Part 4 (2/2)
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lunch and dinner
Poisson Cru (”Tahitian Salad”) SERVES 6 6 AS AN APPETIZER AS AN APPETIZER, 4 AS A MAIN DISH AS A MAIN DISH
1 pound very fresh high-grade ahi tuna, diced in neat -inch cubes cup fresh lime juice cup coconut reen and white portions, split lengthwise and reen or red chile, seeded and minced, optionalSeveral tablespoons shredded coconut, optional teaspoon salt, or round black pepper1 medium tomato, seeded and squeezed to eliminate liquid, diced Combine in a medium bowl the tuna, lime juice, coconut milk, cucumber, scallions, optional chile and coconut, salt, and pepper Refrigerate 30 ht away
SINGAPORE
THE APPROACH OF EVENING LURES US IRRESISTIBLY into Singapore's red-light district, discreetly hidden in residential quarters a Road, a major artery If you know the city-state's reputation for paternalistic ht be surprised to learn that the sex trade flourishes here The governht district, discreetly hidden in residential quarters a Road, a major artery If you know the city-state's reputation for paternalistic ht be surprised to learn that the sex trade flourishes here The governazines such as Playboy Playboy and even requires ones with ”mature content” like and even requires ones with ”mature content” like Cos on the cover, but Big Brother approves of prostitution, as long as it isn't al just as a prelude to conventional copulation) and doesn't involve sodomy, a heinous offense punishable by brutal and bloody caning to carry a warning on the cover, but Big Brother approves of prostitution, as long as it isn't al just as a prelude to conventional copulation) and doesn't involve sodomy, a heinous offense punishable by brutal and bloody caning
Heedless on this sweltering night to any of these indulgences, our carnal cravings focus exclusively on crab On September 10, 2003, about a year before we made final decisions on destinations to visit on this trip, the late R W ”Johnny” Apple, Jr, published an article in the New York Tiapore's ”endless supper” A renowned journalist equally esteeluttony, Apple claiapore's ”endless supper” A renowned journalist equally esteeluttony, Apple claimed the crab bee hoon bee hoon (a preparation with rice ver Road was ”the best crab dish we tasted in a city famous for crab” He didn't describe the place or its location in any detail, but we know our lust for the bee hoon will lead us to the door (a preparation with rice ver Road was ”the best crab dish we tasted in a city famous for crab” He didn't describe the place or its location in any detail, but we know our lust for the bee hoon will lead us to the door
assu the area on foot, looking carefully for any sign of an ”eating house,” we finally come across an open-air sidewalk dive on a corner with a s ”Sin Huat”
”Surely, that's not our spot,” Cheryl says hopefully ”Let's look a little further” Nothing about the neighborhood or pre except for rows of fish and seafood tanks, enough-after cleaning the grie aquariuy, rickety plastic tables on the sidewalk constitute all the dining accoutrements
”I'm afraid we've found it,” Bill says ”Why don't we sit down and at least get a beer?”
He leads the way over to a couple of short plastic stools, the only seats out at the ti of a woman rushes from inside to wrestle real plastic chairs froer beer for us to share, and as Spark Plug pours us glasses, she insists, ”You eat some steamed scallops, too” Not quite sure hohy to refuse the food, we shrug our agreement to the order, and she disappears into the er bottle, Cheryl hands it over to Bill, pointing to a promise that drinkers will ”Live Like a Rock Star”
”Yeah, right,” he says ”So Jagger's going to join us at this duly cold brew, a cook eh rubber boots, sloshes along the wet floor, reaches into one of the tanks, and grabs our scallops, still alive in their shells Cheryl watches him intently ”I love the Chinese sense of fresh None of this 'air-expressed daily' or even caught the saht as well have been dead for a week”
”It's definitely a good o delivers a big plate of scallops on the half shell, bathed in a rich, heady, oily sauce ”My God,” Bill swears ”These are unbelievable-maybe the tastiest scallops I've ever had”
”And,” Cheryl says, ”I bet the menu”-which we never see, even if it exists-”doesn't blather on about diver harvesting, plus so common in American restaurant descriptions You see them in the tank alive and know they're truly fresh”
After a few ain ”You know, this place doesn't look so bad after all”
Pleasantly acclimated noe order Chef Danny Lee's specialty, the crab bee hoon To accos us rolled-up washcloths, a welcoapore so far has offered napkins or wipes of any kind Later, when he gets the check, Bill sees the washcloths for a second tihs at the fee for a service that keeps the table eably tidy for the restaurant, but pays it happily
When we're well into our second beer, Spark Plug returns with a brinificent juled pillow of vermicelli in a sticky broth flavored with oyster sauce, er, and red chiles ”Apple certainly didn't exaggerate,” Cheryl says ”How could crab get any better?” Taking turns with the , probably even in our sleep later Our goal is to direct the juices into the noodles, enriching theo in every direction-including, as she discovers the next day, into Cheryl's purse She doesn't keep the ht Rock stars got no glory on us
