Singapore - Videos of my country that I made

This is the season where Secondary Schools conduct open houses, to attract a new batch of students. Education can get quite crazy in Singapore. The kids do the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) at 12 years old (after 6 years in Primary School) and their PSLE scores will determine which Secondary school they can get into. The top schools in the country are highly coveted.

Today, we visit Nanyang Girls High School. Founded 101 years ago, this school, rich in Chinese traditions, is the top Girls' Secondary School in Singapore, going by the PSLE cut-off point. It has a very nice campus along Bukit Timah Road.

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The 'Brother school' of Nanyang is called Hwa Chong Institution, just across the road. The High School section, is for Boys only. We visited their Open House last year. The Chinese High School (Hwa Chong) was founded by Mr Tan Kah Kee, 陈嘉庚.

Tan Kah Kee (21 October 1874 – 12 August 1961)He was a very successful Chinese Businessman, and philantrophist. He is also the founder of Xiamen University.

Some video clips.

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Another one of Chinese High boys showing off their drumming skills.

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Ironically, when Tan Kah Kee tried to return to Singapore in 1950 after World War II, the British Colonial authorities denied him entry, fearing that he would bring the Communist influence into Singapore and South East Asia.

Lovely to see you start and maintain this thread and to read of your love of Singapore.

Keep up the good work and do everything you can to ensure that more people see Singapore as more than simply a stopover! :)

Thanks for sharing the Easter Sunday church choir video, lovely!

Lovely to see you start and maintain this thread and to read of your love of Singapore.

 

Keep up the good work and do everything you can to ensure that more people see Singapore as more than simply a stopover! :)

Thanks for your encouragement.

Thanks for sharing the Easter Sunday church choir video, lovely!

We praise and thank God! Glad you liked it.

Thanks for the ongoing vids...gives us lots of ideas for our upcoming trip. Regarding the Bumboat cruise, can you get a ticket at any of the quays or have you got to get it at Clarke Quay? Esplanade jetty would, I think, be easier for us as we are staying at the Fairmont, so a shorter walk.

Thanks

Simon

Thanks for the ongoing vids...gives us lots of ideas for our upcoming trip. Regarding the Bumboat cruise, can you get a ticket at any of the quays or have you got to get it at Clarke Quay? Esplanade jetty would, I think, be easier for us as we are staying at the Fairmont, so a shorter walk.

 

Thanks

 

Simon

That's a good question. Frankly, I don't know the answer. There may be more than 1 company operating the cruise as well.

Simon, for the bumboats you can board and pay at any point. I really miss the old smelly boats but now they are all very green and quiet! From recall there is a kiosk by the landing place opposite your hotel. The kiosks are those huts to the left of the image I believe.

And isn't ILC2s videos great. :)

If you are on one of the BA UK flights ie BA11 or BA15 from the UK then you will be arriving early evening. To guarantee that you will return and return to Singapore you need a ritual! Our first evening ritual is to dump out luggage after a quick refresh and to make our way to Satay Street at Lau Pa Sat. This is a ten minute walk or so from the Fairmont.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=satay+street+lau+pa+sat&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjoh4v9rKraAhUDZFAKHTrdAsIQ_AUICygC&biw=2293&bih=847#imgrc=Q341CsbAnDUtgM:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=satay+street+lau+pa+sat&client=firefox-b&dcr=0&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjoh4v9rKraAhUDZFAKHTrdAsIQ_AUICygC&biw=2293&bih=847#imgrc=Q341CsbAnDUtgM:

Awesome. Yes, the satay at Lau Pat Sat is very good.

Thanks guys. We're coming in on a cruise then flying out 5 days later, so plan was to dump luggage (assuming room is not ready) and walk and do the bumboat during the morning.

Simon

Awesome. Yes, the satay at Lau Pat Sat is very good.

......and the Tiger Aunties ..... ;)

......and the Tiger Aunties ..... ;)

Heheh. Tiger Beer promoters.

Since we are on the topic of Tiger Beer, here are 2 TIger Beer videos I made before.

First, the low-calorie version. Bought this at the supermarket. Not sure if they sell this at the coffeeshops or hawker centers.

[YOUTUBE]7esS_8qSxD4[/YOUTUBE]

Next, Tiger White. Tiger's version of a wheat beer.

