Statue of Francis Xavier in Malacca. Doesn't he look a little like Singapore's Stamford Raffles?

You may wonder, is this all to SE Asia?  Of course not!

If you can find a day or 1/2 day free, you might find a chance to go out of the city center, to experience other parts of Singapore, or if you’re more daring (and have more than 6 months validity on your visa, try going out of the country to visit nearby Malaysia or Indonesia.  Johor Bahru (JB for short) and Malacca (about 2-3 hours away each way) in Malaysia offers a contrast to the super modern urban landscape that makes up downtown Singapore.

Our tour desk offers two tours going out of town to JB and Malacca and gives you a safe return.  We recommend going with the tour (especially if you’re thinking of going to JB; tourists are often targets of scams).  You can find the tour desk near the foyer of the Ballroom.

Enjoy!

(PS – want more detail?  Check out Chris’ earlier post on traveling to Malaysia)

p.s. No need to reply to this, but some of us got here late last
night; any recommendations about where to explore today?

Here’s my short answer.  Hopefully others can chime in via comments.

Shopping: Try the north part of Orchard Road (Tangs, Takashimaya).  The new ION Orchard Mall is less than a month old.
History: try the National Museum at the base of Fort Canning.
Walking: try Chinatown or Little India.  Avoid afternoon sun if possible.
Tech: Try Sim Lim Square.
Nature: Try the Southern Ridges (see blog post: http://www.colips.org/blog/acl-ijcnlp-2009/index.php/175/)

Uniquely Singapore (brought to you by the Singapore Tourism Board) has a lot of information for walking tours, etc. too.

Jason Eisner replied:

Thanks a bunch!  I’ll forward that to the other 5 ACLers on my plane.

Southern Ridge Treetop walk (courtesy Bernardoh@flickr)

In a few previous posts, we already highlighted a few of the nature spots in Singapore. In May 2008 (quite recent) the Urban Redevelopment Authority (Singapore’s urban planning division; self acknowledged sim city folks ) opened up a series of parks stretching from right outside the Vivocity shopping mall and stretching all the way West to NUS. The park, called the Southern Ridge, features two architecturally distinct bridges and a very nice treetop canopy walk that’s entirely free of charge. This a great budget way to spend two hours to get your fitness walk and commune with nature in our urban city. Perhaps start late

Alexandra Arch (courtesy chooyutshing@flickr)

afternoon near the Alexandra Arch bridge and end your walk at Vivocity. You’ll be treated to nice views of the city and harbor and a nice sunset, and end up in Singapore’s (current) largest mall, with plenty of eating options to satisfy your cravings.

Yee Fan had commented:

Practically each time when the SG gahmen wants to promote something, a website is created. The southern ridge is no exception: http://www.nparks.gov.sg/southernridges.html

Bak Kut Teh (pork rib soup), another local fav (courtesy u m a m i@flickr)

While Singaporeans are well renowned for their attention to detail, this carries on most distinctly in food. Yes, Singaporeans are especially proud (read: finicky) of their local food sources. No trip to Singapore is complete without a trip to a local culinary institution, the hawker stand.

(Hainanese Chicken Rice, S'pore style? (courtesy currypuffy@flickr)

There are many food stands here, gathered into “food courts” (air conditioned centers or hawker centers: open air plazas. What we’re after here is the hawker center. Why hawkers? Well, they are called hawker centers, named after the hawkers (callers) who used to go around the neighborhood crying out to advertise the food that they had to offer (”get your fresh fishball noodles here!!”). In more recent times these mobile food vendors were legislated and localized to a specific food stall for inspection purposes, among other things. Each center consists usually of about 15-50 stalls (although usually many fewer will be actually open) offering various Chinese, Indian, Muslim and occasionally other foods, such as Japanese, vegetarian or Italian. Within each plaza there is always a central stand serving drinks (thus you buy your beverages at a different stall), which sometimes doubles as a fresh fruit stand (because many of the beverages are freshly squeezed/pulped fruit juices). There are many variants of Chinese food that I didn’t recognize here when I first arrived in SG and for the most part I have been ordering what I can pronounce reasonably ok (it’s easier to use English and you probably sound less like you’re trying hard if you do). Also, family is a big thing here. There are practically no single people eating at these plazas, unlike the food courts of the US. Mostly families or friends or couples going out. The price of food at these hawker stands is also very cheap. Your average dinner at the food plazas will be around 6 SGD (4 USD), although our local school’s canteen, you might be hard pressed to spend more than 4 dollars for a regular meal. Eating times vary a bit from other global metropolises, where it is always possible to get a meal 24 hours a day. That can be done easily in Singapore too, but just in certain areas (ask me!). I find the hawker food good to eat and sometimes have a hard time in justifying the difference in cost to eat at an actual restaurant (the cost is about 15-20 SGD or much more), since the hawker food is already quite good for my taste.

