Chicken Surprise

This is actually about a wonderful dinner with some new friends on Saturday night. And like so many things, it was another Singapore learning experience.

Our guests were Elisa & Joe Chan and Nazim and Nazima Mohammed. Elisa is Jewish from New Jersey, her husband is Chinese, originally from Hong Kong, and the Mohammeds are native Singaporeans with roots in the Malay community. They are practicing Muslims and so this meant we had to serve Halal foods.

Unfortunately, our local grocery doesn't carry such items. So, we trekked over to the appropriate ethnic area near Arab Street and found it with no trouble. (Raye asked one of the hijab-wearing women where to find it.) The green label, the NTUC (local Safeway-like store) clerk tolds us, indicates a Halal chicken.

It was in a bag, pretty much like what you see back in the USA. However, when I opened the bag up, I got the chicken surprise. While there were no giblets within a parchment bag inside, as you can see, the head and feet were still attached. (The green band around it's neck is a Halal certificate.)



While the grilled chicken recipe turned out well, the conversation was even better. It ranged from shopping secrets (where to get the best fruit at the lowest prices), to what it's like being in the Singapore military, to how to travel safely in Malaysia, to the wide variety of moon cakes now available for the mid-autumn festival. It was a poly-cultural smorgasbord.

One of the tidbits we picked up is why Singaporeans back into parking spaces and Malaysians park "head first". In Singapore, it is safer to get out of a space when you can see cross traffic in a busy garage. (In fact, many cars have sonar on the rear bumper to aid in backing in. However, in Malaysia, backing in makes it easier for someone to steal your car by lifting the front wheels (of a front wheel drive car) and towing it away.

Nazima and Elisa both work in schools here and Nazima is also a Singapore Regional Director in Destination Imagination. (She and Raye met at Global Finals in Knoxville in May.) So we talked about the public and private schools systems, curricula, and the various standardized testing regimens that shape student futures. Another interesting tidbit: all other things being equal, priority is given to students who live within 1km walking distance from a prestigious school. This means that certain housing locations have a premium value. And what's more, as most people live in high rise apartments, the 1km radius is actually specific to individual units, not to an entire building.

The evening went far too quickly and I hope we will have occasion for us all to get together again soon.