Update on Holland Village - Restaurants, Food, Furniture, Fun, Clothes

On our way to my medical appointment in Jellita, we planned to have lunch in Holland Village. We were going to the Bagel shop but it seems to be closed for renovations. Never mind, a chance to continue waking around, checking out all the otions. Holland village is nearly all restaurants, except for the indoor shopping mall. 

All around are redevelopments. More homes and shops are being built. But that is always the case in Singapore.

At lunch time a man outside the pancake place tried to tempt us to enter for a sit down meal. But we wanted a quick, light lunch. Something like a sandwich or a bagel, cold and ready to eat, no danger of being made late for my medical appointment.

I liked the look of the potato place. I love potatoes. I know I shouldn't. But I opt for the healthiest option, a baked potato in its jacket. However, when we inspected all the photos, we could not see a single healthy baked potato in its jacket, just endless fries. 

We walked on. Holland village isn't entirely restaurants. Guardian Chemist (Americans say drug store) was selling attractive orange umbrellas. The British call an umbrella a brolly, for short. I must go back for an orange one, one day.

Orange Umbrella in Guardian. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

If I had known I was going to by an orange dress, I would have bought the umbrella to go with it.

Next door to Guardian is Watsons.

Coffee Bean

We had lunch in The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. I chose Chicken in ciabatta bread. 

The filling was not a whole piece of chicken, nor even sliced chicken. Minced chicken. But very pleasant. 

Chicken in ciabatta. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We shared it. We remembered to ask for two knives and forks, but forgot that we needed two plates. We made do with paper napkins.

With no toilet on the premises (shut for renovation) I wasn't going to drink coffee. I wanted healthy juice. (I was on my way to the Medical centre for a checkup, at Jellita, two bus stops away,) I asked what fruit juices they had. 

Two kinds of fruit concoctions. One was strawberry and banana. The girl on the till warned me, "It contains ice." 

I didn't mind having an iced drink. It was a hot day. I thought she meant that ice would make the drink cold. Some Singaporeans like to drink warm water on hot days. They think perspiring makes you feel cooler. 

In retrospect, she was warning me that much of the glass would be filled with ice. If you order a can, and ask for no ice, it does not make any difference to the amount you receive if you are allowed to keep the can and contents. If they are pouring, from their own large container of a mixed drink, that's a different matter. In the past that has been a point of contention between food servers and customers who feel short-changed. 

 If I opted for the largest of the three sizes  of drinks container, I should have enough juice. For me, it is always a mistake to order a small one.

I asked, "Does it have added sugar, or syrup? I don't want a lot of sugar.: She said, "Then I won't add it."

I didn't stay to watch her preparing my drink. We were watching for a free table. Several diners were sitting with just a drink, working on the laptops, without masks, which is allowed if you are eating and drinking.

I could see that two tables for four, small tables for two pushed together, were occupied by couples.

I said to my husband, "They should manage the tables, separate the tables for two, so that you don't get two people occupying the larger tables."

My husband replied, "Maybe they can't, because they have a limit to the number of diners allowed in the restaurant, for safe distancing."

Fortunately, just after our food arrived, one of the tables was vacted.

Upstairs In The Shopping Mall

First you see the furniture at the top of the escalator.

I bought three short knee length dresses, rayon, for 15 Singapore dollars each.

 Getting There

MRT to Holland Village on the circle line, two stops from Botanic Gardens on the blue Downtown line, one stop from Buona Vista on the green East-West line. The 75 bus goes from Bukit Panjang via Cashew MRT and Hillview MRT, via Jellita and on to Holland Village (and back the other way. So do many other buses. But watch out for those which turn off right or left half way in all directions. We caught the 75 to Holland Village, another bus from Holland Village to Jellita, then the 75 back. We made a point of asking the drivers of the other buses if they went to Jellita.

With more time and forethought we could have

a Looked at the route before leaving home and noted all the bus numbers. 

b Carried the small fat bus guide book (which has been discontinued since everything is on line.)

c Read the timetables near the bus stop seats.

More photos and text shortly!