Johnny Apple's article convinced us to go to Singapore on our trip, despite s about the political climate and the antiseptic, Western style of the city The clique of autocrats who govern every aspect of life seeum for many years, for instance-but they are deadly serious about their multitude of rules Ahest execution rates in the world (usually for possession of drugs, includingas a common punishment
The courts sentencenu fro a visa (at least three strokes) to vandalisht smacks) and robbery (a minimum of six blows for an act committed before 7:00 PM PM and twelve for a later offense) The caning crew straps a fellow to a metal frah with a rattan stick to leave permanent scars To increase the pain inflicted, officials soak the rattan overnight in water It uys do for entertain crew straps a fellow to a metal frah with a rattan stick to leave permanent scars To increase the pain inflicted, officials soak the rattan overnight in water It uys do for entertainets this book censored in Singapore, which puts it in pretty good coside the Asian Wall Street Journal Asian Wall Street Journal and the and the Far Eastern Economic Review Far Eastern Economic Review Reporters Without Borders ranks the nation 140th out of 167 countries in its 2005 index of press freedom The People's Action Party (PAP), which has doovernainst political rivals, fro the theovern, and the Media Developorously er to PAP or public et about private satellite dishes, peaceful deroups of arded as riotous behavior
Soulations A widely sold T-shi+rt proclaies of various actions punished by substantial fines, which include eating or drinking on the subway, jaywalking, littering, spitting, failing to buckle your seat belt in a taxi, and not flushi+ng a public toilet PAP runs costly public education ca to instill the deviants pay heavily The T-shi+rt protests the paternalisovernment tolerates the implied disdain, ood publicity, hoping that the shi+rt's e reinforces its own efforts to advertise the officially sanctioned code of conduct You can bet they're not chuckling at the pop hu up on the strictness, however Aum chewers can now buy their treat at pharn a register The govern small concessions to appease both citizens and world opinion, but PAP isn't likely to head down a path that will gradually loosen its tight grip on power and public policy
Many will say that's a good thing Unlike hly, the leaders of PAP seem satisfied with their clout alone They don't raid the treasury, abide any corruption, drearandizing tyrants Probably, they truly care about the econoth of their city and sincerely want to keep it clean, safe, orderly, and running on tie them by these results instead of their tactics and obsessions, they aapore works in almost all respects It's clean to the point of pristine, as spick-and-span as a Disney theme park even without hundreds of sweepers constantly collecting the trash People actually take pride in their public restroo order The cri for locals and travelers alike and a h priority on labor productivity, which translates to high-level attention to education and health Public transportation covers every corner of the city and does it efficiently The Housing and Developh-rise residential estates and nens-home to 80 percent of the inhabitants-with easy access to schools, shopping, and eapore stands out as a monument to multiculturalism The British colonial roots relish as the prie of the realh Chinese descendants predoinally from a number of different provinces and still speak dissinificant uistic backgrounds In addition to English, the law recognizes Mandarin, Malay, and Taions include Buddhism, Hinduisovernment stalwartly maintains respectful tolerance of these differences and cla ill-will
The city means business, in virtually every way that you can interpret the point Founded as an Asian trading post in 1819 by Sir Starew into one of the British Ereat entrepo ts It reuided development has also created powerful financial and industrial sectors, resulting in thePAP does ultimately focuses on success in this sphere: even the ban on chewing gued the doors of subway trains, i the transportation systeapore on business, a better reason than pleasure travel in e conventional tourisreat airport, large international hotels, and colossal conte centers Apparently, they hope yourthe beauty of efficient air transportation
The other tourist attractions-described of course in glowing terazine articles-just don't add up to much The historic colonial area sounds impressive on paper, but basically it's full of intentionally intis Visitors often end up spending much of their tiy of a shopping strip featuring absolutely nothing distinctive Our trip to the area lasts less than thirty minutes before we flee the massive malls in dismay
