Faking Lion, wk 1

I have something against Singapore. Friends know that given a chance, I would vehemently attack the kiasu culture, the prim & proper people, the systematic lifestyle, the shitty water, and especially the copycat food. And so I surprise myself while visiting the island nation twice in two weeks, early March. Actually, Incubus and múm are valid reasons for doing so. What was surprising was how my views have changed, albeit slightly, about the Faking Lion.

First trip, ride down in a Mazda 3, stopping midway for Tangkak beef noodles. Driving in Singapore requires an autopass, I laud its effort to cut down on traffic. This brings up my biggest gripe with Kuala Lumpur – the lack of an efficient public transport system. For that weekend, I had the luxury of traveling around in cars/taxis only. Aaron was a most accommodating host, but as usual, we’ll be arguing half the time with me criticising every aspect of Singaporean life. Incubus @ Fort Canning was only OK, especially since I was at their 2004 performance @ Bukit Kiara Equestrian Park, which was so good a bootleg was released. The crowd was small and mostly kids, many of them well made up like going to clubs. Singaporean Fail #1. We powered through to the front, only to witness: middle of the muddy mosh pit shoving and slipping, this guy was holding his camera up with one hand, recording videos, while trying to maintain his balance!! Brainless hero. Most people seem to be preoccupied with taking pics & vids, then enjoying the music. CC’s hilariously loud insult to all camera holders didn’t deter them anyhow. Malaysian fans are probably the same, but what the heck, Singaporean Fail #2. Still, it is Incubus and they rock the stage, along with the 3 stunning models standing at the side. Most guys were looking that way, while girls were screaming their heads off at Brandon. Pistola played long in my head after the gig, and CC was Stellar-happy.

Saturday was spent entirely traversing Oxford Road, to the point where Aaron’s feet hurt. CC got Ted Baker shirts & a tasteful Tod’s wallet, and I was a paragon of shopping restraint, settling for a couple of Mexx shirts. Too tired for any nightlife, I caught a glimpse of Dempsey Road, a chill-out area with cool-looking wine bars. The price of wine is a bitch though. Then, I saw BEN & JERRY’S. The rapture compelled me to rekindle my love affair with Dublin Mudslide, tapau-ing home two tubs of it, with plenty of dry-ice. Walked to Sunday mass @ St. Joseph’s Bukit Timah, with serene Chinese-style paintings of Christ’s life. Visited the national museum, with an ongoing Greek Masterpieces from the Louvre expo. Whilst enjoying an esquisite 3rd century BC sculpture of Athena, I overheard the museum guide, “These head sculptures here are called ‘busts’…” explaining to a bunch of people, some sniggering. I nearly burst out in laughter, but I do applaud their government’s efforts to promote arts & culture recently. How many Malaysian’s would snigger when you refer to a marble head of Aeschylus as a “bust”? By this time, my disregard of Singapore has diminished – the promotion of art, the ridiculously long queues at Kinokuniya, the possibility of winding down car windows without choking on smoke, Ben & Jerry’s & Mexx… this place ain’t that bad after all.

Then there’s food. Looking at the “Uniquely Singapore”” travel portal, any Malaysian would scoff at the “Singaporean food" – curry laksa, chicken rice, satay, bak kut teh, rojak, char kuey teow?! Shameless people. The only good part of their food is pork & alcohol. Pre-concert fest of fish head beehoon w/ XO, fried chicken & cheong-fun was very delicious indeed. CC brought us to lunch - out-of-this-world fantastic ramen w/ charsiew outside Gallery Hotel. I’m found guilty of never sampling real ramen before, and am now a convert. Dinner was Mos Burger, which serves the best fast food burgers in the world. How can teriyaki chicken wrapped in letucces tastes so good? Can’t compare with Ramli lah, which probably has 300 calories more of junk, sos & mayo. The joke was when Aaron brought me to the “best prata”, a place where a taxi trip costs S$20 return. Normal prata fail, mushroom cheese prata fail, teh tarik was undrinkable, fried chicken ok la. Singaporean Fail #3.