Shopping – Go with the Flo

The Singapore Avocado Mystery

Flo — Thu, 20 Oct 2016 08:42:22 +0000

While Singapore doesn’t really grow many fruits or vegetables for obvious reasons, its neighbors north and south have huge plantations and grow just about anything possible. The local markets have an abundance of all kinds of fruits and vegetables from Malaysia and Indonesia.

However, one fruit that seems to be consistently absent from all markets here is the Indonesian avocado. And I care because it is one of my favorite fruits. Don’t get me wrong, I can get avocados in every supermarket here but they are always from Australia or the USA and the small kind with wrinkly skin and are expensive. They taste just fine but I just can’t understand why nobody sells the bigger and cheaper Indonesian version.

I only found out about the Indonesian avocado during my trip to Flores.

Indonesian avocado at the market in Bajawa, Flores

I mean, look at these avocados: huge, tasty and if I remember correctly, around SGD1 for a kilo.

Some of the best avocados I had in a long time

After returning from Flores, I searched high and low for them. I found some (although not quite the same size) at Geylang Serai market. Unfortunately that market is closed until mid-November 2016 for renovation works.

Does anybody know why Indonesian avocados are not more prevalent in Singapore?

Exploring Osh’s bazaars

Flo — Thu, 25 Aug 2016 02:38:25 +0000

After several days of long driving I was ready to just take it easy in Kyrgyzstan’s second largest city for a day or two. The drives from Dushanbe to Khorog, Khorog to Murghab and Murghab to Osh were all really special but I was done sitting in the car all day long.

Most travelers just use Osh as a base to either explore the surrounding areas of Kyrgyzstan or as a starting/ending point to the Pamir Highway. As such it doesn’t really offer that many sights for tourists except a “holy mountain”, the Sulayman Mountain (which also happened to be Kyrgyzstan’s only World Heritage Site).

But I was there on a Sunday when a) the regular bazaar is busiest and b) the weekly animal bazaar takes place. So I drove out of town a few kilometers to first check out the animal bazaar. The road leading to the site was already jam-packed with pick-up trucks hauling away animals. The bazaar was divided into sections selling sheep, cows and horses with the sheep section being by far the largest. I was told that a regular-sized sheep costs about US$50. Horses apparently start at US$1’000 but can be significantly more expensive.

Overview of the Osh’s Sunday animal bazaar

Sheep

More sheep

Locals selling sheep

Local boy and his sheep

Sheep

Woman with her newly acquired sheep…

…who is not so keen on its new owner…

But resistance is futile…

… no choice lah…

…you’re coming with me…

… like it or not.

Local with his sheep

Some more sheep

Local with her sheep

Good morning, Sir. How are you today?

Ok, enough sheep.

Blacksmith

A lonely yak

Cow-section

Cow

Almost fully loaded…

… let’s get out of here.

Adding a cow to the horses.

Ready to go.

I doubt they know what is happening to them.

But you don’t need a pick-up truck to take home your sheep!

Supply trucks

It was a really interesting experience. If you happen to be in Osh on a Sunday, you should check it out. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it though as probably most towns have a similar animal bazaar.

From there I took a marshrutka to the Kelechek Bazaar in town. It is essentially dozens of old shipping containers lined up selling clothing and not really that exciting.

Kelechek Bazaar

Not too far away is Osh’s central market and one of the biggest of the region. It stretches along several kilometers along the river and is busiest on Sunday.

Osh central bazaar

My final stop would be climbing Sulayman Mountain for the views of Osh.

Kyrgyzstan might not have McDonald’s, but at least they have MacBurger.

A Yak-40 near the university

View of Osh from Sulayman Mountain

After the Pamir’s colder climate, it was nice to be back in a warmer place once again. But after walking around in the hear for several hours, I was also looking forward to a relaxed afternoon/evening in the hostel and sharing travel stories. I am still going in parallel to some of the Mongol Rallye teams and their stories are always worthwhile listening to.

Singapore: tailor made clothes – level II

Flo — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 08:24:36 +0000

One of the more visited post on this blog is the one of Lai En Shirts Manufacturer. I’ve gone back multiple times for pants (so far not for shirts) and have always been happy with price and product.

However their fabric selection for casual pants is rather limited. So recently I visited the People’s Park in Chinatown where there is a large number of fabric shops on level 2. The selection is vast and for about SGD30, you can purchase more than enough fabric for a pair of pants. Back at Lai En, they had no issue using the fabric I brought along and for a further SGD40 I got a pair of custom made pants.

Fabric shops at People’s Park

Fabric shop at People’s Park

While certainly not the quickest (and cheapest?) way to get tailor-made pants, it was fun choosing the fabric myself. If you are of the opinion that Lai En in Hougang is a bit too far away from Chinatown (and I tend to agree), there are tailors at People’s Park as well (for example, Four Seas Men’s Wear, #02-1100).

Singapore: tailor made clothes

Flo — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:06:28 +0000

While Singapore is probably not South-East Asia’s best known city for tailor made clothes (that would probably be Bangkok) there are still numerous shops in the shopping malls downtown that offer tailor made suits, shirts and much more. Prices are not that competitive and I’ve read mixed reviews.

After some research I stumbled upon Lai En Shirts Manufacturer. While their shop/factory is not that conveniently located in Hougang, the prices are competitive and the quality is good.

I’ve ordered a couple of pants and so far can recommend them without hesitation. Pants are around S$68 and the shirts as well.

Opening hours are Mon-Sat 9.30am-7.30pm.

Lai En Shirts
Block 2 Defu Lane 10
#02-533
Singapore 539183

Lai En Shirts

Getting Beerlao in Singapore

Flo — Mon, 09 Mar 2015 13:40:13 +0000

One of my favorite beers in South-East Asia is definitely Beerlao, produced by the Lao Brewery Company (by now a 50-50 joint-venture between the Lao government and Carlsberg).
Despite expanding, it is still fairly difficult to find outside of Laos, Cambodia or Thailand. In Singapore I’ve seen it popping up at some trendy bars, priced in the same range as some European imported beers. While I would tend to say it is worth the money, I wanted to find a place to buy it in bulk instead of individual bottles.

Turns out there is indeed a store in Toa Payoh that sells the bottles. And the price is very reasonable too: S$4.50 for a 640mL bottle or S$2.60 for a 330mL bottle – can’t beat a Beerlao for the price of a Tiger.

If you’re interested, venture out to Euro Link Wines & Spirits, Blk85A, Lorong 4, Toa Payoh #01-324, Singapore 311085. Tel: +65 6255 7271. They are open Mon-Sat.

Euro Link WInes & Spirits

12 x 640mL of Beerlao