(Pic by Lainie).
One of the coolest things about 2010 is the fact that I now live in a little commune where four girls live, love and work together, surrounded by our good friends in the ecosystem of apartments around us. In a setup like this where there’s hardly any division between work and play, mealtimes are pretty important. Come 2011, the plan is to put on pants more often and start the work day earlier — with more great breakfasts.
On Bak Kut Teh
Living on both sides of the Causeway, nothing gets a friendly feud going like the topic of bak kut teh. I’m half Teochew and half Hokkien, but in cultural terms I am definitely as Teochew as it gets. The only time my Teochew pride suffers is when it comes to bak kut teh. I like Singapore bak kut teh well enough (only at the right restaurants), but its use of white pepper is not something I am culturally used to. The Hokkien style of bak kut teh, as perfected in Klang not too far from where I now live, is my bak kut teh mecca, not anywhere in Singapore.
However, I still cringe when Malaysian friends flagrantly diss peppery bak kut teh as “not bak kut teh”. It’s not YOUR style of bak kut teh, but it doesn’t mean it’s not the same dish anymore. That’s just your cultural indoctrination talking, not food criticism. Teochews and Hokkiens (and every other southern Chinese dialect group) have many common dishes. Which dialect group’s iteration you prefer is entirely from your upbringing. This is the best explanation I’ve seen so far for the topic of KL bak kut teh vs SG bak kut teh. It’s not a Hokkien vs Teochew thing; it’s just a matter of what you are used to and your personal preferences.
Despite our differences, I think all of us who love bak kut teh in any style can agree that the only thing truly disgusting about bak kut teh is when chicken is used instead of pork!
Clay cups of chai in India
I’ve moved to a nice, new grown up pad and it’s virtually a hippie work commune. Out of the house we run a design collective, fuel a Singapore-based aviation startup, do communications consultancy work for big tobacco, provide voiceovers (and to an extent, compose jingles), but the most fun bit of it all is the marketing we do for our homemade ice cream brand. When I’m not busy project-managing a gazillion things across KL, Singapore and the world (our distributed team is all over the place), I’m writing copy about ice cream and Lainie is designing wraparounds for special ice cream events. Like this recent Oktoberfest promo we are having with Guinness and The Bee (where we work out of, some times).
I’ve been spoiled by espresso machines at home. Although I’ve moved out for some time, I still can’t bring myself to splurge on the espresso machine I want. For want of better, cheap coffee in Dubai / Bangkok / Bombay / KL / wherever I happen to be, is this nifty little Bialetti Moka Express. All you need is a stove… so much better than the cheapo coffee machines!
Simple Things I Like
I like going out for supper with friends at a warung like Juara Sup Herba Kerinchi and eating lots of telur daging cincang at 2 in the morning, then going next door to the kedai runcit to check out how much their cat food by the kilo costs.
It was delicious while it lasted. June 2008 is now a distant, delicious memory.
Goodbye El Bulli, you’ll be missed. I’m going to try to go again next year for its last season.
