Pizza and delivery

July 18th is my annual celebration of my first working at Qualnetics. For the past few years, I have celebrated by purchasing pizza for the office. Unfortunately, I find myself thousands of miles away this year, so I had to improvise.

You are looking at two pizza's and some sort of Chicken popper thing that has a Japanese name. We ordered our pizzas from Pizza Hut. to be honest, other than the toppings being a little different, the Supreme was very similar. On the right, you'll notice a Chicken Curry pizza... this is where the similarities end.

I wish I had some great story about how crazy Pizza Hut is in Singapore, but it is not so different. American crust is greasier, but the flovor was close. You can check out thier website to see the crazy toppings and special pizzas "http://www.pizzahut.com.sg/" like "Ocean Catch", a selection of shrimps, squids, tuna, crabsticks, juicy pineapple chunks and diced tomatoes on cool lime mayonnaise sauce.

I'm here to talk about deliver. When you call Pizza hut, you don't call your local branch, you call the Pizza Hut number. They then dispatch your order to the closest Pizza Hut. This is very odd to me. It gives the idea that you never really know where your food is coming from. the same goes for McDonalds... YES, they have McDonalds delivery here. You can see young men zipping around the city on their motor-bikes wearing large backpacks with the familiar "M" on the back. Want McDonalds, no need to find one, just call the number, and the closest one will find you. Actually the system works out pretty well. the population is so dense that delivery people don't need to travel too far to reach their destination.

Tipping: Not a city in Singapore

Upon arriving at my hotel a few weeks ago, I had the unfortunate experience of having a bell boy (or whatever they are called now-a-days) grab my bags and escort me to my room. Having been a part of this scam before, I was not pleased and kindly mentioned to the young man "I'm sorry, but I haven't any Singapore dollars for a tip", for which he replied "no problem sir" (or something similar).

When I first arrive at a hotel, I do the nerdiest thing I can think of and begin to read the little booklet that includes all the information about the hotel, room service, pool hours, etc... I noticed that it said, "Tipping is not necessary". Having dealt with this sentence on my honeymoon, I thought that was just a hotel policy.

The confusion really began when I ordered my overpriced Singapore Sling at Raffles. I received the bill, and it contained the following: Price of beverage, Sales Tax, 10% service fee, room number. This confused me greatly. At this point I thought... maybe the 10% service fee is a mandatory tip. At that point, I though "10% is fine by me, the drink was overpriced anyway"

It wasn't until an awkward experience after eating Pineapple fried rice that I finally got to talk to my server about it. Instead of beating around the bush, I took the straightforward (and stupid tourist acknowledging) method of saying "So, am I supposed to tip?" The Server said, NO, and explained that the 10% service fee IS my tip. WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!!

My explanation of why this is awesome
When buying a hamburger at McDonald's, you don't pay a service fee (even thought they may actually bring it to you), but if you eat a burger at an actual restaurant, they bring it to you and serve you etc... (I know this sounds stupidly obvious). SO, the service fee is simply paying for the "Service" of the person to wait on you. On the other hand, a TIP is the same thing, the servers get paid very little, and if they have customers, they get paid for their service in a very democratic way: If its good, typically more money, if its bad, less money, if the person is a jerk, no money. This seems like a good idea until we realize one thing. Service in Singapore is WAY better than the US (in certain ways, which I won't get into)

The key to good service
When service is bad in the US, guilt makes a majority of people still tip 15% (not to mention fear of getting yelled at or looked at funny). In reality, this system doesn't work, because as long as the person is employed, they will still perform bad service. How does it work in Singapore? There are a billion Chinese and Indians waiting for your job. If your service is bad, you'll be replaced... its just that simple. And there aren't too many other low skilled jobs that don't involve prostitution in the area, so there is a high incentive to be courteous. Solution for the US? Fire the rude workers and legalize immigrant labor for service industry jobs if no domestic labor is available.

Clarification: I think that most of the people I interact with in restaurants are very good and deserve a good tip, but its stinkin' crazy that 20% is now considered a normal tip. I think maybe a 15% service fee in the US would be pretty sweet, or maybe even different grades of service, like a Red Robin would be a 10% and an Olive garden would be 15% (there's a joke in there somewhere)

Watch your step!