About the Author Angela Lansbury

BIOGRAPHY

Angela Lansbury B A Hons ACG ALB PM5 EH5 DL5 VC5 
The Author of several books including  Etiquette For Every Occasion. Wedding Speeches & Toasts. How to be the Best Man. Quick Quotations. Who Said What When.

Blogs travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com

dressofthedayangela.blogspot.com

translateforfun.blogspot.com

Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Speakers Club Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), Previous President

Join BHA 1st Wednesday 7pm and 3rd Saturday 2 pm Singapore time 

Vice President Public Relations (VP PR) of Tampines Changkat Advanced;

Secretary of weekly online Singapore International Dynamic Toastmasters Speakers’ Club;

Member and past president of Harrovians toastmasters club, UK; Past member of HOD Toastmasters, London. Past member in Singapore of: Toastmasters Club of Singapore (TCS); Tiarel; and Senja Cashew.

More details from Toastmasters International find a club.

Regular attendee at annual Swanwick Writers’ School, England.

Regular attendee at annual Writers’ Holiday, Wales.

Contributor to poetry readings, and after tea courses on: Speaking On Radio To Promote Books; and Plots And Character.

Winner of many club and area speaking contests in the UK and Singapore.

Language advisor to Empire Toastmasters club in Indonesia.

Language and speech workshops in Singapore.

Speaker on radio and TV in England, Scotland, the USA, and Australia.

Compiler of a school course on public speaking for teachers to prepare pupils for school open days with attending ceremonies before government ministers, Singapore.

Former member of Harrow Writers’ Circle, London, and two writing groups in Singapore.

Angela is on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter. She would be delighted to link up with new friends.

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Garam masala means what? Hot and spicy, hot, why hot?

I see it so often on 'Indian' restaurant menus in UK and Singapore run by people from the 'Indian' continent (often Pakistani or Bangladeshi owned) restaurants in London. I have it in the spice rack. On the menu from a Eurasian restaurant in Singapore I came across the single word m a s a l a (not nasal -predictive text tried to insert that).

What does a Google search reveal? First, Wikipedia.

Garam masala (Hindi: गरम मसाला, Urdu: گرم مصالحہ‎ garam ("hot") and masala (a mixture of spices)) is a blend of ground spices common in North India, South India, Pakistan, and other South Asian cuisines.^[1] It is used alone or with other seasonings. The word garam refers to "heat" in the Ayurvedic sense of the word, meaning "to heat the body" as these spices, in the Ayurvedic system of medicine, elevate body temperature.

Cooling Cucumber
I used to be puzzled and sceptical about the idea that certain foods heat you. I thought it was metaphorical. But now I think it is practical.

I have noticed that I often feel cold when tired and hungry. After eating I feel warm.

 Obviously an iced drink is cooling. Cucumber is liquid and refreshing and used as lubrication in Victorian style sandwiches in summer to counter the gluey effect of white bread.

Back to masala. Hot spice. Hot in the sense of spicy, hot in the sense of raising your temperature.

Why is Indian food hot and spicy? Why drink hot tea in hot countries?

Admittedly, in Spain they tend to serve soups and drinks tepid. What about warm beer? Iced drinks? In Singapore people often ask for tepid water. (I hate hot drinks made with boiling water which burns me. I add cold milk to coffee. It adds calcium the chance of burning your mouth is reduced.

The English tourists to Spain like their food to have been heated to a high enough temperature to kill the bugs. That is what we are used to at home and what we are expect. Tepid food suggests to us that it has not been sufficiently heated to kill germs, that it has been heated but left lying around, exposed to flies, while we, the customers have been kept waiting, ignored by so-called waiters, that neither the cook nor the serving staff have any concern for the freshness of the food, or the physical and mental health of the customers.

When the British and Americans visit Singapore, Indian and and other Asian countries, it takes some adjusting to understand the varieties of temperatures of food offered.

One member of my family refuses ice in Coca Cola because it waters down the flavour and enables the staff to pass off a small glass as a large one.

I would reject ice on the grounds that ice in India and Thailand and Singapore has been found to be contaminated in the past. On one occasion the bride and wedding party were all sick after drinking drinks made with ice from a supplier who had re-used ice previously used to cool raw fish.

So, up to you, hot or not? At least you now know that garam means hot.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, researcher, author, speech writer, speech trainer, speaker.