Embrace the scum

Once again, dear readers, I am using a provocative headline to tempt you in to my blog. This is not a plea to hug a villain, but the essence of an article in Singapore's "Today" freesheet which extols the virtues of the froth that occurs when one is making soup. According to "Today", soup scum contains nutrients - largely protein and fat, it would appear - and can be consumed without concern. Hmmm, it still looks yucky though.


It strikes me that it's been a while since I've written on the subject of food, so it's probably time to give it another go, given the importance of the subject to most Singaporeans. Hawker centres are a big thing here. They are open-air food complexes, basically a collection of individual stalls, where the stall-holders ply their wares - anything from carrot cake (not what you're thinking, but a savoury dish bearing no resemblance to dessert) through curry puffs ( a personal favourite) and pig's organ soup (most decidedly not a personal favourite), in a no-frills setting. The Newton hawker centre is a short drive from where we live - to be fair, not that long a walk, but this is Singapore - and one of the stalls there has the best curry puffs in town. Strangely, its only real competition in my opinion is the version sold by Ikea - just as well really, since it's the only way I can ever get Chris to go there!


Another feature of the Singapore food scene is the wet market. These are very popular here - basically open markets that sell pretty much everything, from fresh fruit to live chickens. Imagine a supermarket, then imagine something nothing like a supermarket in terms of layout, presentation, lighting, flooring (they are wet, as a result of regular washing down - remember what I said about live animals?), and you pretty much have a wet market. The one we go to from time to time (for honey mangoes rather then hens), is the Tekka market in Little India.

I was in Little India yesterday, as it happens, in search of a sari. Why a sari, you ask? Well, I had been invited to an Indian themed party and decided that a sari was the way to go. I was recommended to go to Hanifa's on Dunlop Street by the lady who sold me my Indian sandals, so off I went. I had envisaged a decent range, but not the tens of thousands on display. Now, a sari is basically a (very long) length of cloth, so how difficult can it be to choose? Very, actually. First, the material - cotton, silk crepe, heavy silk, then the design - plain, with a border, embroidered, sequined, jewelled - you get the picture, and finally colour, or colours. I settled for a beautifully flowing silk crepe in pale green blending into pale coffee, with embroidered flowers on the border. If I say so myself, it is absolutely beautiful!

Once I got it home, though, I encountered a wee problem. The shop forgot to give me the instructions on how to tie it, so I looked it up on the Internet, only to discover that I needed a petticoat. You tuck the material into the petticoat as a first step, as the base for the rest of the folding and winding, so, petticoatless, I was in something of a pickle. Necessity being the mother of invention, I decided to cut the feet off a pair of cream coloured opaque tights and tuck the material into that instead. It worked like a charm. I must say, I felt really elegant, having accessorised with kohl, the gold sandals, a jewelled bindi and the longest (and heaviest) earrings I have ever worn. No photo unfortunately, but I'll be wearing it again, so definitely the next time..........