Blurbs from Singapore – Day 2

Day at the beach! We spent it at Pasir Ris Park on the northeast end of the island, where fishermen’s tents dot the grass-sand transition zone between land and sea. Wetland trees heavy with moss lean over to shade tiny fiddler crabs that scurry sideways across the beach, the males seeming to shyly hide their faces with their one oversized claw.

From the edge of the water, Dad gathered the folds of his casting net and, in one graceful stroke, released it like a smooth drape over the water. His first attempt brought in a pair of foot-long triangular fish with blue-tinged scales. “They seem to travel in pairs,” he remarked, which made me sad for their demise but would later be a distant memory when they comprised our dinner, along with other catch of the day and a couple of rice plates from a nearby hawker stall.

A friendly spectator in a floppy hat told us they were nicknamed “Lee Kuan Yew fish” among the Malay people because Singapore’s highly respected former Prime Minister was the first local Chinese to eat it. “Auntie,” the man had exclaimed excitedly to my mother, “they sell these at Changi Market for $3.50 per kilo.” He had earlier been wading along the shoreline himself, but instead of a casting net, he had wielded a changkol (Malay for “hoe”) and was digging for earthworms to use as bait for an overnight fishing expedition. When he proudly showed off his prize, a 2-foot-long worm in a plastic bag of writhing soil, I couldn’t help but recoil a little while trying to look impressed.

Food recap, a requisite for any Singapore travel diary, whether you’re a foodie or not: laksa, nasi lemak, otah otah, curry puff; and for dessert, chendol, durian ice kachang, gula melaka, papaya, and longan. Good thing we’re doing lots of walking on this trip.