Apparently I live in a city (Seattle/Shoreline/Bellingham whatever :p) that has contiguous walkways. When you are walking, you tend to be able to take your next step and it should be approximately where you think it should be. This is not the case in Singapore.

On multiple occasions, I have found myself walking through a doorway or on the sidewalk only to find that the ground gives out under my feet. This is quite embarrising, for two reasons: because I did it, and because I'm a tourist.

My theory is that Singapore has lots of little flash floods and rain storms. Without a 2-3 inch change in elevation here and there, water might find its ways into places it shouldn't be.

Advice: Just because you think there should be something to stand on, doesn't mean there is.

Too much food!

Its been a while since I have posted food photos, so here is much of what I at the past week.

http://picasaweb.google.com/coltop/MoreFoodPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCMrivIDV6fqQAg&feat=directlink

How to Eat in Singapore
1. Find a bunch of condo buildings, ususally on the outskirts of town (mentioned previously)
2. It may take a while of searching, but in some complexes, there is a large open air building jam packed with little food vendors (seriously, jail cells are larger than these vendor spaces). One person i asked said that an english translation of what they are called might be "Old Market". If you only see 5-10 vendors, keep moving, its not what I'm talking about.
3. If you can't do steps 1 and 2, find a local and ask them where one is (national language is english, so this is not too hard of a task). This is my recommended method. I get shuttled around to these places, so I'm a bit spoiled.
4. Walk around and find a vendor that serves something that looks acceptable. For beginners, stay away from anything that has eyes or the word "intestine" in the title. Start with something easy like "Chicken Rice" (A local favorite). BTW, if there are photos of people at a vendor, those are probably famous people, and it usually means that the particular vendor is good.
5. DON'T ORDER YET!!!
6. Go find a table nearby and read the number on the top
7. Order your food and tell them your table number
8. Walk back to your table
9. Prepare your cash (you did bring cash didn't you? Well you better get some)
10. Your food will be brought to your table and you pay the server (there is no tipping in Singapore)
11. Eat and Leave (this is not the kind of place you ask for a take out box)

Housing Density

I may get some of the details slightly wrong, but Housing in Singapore is substantially different than the US.

When you first arrive in Singapore (and its dark and you can't see), you will notice lots of cool buildings and restaurants and stuff, but you probably don't say "Where are the houses"? I recommend everyone visiting the area take a train (called the MRT) to the east for a few minutes (Assuming you are downtown), so you can see where people live.

Pictured above is a housing complex, and these things are everywhere (usually in densely populated areas). They are not usually as pretty as this one, but they are approximately the same size and height. Most of the housing in Singapore is built by the government and the residents have to purchase your condo from the government. Let me repeat that... "Purchase the condo". I specifically asked if you can Rent these places, and the answer was "no". When you can prove you have a job, you purchase your condo (heavily subsidized) and then you pay it off as you go. Most of them look suprisingly similar, but there are definately different levels of quality.

From what I've been told, the Singapore government is very encouraging of home ownership. Think of it this way. If you are 20 something, odds are you are going to work for the next 40 years or so. If you rent for 40 years, you won't have anything to show for it, but if you buy a condo when you are 20, you have 30 years to pay it off and then you don't have to be a homeless person when you are older.

You will also notice right away that people usually have clothes hanging outside thier windows... at first It makes the places look Dumpy, but in reality, its 90 degrees out every day and your house is small, probably too small for a dryer, so this makes a lot of sense.

Chilli Crab... A Messy Encounter

20100712_Food

Sadly I can't figure out how to make that picture the one that I want... anyway, click on it to see the adventure in eating that I had this evening.

The guys at my host company decided to take me out for an evening of Sea Food. I many not write as well as normal, because this sea food also was accompanied by two jugs of Tiger Beer (shared between the 4 of us... kinda).

