Our last day in Singapore brought us a few metro stops and a long walk to what I had been told would be some of the city's best Laksa. The brief history of this particular location included an original stall founded some 30 odd years ago, then some sort of acrimonious split of the owners which led to each founding an identically named stall immediately next to each other in the same spot. Each claims to be the original and I'm told there is continuous local debate as to which is the best (think Pat's and Geno's, for all you Philly natives).
We chose the less conspicuous of the two stalls (once we figured out that they were actually two distinct locations, as the signs really did sport the exact same names side by side) and ordered two small bowls and two glasses of sweetened lime juice. After a few short minutes (when was the last time we waited in this part of the world?), two generous helpings (despite the fact we were told to order small bowls if we were only a 'little bit hungry') were laid in front of us. A rich yellow coconut broth, heaps of soft short cut (so you only need a spoon) spaghetti like noodles, prawns and for me, cockles. The soup was a bit more delicately flavored than I had expected, but the spice built slowly and it ended up being rather addicting, as evidenced by I quickly emptied bowls. We had wanted to try the neighboring stall, but even our small bowls proved to be too filling.
We headed back towards center city and decided to take a nice long stroll along the harbor area to take in the wealth of future-city architecture.
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| Something strange in the neighborhood |
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| Apparently my siblings have been making fun of the 'stache (rightly so) back on the other side of the globe. Say goodbye to it! |
Very quick update..
C: Made it to India without issue-- Singapore to Chennai, Chennai to Hyderabad-- and spent the last few days with my Nainamma (my grandmother) mostly eating and sleeping. It was great. We went out to sight see one day as well (some technical difficulties with the camera-- lots of pictures to come soon!) Now we're in Jubilee Hills with more family, catching up and having a good time (also more pictures to come!) It's so nice to be in India and spend time with the family, a nice break from hotels and hostels for a while, I think it will be a wonderful couple months.
E: So wonderful to finally be here. Not many big surprises, but it's gratifying to see for myself how energetic, colorful, chaotic, friendly, and in many ways baffling being in a big Indian city is after hearing so much from Cindhu and her family and from my sister's experiences in New Delhi and elsewhere. Excited to be meeting Cindhu's grandmothers finally and the handful of cousins and aunties and uncles I haven't yet met. The few days with Nainamma easily confirmed my hopes about the home cooking we'd be eating (and confirmed Cindhu's warnings about the volume of food we'd be encouraged to eat). It's a refreshing change to be in the generous and capable hands of family, not having to worry about navigating new towns or finding clean and comfortable hotels or the right place to eat. It's comforting to know we'll be in one place for longer stretches of time. The current itinerary is to stay with family around Hyderabad until the 26th or 27th, then take a few weeks to visit a couple places around the south - maybe Bangalore, Goa, Kerala - then back to Hyderabad to meet Cindhu's dad on the 8th, and my brother Will on the 9th who will spend several days with us before heading up to New Delhi to meet up with his study-abroad program. We'll head up to New Delhi ourselves on the 16th and explore Rajasthan and possibly beyond for a few weeks, then to Mumbai and on to Cairo on February 12. Hard to believe we have so much more to see.
A few pictures
We're staying now with Cindhu's Aunt and Uncle and her cousin's family who are in town. Very relaxing - more details coming soon!
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