Hello, My name is Joyce Gao, from Singapore. And I’d love to introduce about my home country in this column.
First of all, the point people should know is that Singapore is a very very very small country, even smaller than Tokyo prefecture in Japan! It is so small that we call ourselves a city AND a state AND a country. The only other place that I can think of at this moment that does the same is Vatican City, the smallest country in the world.
Despite our size, we are pretty culturally diverse. We have three main races, Chinese (my race), Malay, Indian. We also have other ethnicities as well, for example Japanese. The food in Singapore illustrates this, you can enjoy a variety of cuisines in almost any neighborhood in Singapore.
If I were to pick up some dishes to recommend to everyone in ISC, I choose Fried Hokkien Mee, a Chinese dish you take different kinds of noodle inside, and finally you will fry this to get together with a really delicious and thick prawn. This is how it looks like.
After main course comes dessert. I would like to introduce you to Singapore’s version of Korean bingsu, which we call Ice Kachang! The difference lies in the ingredients. First of all, the ice in Koran bingsu is made out of shaved frozen milk, but the Singaporean one contains just pure shaved ice. Then there’s the flavor. The Korean one has flavours that you may associate with cafés, such as matcha, cheesecake and more. For the Singaporean one, it contains some sweet corn, condensed milk, grass jelly, topped with different colors of syrup, which is totally healthy. This is how it looks like.
Let me share about my favorite sightseeing spots here in Singapore. It is easy to find the famous places like, Marina Bay Sands or Gardens by the Bay. A Hollywood blockbuster to be released in August this year Crazy Rich Asians is featuring those (this is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDhwEqxKCss). Rumor is that Meitantei Conan’s next film is set in Singapore too!
So! I want to give the spotlight to a local favorite, East Coast Park. I bet that you can’t find this park on any of Singapore’s postcards, even though it is actually quite near all those famous places.
If you keep cycling in the same direction as these 2 people in the previous photograph (don’t give up, it’s about 5-7km, but this entire stretch is designed for cyclists!), you will reach Marina Bay Sands!
East Coast Park is the largest park in Singapore, and it’s a really long beach beside the sea, whose length reaches no less than 14 kilometers. You get to enjoy the most beautiful sea view (in my opinion) in Singapore there. It’s an amazing place for cycling and running. There are quite a few cross-country races held there. This is the place to experience life as a Singaporean. Did I mention that there’s a famous food court at East Coast Park, famous for their fried Hokkien Mee?
If you want to know more about the amazing cultures, foods, or site, you can browse the website called thesmartlocal.com.
Hope you will visit Singapore someday! Message me on Facebook, I would LOVE to be your tour guide!