Singapore - The Air-conditioned Nation

I just began reading this book which inspired the title of this post. It begin with an anecdote about Singapore's founding father, Lee Kuan Yew:

True to form, when the Wall Street Journal asked several 2oth century luminaries to pick the most influential invention of the millenium, Lee named the air-conditioner.

'Air-conditioned' seems to be the perfect metaphor for Singapore: everthing is so convenient, so organized and economically vibrant, 'the perfect temperature'. On the other hand everyone has to cede a whole chunk of their individual will and freedom to the government, submit to 'central control'.

Let's see... what can't one so in Singpore without a permit:

• Protest or conducting any public assembly of 5 or more people. Being at the forefront of 'e-government', at least it's easy to apply electronically from the police. For artistic permits the minstry vets the script/synopsis for the performance - sometimes decision can be a bit arbitrary.
• Form a society. Look at the trouble this GLBT group went though.

I guess despite this, life here is food enough. Kinda like living with your strict parents - every comfort is provided for, but they insist on you doing things their way, with their own rules. Any of course, they thing they know what's best for you - and a lot of times you don't.

Only you're not a teenager anymore and it's not your parent's house you live in but your own country/homeland.

PS: Call them autocratic if you like [and I kinda do], but I do feel the people who run this country sincerely (whatever their methods or silly ways) care about its future. Which is more than what you can say for Thailand - don't get me started about Thaksin and Suriya.

Fulbright Scholars

Fulbright Scholars by Ted Hughes

Where was it, in the Strand? A display
Of news items, in photographs.
For some reason, I noticed it.
Picture of that year's intake
Of Fulbright Scholars. Just arriving -
Or arrived. Or some of them.
Were you among them? I studied it,
Not too minutely, wondering
Which of them I might meet.
I remember that thought. Not
Your face. No doubt I scanned particularly
The girls. Maybe I noticed you.
Maybe I weighted you up, feeling unlikely.
Noted your long hair, lose waves -
Your Veronica Lake bang. And your grin.
Your exaggerated American
Grin for the cameras, the judges, the strangers, the frighteners.
Then I forgot. Yet I remember
The picture: the Fulbright Scholars.
With their luggage? It seems unlikely.
Could they have come as a team? I was walking
Sure-footed, under the hot sun, hot pavements.
Was it then I bought a peach? That's as I remember.
From a stall near Charing Cross Station.
It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted.
I could hardly believe how delicious.
At twenty-five I was dumbfounded afresh
By my ignorange of the simples things.

Adventures in the kitchen

I got a bit ambitous (and not to mention hungry) today and decided to do a three course meal for dinner. So looking at my bookshelf of celebrity cookbooks, I picked out:

• From bills food, the main is parmesan-crusted blue-eye and braised potatoes with peas.
• And from Donna Hay's Modern Classic, this great recipe for caesar salad dressing.

Did I mention I finally got a new toy? It's this hand blender...yes I dream at night about the pureed soups I can make out of this...


Braun Multiquick

Here's the end result (tada!). Had to pop the fish into microwave for a bit to finish it off (inside still sashimi :P)


Fish with Parmesan crust and caesar salad with homemade dressing

Oh and this is the mess I made (making the crust stick to the fish is harder then you'd think)...


Aftermath I


Aftermath II

Tomorrow will test drive Neil Perry's The Food I Love and try to re-create Greyhound Cafe's bacon fried rice.