Singaporean Cuisine

Due to all of the questions I've been receiving, here is a (brief) summary of the food I've been eating:

 

Korean- Chicken BBQ
Doesn't taste like BBQ in the U.S., but it is so good!

On campus, we eat most of our meals in "canteens" which are basically just cafeterias with booths for all of the different types of food. These booths are all owned by locals and each features a different type of food such as Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, or even western food. Because Singapore is made up of such a mixture of cultures, there are a lot of different delicious options to choose from! That being said, I AM in Asia, so pretty much everything consists of rice, a meat, and some type of sauce. Even most of the western food is just "chicken chops and rice" or "beef and rice," although sometimes they throw in some french fries with it too. Speaking of french fries, I find it interesting that this is probably the closest I have ever lived to a McDonald's in my life. There is one on campus just a short walk away! Dangerously close if I want to eat some American food. Interestingly, since Chinese new year is coming up soon, they have a few special options, such as a "prosperity burger", pineapple pie, or curly fries. 

Chicken and Rice- Yummm

A classic Singapore dish, and probably one of my favorite since I've been here, is "Chicken and Rice." It's made up of exactly what it sounds like, chicken.. and rice. But it is so good! You can get it roasted, with lemon, or steamed. Also, I have become victim to all of the waffle shops around campus! You can get a lot of different toppings including peanut butter, jelly, or ice cream (so good!), but not syrup. One advantage to being on a tropical island is all of the fruit juice they have here! There are booths everywhere with freshly squeezed kiwi, watermelon, lime, lemon, pineapple, lychee, etc. juice.  

Waffle topped with mango ice cream!
You may not be able to tell from the picture,
but the waffles are slightly green from
 a leaf they put in it

Kiwi Juice- So delicious

Rice roll- Filled with meat and such

However, not everything here is great.. For the first few days I was here, I kept noticing a strange smell around town and campus. I soon came to find out that this was durian, a fruit very popular with the locals and characterized by the incredibly strong "dirty sock" smell it has. Because the smell is so strong and lingers so much, many buses have signs on them prohibiting people from bringing the fruit on with them. Since I needed the authentic Singaporean experience, I tried some creme puffs that had durian in them, and I can tell you firsthand that it tastes much worse than it smells. I have been assured that you can develop a taste for it over time, but I think I'll just take their word for it.  

Durian Tree on a hike! There is one outside my hall that is often rather stinky.

 

Overall, the food has been great! I am slowly figuring out which kinds of Asian foods I like/dislike. And yes, I have gotten great at chopsticks! There is silverware available everywhere, but I've still been practicing a lot.

Also, I went hiking yesterday and got chased by a monkey, but that will just have to wait for another post.