Japanese Food Street, Jurong Point Mall, Singapore.

With it's huge replica of a crab at the entrance, this Japanese Food Street in the basement of Jurong Point Mall in Singapore is a favourite of shoppers (including myself). Along the passage (inspired by streets in Osaka), there are restaurants, a fresh fish market and snack stalls. It includes Ichiban Sushi which is a chain that owns Ichiban Boshi. We ate at Ichiban Boshi (in the open air pedestrian mall at Bondi Junction, Sydney) last Christmas. 

Looking from the other end, the big fat paper fish suspended from the ceiling is just wonderful! The restaurants in this Japanese food street serve food considered authentic (though probably not as good as in Osaka). 

I drew these 2 sketches (standing against a wall) over a couple of visits, colour was added at home.

Chendol and Ice Kachang

Among my favourite local desserts in Singapore are Chendol and Ice Kachang. The two are vaguely similar. 

For my Canadian friends you can try these 2 desserts in Richmond Public Market in Vancouver. 

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpAnB4NQcnE

Chendol is a dessert though you might call it a drink if it was served in a tall glass. The dish consists essentially of shaved ice, boiled sweetened red beans, worm-like green jelly "noodles" made from rice flour and pandan flavouring (from an aromatic leaf), fresh coconut milk and gula melaka (palm sugar). To this can be added a number of other ingredients, the most common being atapchi (immature fruit of the Nipah Palm). 

In a Chendol I had recently there was also tapioca balls (as is served in Bubble Tea), grass jelly and slivers of Jack Fruit.  

Red beans are said to be a Singapore and Malaysian addition and not included in the Indonesian dish. 

There seems to be some debate as to the origins of Chendol. A popular belief is that it originated from Indonesia and the name comes from the word "jendol" which means "bulge" or "bump" referring to the little green worm shaped jelly noodles. (I see Chendol is also the genus of a spineless eel which is native to South East Asia!). It is a popular dessert in Singapore, the Malaysian peninsular, Vietnam, Thailand and Mayanmar.

Ice Kachang on the other hand is basically the same but without the dominant coconut milk. It is always served in a bowl (never in a glass), drizzled with green pandan flavoured and red rose flavoured syrup and evaporated milk.

Must-have additions include creamed corn, jelly cubes and atapchi. It is thought to have originated in Malaysia but is popular all over South East Asia. As you eat, it all melts into a wonderful refreshing slurpee.

Traditionally the shaved ice was churned out by hand in a special machine. This dessert (like Chendol) used to only be served in roadside stalls and hawker centres, it has now taken it's place on the menus of cafes in international hotels.  

Cafe Sketching

Cafes are the ideal place to sketch especially over coffee and something nice to eat. Here are a few of my favourite cafe sketches done in the last few months in Singapore. 

Pique Nique in the JCube Mall in Jurong East in Singapore was particularly well patronized the day after the Jem Mall next door was closed due to a collapsed ceiling in one area. This was caused by an accumulation of water after an unusually wet spell. 

They sell good coffee and particularly nice macarons. These little treats have really taken off (I think) world-wide. A macaron is composed of two almond meringue discs filled with a layer of buttercream or jam. (Not to be confused with macaroons). The coffee at Pique Nique came with a face of a Mandarin drawn in the foam. 

The table we sat at on another occasion at the same cafe allowed us to watch people waiting to catch the shuttle bus to the nearby IMM Mall (Singapore is a city of malls). Unfortunately the people in line were just a little too close for comfort. 

Dimbulah is a cafe in Raffles Place, the business district of Singapore. Named after the town of Dimbulah in North Queensland, Australia and catering mainly to the expatriate community who work in the area, they sell meat pies, sub sandwiches, Lamingtons (see below for what these are), muffins and cakes. My Australian husband just had to have their last Big Aussie Toastie! 

A Lamington is a cake of Australian and New Zealand origin. It consists of 2 squares of sponge cake sandwiched with cream and coated in chocolate icing and then dessicated coconut. A strawberry version is also popular. Commonly sold in bakeries and often used as fund raisers for schools in Australia and New Zealand, it is unusual to find them for sale in upmarket cafes. 

A Mansion for All Time

The Tan Chin Tuan Mansion on Cairnhill Road, Singapore, built in the early 1930s is described as an outstanding conservation effort and engineering marvel. Trees obliterate much of the view of this beautiful mansion and this was all I could see to do my sketch.

Originally built for another well-known entrepreneur, it was bought by the late banker and philanthropist Tan Chin Tuan and for almost 60 years was used as his private residence. Since 2006, the renovated mansion has been used as a hub for business and social events held by the Tan Chin Tuan Foundation. It also houses a collection of memorabilia chronicling the life of this well known Singapore personality. The building, a fusion of colonial architecture and Straits Chinese influences has been restored and fronts a new 20 storey residential tower which has been interestingly built over and behind it. The new 20 storey tower is occupied by the extended family of Tan Chin Tuan with only a few apartments up for lease.

Tan Chin Tuan became Chairman of the Overseas Banking Corporation (OCBC) and it was under his stewardship that the OCBC became one of the world's top banks. He died in 2005 at the age of 97.

I gleaned a better understanding of the architectural aspects of this renovation on the World Buildings Directory. 

People on the Train

It's only lately that I have been game to sketch people in the train. So far so good. I choose those occupied with their own activities or a little further away. Sure helps to pass the time. 

This was on a Friday evening after work, some people were obviously *very* tired.

On another occasion, a cute 6 year old boy sitting next to me took an interest in my sketching so I invited him to share my page. What a pleasant way to fill the half hour trip. Thank you Aiden! 

My Old Hairdresser

When I was in my teens I used to have my hair cut by a hairdresser who was a family friend. She had her business in a terrace house on the corner of Cairnhill and Bideford Roads. That row of terrace houses has mostly been demolished leaving four. One has been painted in an interesting colour scheme and houses a restaurant. Perhaps one should never go looking for places that belong in the past?

The Marina Bay Sands

The Marina Bay Sands (the unusual building on the right) has become the iconic landmark of the Singapore skyline. It is an integrated resort of hotel rooms, shops, museums, theatres, restaurants, a skating rink and the world's largest atrium casino. The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark and infinity swimming pool set on top of the world's largest public cantilevered platform. Phew!

I sketched this from a hotel room in the Fullerton Hotel opposite. 

The second sketch was done on another day from the same hotel room. It shows a dredger (?) which seemed to be dredging mud from the Singapore River below.