The extensive Chinatown is the only area we enjoy for sightseeing Despite considerable urban renewal, it retains a fair e Centre illustrates both the changes and the constants Political turmoil, natural disasters, and famine drove many thousands of Chinese settlers here in the late nineteenth century, all risking their lives on aboat journey in horribly overcrowded conditions to reach what they called Nanyang, a place of escape Most planned to return ho to the ready availability of opiuenerally in two-and three-story shop-houses, with businesses on the ground floor and a dozen or er than the beds they held, as the Centre docuht share one toilet, bath, and kitchen, as well as so roo World War II brought the local econo e nu one or a few specialties froion of China, India, or Malaysia These small ”hawker” stands continued to flourish after the hen Chinatown entered soe in vibrancy and liveliness Iovernment in recent decades has s and hawker centers, the very places that have enticed us to Singapore
Apple's story in the Tirabbed our attention not for its comments on Sin Huat, one of many places th about K F Seetoh and his guidebook to hawker street food Neither of us could track down the version of the book Apple cites, but Bill soon found and ordered a revised edition, narabbed our attention not for its comments on Sin Huat, one of many places th about K F Seetoh and his guidebook to hawker street food Neither of us could track down the version of the book Apple cites, but Bill soon found and ordered a revised edition, named die, die, apore bookstore Don't be put off by the strange title if you're planning a visit You should die, die to buy it The ton and the uides ever written at an online Singapore bookstore Don't be put off by the strange title if you're planning a visit You should die, die to buy it The ton and the uides ever written
The city enjoys a ide reputation, at least in culinary circles, for its wealth of tasty street food The possibilities appealed to us strongly, but hoould we find our way ahly twelve thousand food stalls scattered around Chinatown and all the other neighborhoods of the city? The book provides the answer Seetoh's publishi+ng and broadcasting company, Makansutra (from the Malay word for ”eat” and the Sanskrit word for ”lesson”), sends out about thirty-five undercover ”Makan in the one-hundred-plus hawker centers and ed in die, die,out grandly in Singapore even on a short stop, noing the right food centers to visit, the dishes ant to try, the stands that offer premier examples of the fare, and the open days and hours of our chosen vendors Between bites, we can check out tourist attractions, but our mission is to revel in Asian street food convinced us that we could pig out grandly in Singapore even on a short stop, noing the right food centers to visit, the dishes ant to try, the stands that offer premier examples of the fare, and the open days and hours of our chosen vendors Between bites, we can check out tourist attractions, but our mission is to revel in Asian street food
Ironically, we have to thank the tight-assed rulers for this wonderful opportunity Their obsession with cleanliness guarantees sanitary cooking conditions everywhere, unlike in many cities, and their subway systeovernood place to stay, the Albert Court Hotel, a block of former shop-houses renovated into a boutique business hotel under a public prograain Internet rate on a large executive room, but mainly because of its location between major stations on two of the principal subway lines The plan is to stay on the o, except, of course, on the fine subway trains
After a late-Saturday-night arrival, we're up and off early on SundayMost of the hawker centers don't open until later, so our first stop is one that runs around the clock, just like McDonald's local McDelivery service (”for orders of any size,” the ubiquitous posters say) Makansutra reco at the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, but all the standard guidebooksplace for visitors to check out the street-food scene It sounds to us worth a look, at least to get a touchstone for what to avoid
It's easy to see why Lau Pa Sat appeals to tourists It occupies a faux Victorian open-air pavilion full of gingerbread accents, whirling ceiling fans, and comfortable modern tables Like spokes on a wheel, wide aisles radiate fro to pods of attractive stalls with na Duck,” and ”Wonderful Vegetable Mixed Rice” Bill says on the way out, ”This would o drinks of o and kiwi juice, ander a few blocks over to the heart of Chinatown The walk takes us along South Bridge Road, the neighborhood's main street and the site of the Sri Maria back to 1827, before heavy Chinese settleopurah above the entrance, flanked by statues of shi+va and Vishnu Just days in advance of our arrival, the te ceree to prove their spiritual strength by striding across a bed of hot coals Today is also busy, leading up to touration of the preparations for Hindu Diwali, the Festival of Lights, called Deepawali in Singapore Staring at piles of footwear on the sidewalk by the door into the temple, Cheryl is perplexed ”There must be several hundred pair of sandals and shoes in those stacks Hoould you ever find your own again?” (tower) rising high above the entrance, flanked by statues of shi+va and Vishnu Just days in advance of our arrival, the te ceree to prove their spiritual strength by striding across a bed of hot coals Today is also busy, leading up to touration of the preparations for Hindu Diwali, the Festival of Lights, called Deepawali in Singapore Staring at piles of footwear on the sidewalk by the door into the temple, Cheryl is perplexed ”There must be several hundred pair of sandals and shoes in those stacks Hoould you ever find your own again?”
