Text 2131, 108 rader
Skriven 2008-02-10 09:24:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: travelogue 832
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In the morning, Lori, Syd, and I took a taxi out to Changi
Jetty for the ferry to Pulau Ubin, the last undeveloped area
of Singapore. You sit around until there are at least 10
hopeful passengers, and each person shells out S$2 to the
bumboat operator, and you sail off happily for the 15-minute
ride to the island. Either that or you can charter a boat
for $24 if you're impatient.

It's a lovely little ride, really letting you know that you
are in the tropics and that civilization hasn't homogenized
everything.

The pier has a big welcome sign, and there are bike rental
places in the little town next to it, but otherwise you
might be in any town in Indonesia or Malaysia. A couple
miles of paved road lead you past some relatively modern-
looking buildings, but I believe there isn't electricity
(unless from gasoline generators) or running water anywhere
on the island. Our destination was Chek Jawa, the beach on
the east side, where the British territorial surveyor had
built a holiday home, which has been turned into a park
visitor center. We traipsed 4 km out on largely dirt roads,
looking at the flora and fauna (Lori got some pictures of
the very spectacular fruit of the nipa palm, and we were
enthralled by the teeming colonies of hermit crabs on the
beach); took the boardwalk walk off the shore (there is a
shelter half way along the walk that is a spectacular site
for spotting takeoffs from Changi Airport) and through the
mangrove swamp, small but authentically smelly. Climbed the
observation tower (puff puff) for spectacular views, and
then it was back to civilization by degrees.

The bumboat filled up over the course of a quarter hour
or so, and back to Changi Village we went. Thought about
lunching at the well-reputed hawker center nearby, but
Steve has a special sweet shop - he calls it "my gula
melaka lady" - Dessert Mouse, right by the Simei train stop,
in the East Point Mall. So we decided to visit it. We
introduced ourselves as friends of his, and the proprietress
smilingly pulled out a photo of Steve and his son posing
with the shop staff.

We had the touted sago melaka (two orders, very nice - sago
pudding in a sauce of coconut and palm sugar), an order of
Thai sago (Lori having been entranced by the picture posted
on the counter)(less nice, the texture being quite stiff and
weird), and a durian cendol (of which Syd had one bite and
Lori two: both of them complained afterward of durian burps;
I had the remainder and, as my system may be more inured to
the fruit, didn't get the burps but rather suffered in another
more private way later). Chris, the proprietress, seeing dollar
signs before her eyes, suggested we try her special mee siem,
so we said okay, despite our having had dessert already, and
the dessert having been quite filling. The noodles came in a
lovely deep-flavored tart broth with a nice hot pepper kick.
I wonder whether the workers were expecting us to dance
about in agony from the spiciness, but in fact among us we
drained the huge bowl to the last drops. Oh, by the way,
when Chris asked where we were from, and we said "United
States," there was a momentary furrowing of the brow of the
workers behind the counter; but all was soon well. The total
cost to us for this feast was S$11.

The MRT stop is just a few steps down, and so we took it
home to Bugis, a 25-minute ride for a buck or two each,
The trains are certainly well patronized.

It was deemed time for a change (I'd have been happy with
another Asian meal), so we walked to Trattoria Lafiandra
near the Rendezvous. Apparently there was this Italian guy
who married a Singapore native, and they settled in and
started this restaurant, which, though the staff who waited
on us and cooked our food looked largely Indian, presents
some fairly authentic Tuscan food.

We started with the Prosecco Bortolotti Valdobbiadene, which
was palatable; though no Dom, it was drier and better than
the Drappier Gouttes d'Or ("golden showers" I call it) that
United often serves as its predeparture Biz class bubbly.

A Montepulciano d'Abbruzzo (Farina) 06 was pretty nice for
our main courses - a respectable house wine.

Started with a quite spare pizza bianca, the perfect appie
considering that we had just three hours before had a big
dessert followed by lunch.

As I wished to respect the redness of the wine, I ordered
the grigliata mista, which was huge and nicely done, two
probably Australian lamb chops, two boneless pork loin
chops, two pieces of chicken, I'd say totalling a half
breast, and an about 6 or so oz ribeye steak. I asked for
the meats to be done on the rare side, including the
pork, I said, and they came on the rare side, just cooked
and nicely pink inside. Lori had ricotta ravioli in a
mushroom (I think) sauce, quite nice and al dente;
Steve and Syd had the same red-sauce-meat pasta dish,
which they polished off, so I guess things were satisfactory
to all.

Off to the coffee shop next to the hotel, where I had a
minted lychee soda that was very refreshing. And so to
an early retiring, as I wanted to get to the airport
early to do my e-mail.

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