Since working with locals here I feel like I have learned so much more about Singapore and Singaporeans. My friends at work teach me a lot about Chinese and Malay culture and they also love to get me to try all sorts of different foods. Some of the food I LOVE, but of course there have been some that are not as great. For instance I do not like Malay desserts, no matter how many they give me I will not like them. The worst food I have tried with them so far though is durian. Durian is a fruit that is yellow inside and has a shell outside, it has a creamy soft center kind of like the consistency of brie cheese. 
That creamy soft center could quite possibly contain the worst smell on the planet! It is lethal. The first time my sister came to Singapore, we walked into a grocery store and she said "What smells like a$$?!" I had to explain to her that it was a fruit that people actually enjoyed eating. It is such a strong smell that taxis and hotels ban bringing in Durian. No joke, see below.
So why on earth do people enjoy eating this fruit, I have no idea! When I tried durian for the first, and last time it was actually in a dessert at a company lunch. It was served over glutinous rice. I mean it doesn't get any worse than this, trust me. All my co workers looked on and laughed as the only white girl there slowly tried a bite. I was polite and said it didn't taste as bad as it smelled and passed the dessert to the next person, but trust me it doesn't taste much better than the smell. Here are some pics my coworker took.
That creamy soft center could quite possibly contain the worst smell on the planet! It is lethal. The first time my sister came to Singapore, we walked into a grocery store and she said "What smells like a$$?!" I had to explain to her that it was a fruit that people actually enjoyed eating. It is such a strong smell that taxis and hotels ban bringing in Durian. No joke, see below.
So why on earth do people enjoy eating this fruit, I have no idea! When I tried durian for the first, and last time it was actually in a dessert at a company lunch. It was served over glutinous rice. I mean it doesn't get any worse than this, trust me. All my co workers looked on and laughed as the only white girl there slowly tried a bite. I was polite and said it didn't taste as bad as it smelled and passed the dessert to the next person, but trust me it doesn't taste much better than the smell. Here are some pics my coworker took.This is the dessert, looks terrible doesn't it?
This is me convincing myself to just try it despite all of my senses telling my not to.
And in it goes. Never again!
This week I learned an interesting new thing about Chinese culture. My Chinese boss is due to give birth any day now so I talked to a few friends at work saying we should all pitch in and buy our boss a little something, I suggested maybe getting a cute outfit for her baby or a diaper cake. These are normal gifts to buy for someone, right?! Well apparently not. My coworker informed me that the traditional Chinese gift is to give bird nest. Yep, bird nest. What would my boss want with bird nest you ask? Well, to eat it of course. You can buy dried bird nest that is made into soups or bottled bird nest that is mixed with sugar that you drink out of the bottle and this will help the mom in her recovery from the birth. The dried bird nest looks like this, it is obviously cleaned then dried.
I looked up some information online, and they say it has many benefits and nutrients in them and they have been eaten as a Chinese herb for many many years. This was obviously very new and foreign for me, I can only imagine if I bought bird nest for a pregnant friend back in the US! So with mild hesitation I went to the store today, just a normal grocery store, and purchased dried bird nest for my boss. I hope she loves every last bite. Oh the new things I learn everyday living in Singapore.
This is me convincing myself to just try it despite all of my senses telling my not to.
And in it goes. Never again!
This week I learned an interesting new thing about Chinese culture. My Chinese boss is due to give birth any day now so I talked to a few friends at work saying we should all pitch in and buy our boss a little something, I suggested maybe getting a cute outfit for her baby or a diaper cake. These are normal gifts to buy for someone, right?! Well apparently not. My coworker informed me that the traditional Chinese gift is to give bird nest. Yep, bird nest. What would my boss want with bird nest you ask? Well, to eat it of course. You can buy dried bird nest that is made into soups or bottled bird nest that is mixed with sugar that you drink out of the bottle and this will help the mom in her recovery from the birth. The dried bird nest looks like this, it is obviously cleaned then dried.
I looked up some information online, and they say it has many benefits and nutrients in them and they have been eaten as a Chinese herb for many many years. This was obviously very new and foreign for me, I can only imagine if I bought bird nest for a pregnant friend back in the US! So with mild hesitation I went to the store today, just a normal grocery store, and purchased dried bird nest for my boss. I hope she loves every last bite. Oh the new things I learn everyday living in Singapore.
No comments:
Post a Comment