Coffee in Katong Joo Chiat
Cafe Americano please!
Norah and I started our first day in Singapore with a cab ride to Ian’s fabulous condo in the Katong Joo Chiat neighborhood. He lives in a very classy condo building situated in a neighborhood of single family homes on a palm tree lined street. Inside the front gate a beautiful blue-tiled lap pool beckoned and I dreamt for a minute of the joys of living there! He made me a lovely coffee before we headed out for breakfast at a nearby cafe.
Breakfast with Ian!
Be warned, we did a lot of eating today along with the 18,4033 steps we walked. First stop, a fabulous cafe for breakfast and then walked to a strange but true coffee shop, jc confidential, where we ordered a single brew with an enzymatic extraction of yellow cherry plum, lemon leaf, white peony tea and yuzu!
This is too much!
The coffee was quite good and indescribable. It did give us the gusto to walk to the Paranaken Museum, a small museum housed in a British colonial schoolhouse built in the early 20th century. The museum has a collection of furniture, jewelry, and decorative arts that represent the creative culture of the Paranaken people of Singapore and Malaysia. We ogled over the beautiful porcelain ceramics, beaded tapestries, and batik fabrics. So gorgeous!
Looking at all of that beautiful art worked up our appetites and Ian guided us to one of the hawker markets that serve up Singaporean street food. He is such a host! We found a table and Ian went off to buy a sample of dishes for us to try, including chicken rice and cane sugar juice. In the heat of midday the iced sugar drinks were beyond! We drank everything down between bites, followed by a kopi iced coffee and kaya waffles with chocolate and peanut butter for dessert.
Lime, lemon, and cane sugar juice
After lunch, we walked through Chinatown and wound our way to charming little bookstore. Norah and I scoured the shelves for something to add to our winter library and settled on Ann Patchett’s Bell Canto and a book of reimagined fairy tales written by Michael Cunningham, who wrote The Hours. Once we were rested, we headed out to Little India to celebrate the end of Diwali, which is called Deepavali here.
Serangoon Road, Little India
Stepping out of the MRT into Little India we were transported by the language, the people, and the markets familiar to me from the streets of Kerala. It was noisy, and crowded, and chaotic compared to everywhere we had been today! We walked through the streets and stopped at a Hindu temple to soak up the celebratory vibe of this neighborhood. I loved it.
Well, it was time to eat again! Ian took us to his favorite satay eatery, located in a glittering market stall nestled between glamorous, glass ensconced highrises in the financial district. A complete contrast to Little India!
That’s a lot of satay!
On the way back to Chinatown we found a thrift store loaded with street kicks and Ian and I bought matching Onitsuka Tigers for a fraction of the real cost! We were quite chuffed!!
Tryin’ to look cool
We ended the night with oat milk gelato before walking Ian to the MRT station and heading back to our air bnb. Norah and I were very ready for a hot shower and a rest before new adventures tomorrow. Spending the day with Ian was so much fun - we learned so much about Singapore, his job, and just all the things. I am looking forward to tomorrow!
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