People say you never know what you've got 'till it's gone. Cheesy, I know, but at the moment the saying best describes how I feel about Singapore: "I can't believe I say this, but I do miss Singapore so much! Like much!"
A mere good luck had given me a one year experience of living in Singapore for my master's degree. Looking back, I never felt that it was very special, in a sense that it's not like living in a more 'interesting' place like some European countries or America. I mean, it's just next to Indonesia. It is just an upgraded version of Indonesia: same weather, different infrastructure and better living standards. In fact, I remember that I used to say to myself that I didn't think I would miss the place once I go back home for good.
I couldn't be more wrong. Turns out I have this list of tiny bits that I miss about Singapore:
THE FOOD
The first few weeks of living in Singapore was quite dreadful for me as I found out that the food wasn't really my plate of gado-gado. Despite the quite similar look with its Indonesian counterpart (they're made of quite similar ingredients and herbs, I would say), Singaporean food couldn't give me the satisfaction that Indonesian food does. As time goes by, however, I started to find some of my most favorite food there. The list goes on from Soya Milk, Teh Tarik + Kaya Toast, Barley Tea, Chicken Rice and so on! But the top three would be:
- Prima Deli's Waffles: seriously, they have the best waffles, even better than the ones I had in Belgium, 'o the land of waffles. Unlike those
waffles you find in traditional bakeries, Prima Deli waffles are freshly
made and I love how they just pour the batter onto the waffle maker without applying any layer of oil. And the smell: oh-my-god. The smell of the waffle batter is so good that you can tell that you're near a Prima Deli's store from a long distance. So, if you happen to find any Prima Deli store in Singapore, do try their waffles!
- Jurong Point's Nasi Lemak: As there are bazzilion nasi lemak stalls in Singapore, I think I have to be very specific about this one: one of the best nasi lemak I've tried was this nasi lemak stall located between Jurong Point Mall and Boon Lay MRT Station. I already went to this nasi lemak stall that people in Singapore really love so much as it had already gotten several awards, yet I still like the Jurong Point's nasi lemak better! I don't know why, but for me the combination of the sambal and the fried chicken is just the best. It's also very very cheap. I don't know the current price of this nasi lemak, but back in 2013, it only cost me 1.8 SGD. Oh, how I miss you, cheapo lunch!
- Yong Tou Fu: One thing that I first realized was that it was not that easy to find green-veggies food in Singapore, you know, unless you cook it yourself. Chinese food was definitely off the table for moslem, so the only option was to go to nasi padang stalls. Yet I still thought the veggies at nasi padang stalls weren't that fresh (not to mention I also had problems with the taste. Like seriously, this is not nasi padang for me!). Until that day when I tried yong tou fu. The clear broth, the endless option of vegetables and mushrooms stuffed with ground meet and fish paste. No matter how you eat it, either dry or with soup, you can never go wrong with this dish!
WEEKLY AFTERNOON WALK
As now I am living in Jakarta, I probably miss this one the most. After more than a year, I started to long for my hours of wandering around the town alone. Although back then I lived with other five Indonesians at my HDB, almost all of them used to go back home to Jakarta every weekend. That's why I started to go around the city by myself. It was a bless. It was also such a luxury for me to be able to take a late night stroll around the town without having to worry of getting abducted or something :).