Side streets off of Bridge offer other diversions Along PaGoda on the way to the Chinatown Heritage Centre, pedestrians get a good view of the terounds, where today prostrate men dressed in sio Street once brimmed with death houses, which provided rudimentary care for the infirm elderly who didn't want to risk bad luck for their fa at home Attached funeral parlors prepared the deceased for last rites, including the burning of paper replicas of their favorite possessions and also plenty of simulated money for them to spend in heaven or hell Shops on Banda sell similar contemporary items for incineration, such as cardboard credit cards, passports, computers, and cell phones, each presumed to be useful in the afterlife ”So, what do you want to take with you?” Cheryl asks Bill
”The only thing that tempts me is the dim sum, but I'd prefer to have the real deal alive rather than a facsimile in my coffin”
On that note, we enter one of the most famous of the hawker operations, the Maxwell Food Centre at the end of South Bridge The travel guides that tout Lau Pa Sat sometimes mention Maxwell as well, usually preceded with an adjective like ”drab” or ”old-fashi+oned” Nonsense, it's just functional, not dressed up for a social outing The open-air concrete pavilion with a corrugated roof holds more than one hundred stalls, each about ten square feet and jaredients, and one or more proprietors The booths line both sides of three broad, tiled aisles occupied by basic tables and chairs As in other centers, you order at a stand that specializes in one or a few dishes, take a seat, and when the food is prepared-it never sits out under a wars it over, locating you a the multitudes by some kind of mysterious radar Loalls at the stalls allow you to watch everything going on inside fro, you leave trays, plates, and utensils on the table-stacking or clearing theious taboos-and so
Our top priority at Maxwell is Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, a stall that Foo Kui Lian took over froo Makansutra's Web site ranks it as one of fifteen 2005 ”Hawker Legends,” the best in the city, the group says, for chicken rice, itself a Singapore legend created by irants from Hainan Island in the South China Sea The booth proves easy to find from the vendor number listed in die, die, iven the crowded conditions and large nu for the business to open at 11:00, we kill a little ti at other stalls across the aisle When we turn around again, a minute or so before the appointed hour, suddenly two dozen customers have jumped ahead of us into a line, whichstall for prep work and ens of success in this field a relief to us given the crowded conditions and large nu for the business to open at 11:00, we kill a little ti at other stalls across the aisle When we turn around again, a minute or so before the appointed hour, suddenly two dozen customers have jumped ahead of us into a line, whichstall for prep work and ens of success in this field
Chicken rice may sound a little dull-it's just steamed versions of the two basic components-but it abounds with flavor at Tian Tian The order taker asks us, ”You want skin?” and both of us nod ”Yes” Otherwise everyone gets exactly the sah-quality rice topped with rich chicken gravy, several thick slices of buttery white ar-bathed cukes, sweet soy, and a fittingly fiery red-chile sauce seasoned with ginger and a bit of orange Each plate costs about US 2, the average for hawker food anywhere in the city
Another Maxwell favorite, Liely because of its top Makansutra rating for the stall's specialty, goreng pisang goreng pisang (batter-fried bananas) The owners grow the fruit on their own plantation in Malaysia, using only the prime Raja variety, and ith a special batter they created themselves The plump bananas come out of the oil as sweet as honey, with a te that's crackly crisp While the cook prepares thearcane juice, wrestling short stalks through a press that ued, both of us get a glass ”I feared it would be cloyingly sweet,” Bill says, and Cheryl finishes his thought, ”But it's really light and refreshi+ng I love the green-fruit flavor” (batter-fried bananas) The owners grow the fruit on their own plantation in Malaysia, using only the prime Raja variety, and ith a special batter they created themselves The plump bananas come out of the oil as sweet as honey, with a te that's crackly crisp While the cook prepares thearcane juice, wrestling short stalks through a press that ued, both of us get a glass ”I feared it would be cloyingly sweet,” Bill says, and Cheryl finishes his thought, ”But it's really light and refreshi+ng I love the green-fruit flavor”