When I arrived in Singapore, I kept hearing everyone talk about "Chili Crab"... in fact I heard an unusually often mention of crab in general, but "Chili" often preceded it. So when i heard that Chili crab was on the menu, I was excited to see what it was all about. The first thing you need to know about Singapore (from what I have observed) is that there is a severe lack of napkins (with the exception of the hotel bar which brings a plate of napkins with every bowl of peanuts). The second thing you need to know about Singapore is that its the cleanest city with the messiest food. The first rule about eating Chili Crab is you have to use your hands, the second rule of eating Chili Crab is you WILL get messy (if you are an inexperienced westerner that has a hard time eating in general).

The following event takes place at "Long Beach", a restaurant by the Eastern sea. The waiter brings out a giant plate with a meticulously arranged Mega Crab in a bright red sauce. One of my hosts, David, decided to start me off with Medium Spicy, for which he should be commended. As the guest, i was offered first stab at the beast, so I went after his left claw. it was mostly cracked, but I had some difficulty getting the meat out, so of course I go ahead and stab myself in the finger (enough to draw a small amount of blood, but not bad enough that anyone noticed). After getting the meat out with my fingers, I dipped it into the chili sauce and let go of all dignity while I stuffed it into my mouth. Eventually when it got down to the legs, the waitress put on plastic gloves and started tearing it appart (just enough to expose some of the meat, but not enough to complete the job). I then spent the next half hour biting my way through crab shell to get at the meat, picking crab shell out of my mouth and trying to clean my hands of the burning chilli sauce. Whenever I thought I was done, my coworkers would point out another leg or method of getting more meat out of the leg, each messier than the last.

When it was all done, I dipped my hands into a small bowl of something (no idea) that was on the table to help clean up, then went to the sink to wash my hands. It was a delicious and satisfying experience, a cross between eating for survival and showing the crab who is boss.

David pointed out that there were people with their luggage at the table next to us. He said either they have just shown up or are just about to leave, but they either way they had to get Chili crab. I agree, I wouldn't suggest that its the first thing to do, and I definitely wouldn't suggest doing it before a long flight, but if you ever go to Singapore, find a local, take them to dinner and have them talk you through the eating of this delicacy.

Be sure to check out my photos of me eating the chili crab.

808 Drum? Really???

"the 808 kick drum makes the girlies get dumb" says Sir Mix-A-Lot
"nothing sounds quite like an 8o8" replies the Beasty Boys
oh but wait, Kesha has something to say...
"Do I make your heart beat like an 808 drum"...



Kesha Kesha Kesha.... what the heck are you talking about? Do you even know what an 808 is? Are you hitting it with sticks to make drum sounds? Lets learn a little before analyzing Kesha's lyrics.

An 808 (pronounced "Eight O eight) is slang for the Roland TR-808 programmable drum machine. It is NOT a drum! unless you hit it with a mallet (Not malloc... ha). It gained popularity due to its sweet analog kick drum sound (I actually like the clapping sound an awful lot too).

Mix-A-Lot makes a very direct reference to the feature that made the 808 popular with hip hop artists in the 80s, the Kick Drum. The Beastie Boys used the 808 in most (if not all of) license to Ill, and though they have the kick drum playing during that part of the song, they give props to the whole machine. Kesha on the other hand disrespects the 808 by obviously adding the word drum into the song because the Lyrics wouldn't work without it. She is clearly making a statement that implies "if you have only 4 syllables in a haiku, go ahead and throw the word 'Drum' on the end"

Music in the air
Filling my heart with rhythm
Silence is dull drum

Ya see how that somehow changes the meaning? But lets give her some credit. She obviously implies the Kick drum feature of the 808, so lets tear that apart. "Do I make your heart beat like an 808 Drum"... is this a good thing??? Does she not know that the 808 is commonly used in hip hop? This isn't rock music, the beat doesn't happen every two counts, its usually something like 1,5,6 or something even more funky. If this guys heart is beating like an 808, call the doctor, because somethings seriously wrong, he'll probably need to be shocked back to normal. Or maybe she isn't talking about the Kick, maybe she is referencing the hi hat, thats gonna be something like 4 beats a second usually, putting this guy at 240 BPM, way over the suggested maximum heart rate of 200 for a healthy 20 year old male.

I know that the common response is "this is ART, and she can do whatever she wants", but hopefully the pain this song causes me helps everyone learn a little more about the wonders of the Roland 808...