*Not his real name. I should've called Raegen Luigi to make this post a little more fun. 

Hungry in Ho Chi Minh

As you’ve learned by now we take advantage of any three day weekends in Singapore to explore somewhere in the region.  The July holiday weekend was no different as we decided to explore Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon) with our friend Mario Paradise* who was visiting from the States. I can officially say that this was one of the best trips we’ve taken in awhile. It was the right combo of travel buddies and fun activities.

We started our trip with a cooking class at Saigon Cooking Class by Hoa Tuc with Chef Hong. He patiently taught us how to make beef noodle soup (pho bo), caramelized pork with fresh coconut juice in a traditional Vietnamese clay pot (Thịt kho tiêu), BBQ pork vermicelli (Bún thịt nướng) and fresh spring rolls with prawns, pork and rice noodles (Gỏi cuốn). Southern Vietnamese food is quite different the Northern cuisine and surprisingly Vietnamese dishes are made with a lot of sugar and a lot of fish sauce, which is made from fermented fish that is slowly pressed.

One cannot enjoy something like this without making it into a bit of a cooking competition. We were all winners as we ate some great food but one of us may have performed their touchdown dance and we stopped keeping track after two rounds of cooking as it was becoming a bit of a blow out.

Our hotel, the Caravelle Hotel, was in a great area in District One (the touristy area) where we could walk to dinner and we enjoyed a cocktail atop the Majestic Hotel overlooking the Mekong River. 

You can’t talk about Ho Chi Minh without talking about the scooter insanity.  There are 7.9 million people who live there so there are scooters EVERYWHERE sometimes carrying three people, groceries, goods to sell at the market, you name it you’ll see it! When you cross the street you simply walk at a steady pace and they go around you. Surprisingly there are not many accidents as everyone drives max 25 MPH but it’s certainly a sight to see.

Photo credit: wikipedia.org 

Since this trip was a trip of a lifetime and packed with more than we can talk about in one post, you’ll have to stay tuned next week for Scooting in Saigon. Trust me – it’s worth the wait. Until then, you're welcome to come on over for some Vietnamese home cooking!

Happy Trails, 

Amy & Raegen 

*Great name right? I know, but it's not his real name.

SG50 - Singapore's Golden Birthday

Sunday, 9 August marks a place in history for Singapore as it celebrates its 50^th Birthday. Singapore became a sovereign nation in 1965 under the leadership of Lee Kuan Yew. In its very short history Singapore has grown into a modern and dynamic first world country.

As we celebrate National Day of our adopted country we would be remiss if we didn’t highlight what it’s like to celebrate our home country’s birthday, 4th of July, in Singapore as told by our guest writer, Loren Freckles.* 

I awake to music vibrating the bed beneath me. Before I can place the song, the mental picture of a F-14 preparing for take off with engines burning as the plane prepares to launch from an aircraft carrier's deck comes into my mind. Top Gun’s "Highway to the Danger Zone" blares throughout the apartment.  It's the 4th of July, America's Independence Day.

As I walk toward the music, I see the bright light of day through the room’s floor to ceiling high rise windows. This could be a high rise in any major city. I could easily be waking up in Chicago, San Francisco, or New York. Although this view is different, it's the silhouette of the Marina Bay Sands Casino. I realize this is going to be an Independence Day celebration different from anyone other. 

The morning progresses in stereotypical 4th of July form with preparation of an assortment of BBQ favorites - sausages, chicken, and ribs.  Alas several seemingly insignificant challenges arise that I’ve never faced at home. Potato salad for example, the creamy cool accompaniment to its grilled surroundings, is on the menu but we need more potatoes and French dressing for Great Grandma's potato salad. In the States the solution is easy, hit the local grocery store and with one small basket the list is checked - crisis averted.  Not today my friends. Potato purchases must be well planned and the half day adventure to the hawker market must be executed early, before the masses grab the last available spud.  Now onto the French dressing. One might think, hit the store and buy a bottle, but instead this requires another trip to the market along with a Google search as this common place dressing is not so common here. Instead it must be made from scratch with ketchup, mayo, spices which all must be individually collected. The balance of BBQ prep goes off without a hitch and the guests begin to arrive. 

At first glance, no disparaging difference is evident from any other 4th of July celebration. Dressed in red, white, and blue they smile and exchange pleasantries over Budweiser, margaritas and an American flag berry cake.

The entertainment of the evening was not meant to celebrate American Independence but yet practicing for a much younger nation’s birthday – Singapore’s 50th. From the patio we lived our own version on Top Gun with F-16 flyovers by the Black Nights and we finished off the night with a fireworks show that would make Francis Scott Key proud.

Thank you to our guest writer Loren Freckles and Happy 50th Birthday Singapore! 

Until then,

Amy & Raegen

*Still not their real name.