[YOUTUBE]MM0f313biCE[/YOUTUBE]

3 new food-related videos.

First, a wonderful dinner at St Regis Hotel Ballroom. Attended a banquet, and the food was awesome!

The menu served:

1. Trio of appetizers (Fried Prawn, Crispy Pork, Drunken Chicken)

2. Double-Boiled Superior Soup with Fish Maw, American Top Shell, Dried Scallop, Bamboo Pith and Cordycep Flower

3. Braised Baby Abalone with Flower Mushroom and Broccoli

4. Oven-Baked Cod Fillet with Japanese Miso Sauce

5. Oven-Bake Kurobuta Pork with Black Pepper Sauce

6. Stir-Fried Mee Sua with Seafood in XO Sauce

7. Chilled Lemongrass Jelly with Aloe Vera and Yuzu Sherbet

[YOUTUBE]KFldfGIw5tg[/YOUTUBE]

Second, a delightful Dim Sum set lunch at the Mitzo restaurant, at Grand Park Orchard Hotel.

[YOUTUBE]O3Q8DqVYwSA[/YOUTUBE]

Finally, we head over to Pasir Panjang Food Center, which is right beside the Pasir Panjang MRT station. This is a typical Singapore Hawker Center, selling cheap and good food. But tonight, I check out a new store, selling beer! I chose the

Stone Brewing USA IPA Pale Ale Beer, $10 for 475ml (1 pint). It was good and went super well with the Thai food.

[YOUTUBE]1iGCYE1EBpQ [/YOUTUBE]

Enjoy Singapore!

Oh Dear .... your food vids and we are 9 months away from our next three week food safari! Normally we have two or three three week visits per year but we have cut it to one!

I know you use to post on the thread I started "elswehere" that "Singapore is more than a stopover ...." and it is lovely to see you are here. Singapore is so under-appreciated by most and your work here is fantastic. :)

Oh Dear .... your food vids and we are 9 months away from our next three week food safari! Normally we have two or three three week visits per year but we have cut it to one!

 

I know you use to post on the thread I started "elswehere" that "Singapore is more than a stopover ...." and it is lovely to see you are here. Singapore is so under-appreciated by most and your work here is fantastic. :)

Thanks Jeff.

Since I like to make videos as a hobby, I decided why not do some work to profile my little country And I love to cruise too, so I' always lurking around cruise critic.

One of our favourite stalls ..... I still think of my last plate ... truly delicious ... and cooked by Mr Tay!

Some background info for anyone interested .......

http://www.allaboutceil.com/2016/07/tiong-bahru-fried-kway-teow-2-fried.html

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Sharing a video made by the Singapore Civil Defence Force. i.e. Singapore FireFighters and Emergency Services. I know I'm biased, but I think they are one of the best, if not the best, in the world. And they can sing too.

[YOUTUBE]rZ9PkaaKjwU[/YOUTUBE]

One of our favourite stalls ..... I still think of my last plate ... truly delicious ... and cooked by Mr Tay!

 

 

 

 

Some background info for anyone interested .......

 

http://www.allaboutceil.com/2016/07/tiong-bahru-fried-kway-teow-2-fried.html

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for sharing this! I must admit, I haven't tried this store. I should! Glad that you go for hawker food. I think that is one of best-kept secrets. Not so much the high-end restaurants (which are pretty much available all over the world), but there is nothing like our hawker centers and food courts.

Thanks for sharing this! I must admit, I haven't tried this store. I should! Glad that you go for hawker food. I think that is one of best-kept secrets. Not so much the high-end restaurants (which are pretty much available all over the world), but there is nothing like our hawker centers and food courts.

Our love of Singapore started with Hawker food and the closest we ever get to a restaurant is a shopping center food court! Singapore is a foodies paradise as long as you experience hawker food. The secret is this where families have often prepared a single or couple of dishes through generations and are so proud of what they do.

Every day we head out for lunch somewhere. We also often stop by a housing complex and have a beer at a "coffee shop" before lunch where all the locals stop by and chat to us. We also head out on the MRT at "going home" time and simply get off the train where a large number seem to get off and follow the crowds out of the station where you often find collections of hawker places where people collect their evening meals.

