Tourist in My Own Country with My Aunt and Mum

I’m sorry dear readers. My stories have been doom and gloom lately. I realise I need to switch things up.

I only write what I’m inspired to write and lately, I want to write about happy things. I’m definitely on the same page as Tannille when it comes to writing advice.

Also, I’ve been enjoying happy cute posts by Adrian and Linda and wanted to do the same. I find a smile forming on my face when I read Adrian’s stories and his antics with his parents and Linda’s foodie photos tempt me big time.

AJ makes me wish I could teleport myself to England. His recent trip photos are so beautiful.

It’s my turn to add some lightness.

When I think about it, my life has been pretty swell lately.

Went out for a rare outing with my mum and aunt. I think the last time we did this was a decade ago. The covid pandemic brought a halt to all family outings.

So, just the 3 of us. I did not realise how much I missed it.

First, we went to Arab Street which is the Malay quarter of Singapore. Little Indian is the Indian quarter and Chinatown is the Chinese quarter. If you’re planning to visit Singapore you need to include these 3 heritage places for sure.

So here we were in Arab Street also known as Kampung Glam. You can see shophouses here. Shop below, home one floor above. Now they are mostly used commercially and the rent prices are crazy. S$15k a month (Singapore dollars) which is $11,187 in US dollars.

We were heading to a hair salon for ladies where the prices for scalp treatment were more reasonable. The lady who started the business is from Malaysia. Singapore and Malaysia are neighbouring countries and we used to be one under British rule (called Malaya then).

S$55 for short hair which works out to $41 (US at current rates). Nothing is cheap in Singapore so this is considered reasonable.

Once we entered the place I thought it was so pretty. In my favourite pink with the cutest slogan. Pink just makes you feel so cocooned warm and fuzzy.

This is where the magic happens.

Yes indeed. The ladies here were so welcoming.

A secret ingredient herbal treatment is applied to your scalp and then you are left under the steamer to relax. They wash it off, blow dry your hair with a Dyson hairdryer (cool air that doesn’t hurt like those hot hairdryers that make me go ouch when they put the nozzle too close to my neck) and then you’re done.

By the time we finished, we were pretty hungry. I was starving. It was 2 pm. The next destination was Little India for a late lunch.

We headed to a place I’ve been frequenting since age 4. Komala Villas. It’s an institution, and you just must visit this South Indian vegetarian restaurant if you find yourself in Singapore.

I ordered the paper masala thosai thali. You could also opt for a vegetarian thali with rice instead of thosai.

And there are countless options for the type of thosai. My mum always goes for onion thosai.

I love the ghee used. And I always opt for paper ( it just means they use the ghee to make it crispier). Ghee takes the cuisine up another notch.

Masala refers to the spiced potatoes added without the rolled-up thosai. You can just get a plain paper thosai if you think the potatoes would make you too full. Full disclosure. I struggled to finish everything on my plate.

The coconut chutney, sambar (dhal) and raita (yoghurt with cucumber) all go so well together.

And I’m squealing. I see that my favourite dessert 😍 is included. Payasam. It’s made with semolina, cardamom, sugar and milk. Beyond divine. Yes I have a sweet tooth like most Indians.

I’m thinking of Nanie now, because this may be vegetarian, but it’s not vegan 🥺. Wonder if in the future they may come up with a vegan version too.

An old blog post I wrote on Wordpress in 2011, that details how my mum cooked sambar. I cringe at my writing.

But I think that Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles would know best how to make vegan Indian cuisine Nanie Hurley 🌿.

All in all a fantastic day and I look forward to more tourist in my own country adventures with my family.

If I were to visit your country and just had half a day to spare, where would you suggest I go? And what should I have for lunch?

Janet Daniels-Thomas , Adrian CDTPPW , Autistic Widower («AJ») , Linda Ng , TzeLin Sam , Bruce Coulter , Tannille ⭐️ , Nanie Hurley 🌿 , Claire Franky , Adrienne Beaumont , Keeley Schroder , Prasanna Srinath Subhasinghe , Lynn L. Alexander , Supritha Kamalanathan , John Welford , John Whye , bluesapphire , William Michael Williamson , Dave Gottlieb , Doro Volkova , Britt H. , Mike Grindle , Mark Baquiran , Yana Bostongirl , Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles , Olivia is typing…

Copyright: all photos by author (which is kinda obvious, because they are rather unprofessional unlike the Upsplash ones I sometimes use)