I love to learn to cook by watching carefully as they prepare and when I get home I try it out. People coming to Singapore are wary of hawker cventers but they often don't understand that food is safer at a hawker center than at a restaurant at home due to the rigorous hygiene inspections and how they rerspond to complaints. If they do a spot check and their are infringements for hygiene or no hygiene training certificates places are closed or demerits issued. And the "scores on the doors" tell you where not to eat. In our case A or at worst B but nothing below.

The key thing is to always join a queue. If there is a queue then the food is good. Order food you are unfamiliar with and try everything. The dish in the piccy above looks so odd to western eyes but it was absolutely delicious with different tastes and textures.

But you know all this as you are lucky enough to be able to eat hawker every day. :)

Our love of Singapore started with Hawker food and the closest we ever get to a restaurant is a shopping center food court! Singapore is a foodies paradise as long as you experience hawker food. The secret is this where families have often prepared a single or couple of dishes through generations and are so proud of what they do.

 

Every day we head out for lunch somewhere. We also often stop by a housing complex and have a beer at a "coffee shop" before lunch where all the locals stop by and chat to us. We also head out on the MRT at "going home" time and simply get off the train where a large number seem to get off and follow the crowds out of the station where you often find collections of hawker places where people collect their evening meals.

 

I love to learn to cook by watching carefully as they prepare and when I get home I try it out. People coming to Singapore are wary of hawker cventers but they often don't understand that food is safer at a hawker center than at a restaurant at home due to the rigorous hygiene inspections and how they rerspond to complaints. If they do a spot check and their are infringements for hygiene or no hygiene training certificates places are closed or demerits issued. And the "scores on the doors" tell you where not to eat. In our case A or at worst B but nothing below.

 

The key thing is to always join a queue. If there is a queue then the food is good. Order food you are unfamiliar with and try everything. The dish in the piccy above looks so odd to western eyes but it was absolutely delicious with different tastes and textures.

 

But you know all this as you are lucky enough to be able to eat hawker every day. :)

Brilliantly said. Yes, we love our hawker food. There was a point in time when the Government stopped building new hawker centers. Thankfully, they realised their folly and now we get new ones springing up now and then, especially when there are new housing estates. The older ones get a new lease of life through renovation and refurbishment.

Hawker Centers are a national institution and the hygiene standards are very high. Food poisoning episodes from hawker centers are very, very rare. Because they are so rare, any significant case will make it to the news. You are right that restaurants and other forms of catered food (where transport from point A to B is required) tend to get hit with hygiene issues more often than hawker stores.

People coming to Singapore are wary of hawker cventers but they often don't understand that food is safer at a hawker center than at a restaurant at home due to the rigorous hygiene inspections and how they rerspond to complaints. If they do a spot check and their are infringements for hygiene or no hygiene training certificates places are closed or demerits issued. And the "scores on the doors" tell you where not to eat. In our case A or at worst B but nothing below.

You are right!

http://www.nea.gov.sg/public-health/food-hygiene/food-hygiene-standards-in-singapore

Back to the topic of Char Kway Teow, this is the store I patronise regularly, primarily because I live near this food center.

[YOUTUBE]0CfKsYocYvk[/YOUTUBE]

You may have heard of the Michelin Star hawkers in Singapore - https://guide.michelin.sg/en/michelin-guide-restaurants/liao-fan-hawker-chan

Another article from the local press. Hawker Chan has now expanded his business globally.

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/food/hawker-chan-restaurant-by-one-michelin-starred-liao-fan-soya-sauce-chicken-opens-to

We finally tried Hawker Chan's soya chicken, twice in fact in the past couple of weeks. The place was crowded! But food was good and very reasonable priced.

On the first visit, to took away chicken and other meats.

[YOUTUBE]DbA0LxXmYHo[/YOUTUBE]

On our second visit, we took away the soya chicken noodles and char siew noodles. That place was crowded!

[YOUTUBE]CwiVzzIhAEw[/YOUTUBE]

ILTC,

This was the queues in the Chinatown Complex when we visited last and the queues were around an hour long .... we didn’t queue!

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I think about this bowl often ... and I guess that makes me sad ..... :)

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UKCruiseJeff, that bowl looks SO delicious! What is it?