Hawker Center at Ghim Moh (courtesy food_in_mouth@flickr)

Hawker food comes in many different varieties but there are some simple rules to remember about eating out:

- Bring tissues. Those small packs of tissue are essential for the traveller in Asia. If you don’t have one by the time you are at a hawker center, buy one from the drink stand (there’s always one open), or borrow one from your friend who came along and was better prepared than you

- Make sure to reserve a seat. One of the customs here is to “reserve” a seat at a table. Send your friends to buy their food first and then when they return it’s your turn. You did bring someone to eat with, didn’t you? Yes, it does waste valuable table space, seeing as many people in a hawker center are there just to reserve a space. But when in Rome…

- “Self-service” In the US, this means you pump your own petrol. But in Singapore, it means that you have to get the food after it’s cooked and return to your seat. If there’s no such sign, you can let the stall owner have their helper deliver it to your table (yes, that’s what the table number is for).

- “$2 $3 $5″: Don’t let someone fool you into thinking these are different prices for locals, expats and tourists. Nah, it’s for the portion size you might want to eat. Many dishes can be made with more ingredients to make a richer plate of food. You can tell the stall owner how much money you wish your food to cost. Typically, a higher price corresponds to more meat/veggies and not carbo, so it’s not quite the same as upsizing your McMeal.

- So are you ready? Listen to what locals tell their hawkers when ordering. If you can pick out the meaning, you’ll hear the dialogue being negotiated in a semi-fixed order. Usually, people tell the hawker what dish they want, followed by the dollar amount, whether they want chili or not, and specify *exactly* how they want it cooked (Burger King’s got nothing on this.) Other details follow: whether they want it “packet” (to go) or to “makan” (eat here, “makan” is eat/food in Malay) and where they are sitting (if it is to be delivered to your table).

-Min’s 2009 ACL-IJCNLP update. ‘Food Republic’ downstairs from the conference venue is *not* the same as a hawker center, no matter what it advertises.  That’s not to bash Food Republic, just that the atmosphere (and heat and humidity) are completely different.  Go out and explore.  The closest (food-wise) bearable hawker center to Suntec City would be Lau Pa Sat, Newton Circus or the Bugis (pronounced ‘BOO-gis’; try saying ‘BUG-is’ to a local is a sure way to get them to fall over laughing) hawker center.

Talk to any Singaporean or resident here and they will always be able to chat about their favorite hawker stands.  Beats talking about the weather for a conversation opener (”Man, it sure is hot and humid these days…”).  Wise up by checking out some of the hungrygowhere or makansutra websites (you do remember what ‘makan’ means, right?)

keropokman commented on this post in SIGIR ‘08, so I’ll just share it here too.  (Visit his site if you want to salivate about food):

The term Hawker Centre is an oxymoron.

A Hawker moves around

If you realise, they have all been renamed “Food Centres” in almost all the ’so called hawker centres”

Even when you do manage to find one (hint: big shopping malls in Suntec City or in large hotels), sometimes they are just phones that take electronic prepaid cards.  How do you then make the call to look up your friends in Singapore?

Always on the phone? (Courtesy jeremyfoo@flickr)

A good option is to bring your mobile phone with you.  Singapore runs standard GSM service through several mobile providers.  If you have a (dual, tri, quad-band) GSM phone it should work with Singapore’s providers as long as you get a new SIM card.  This would be my recommended option — to purchase a short-term prepaid, refillable SIM card.

Getting a prepaid SIM card in Singapore is generally quite easy, activation is instant, and calling rates are quite attractive.

The prepaid SIM cards in Singapore come in various denominations ranging from S$10 to S$50. There are 3 mobile phone service providers that offer prepaid phone service in Singapore – SingTel, MobileOne (M1) and Starhub.

Prepaid SIM cards in Singapore for any of the three phone companies can be purchased at the following locations:

• Retail outlets of Singtel, Starhub, and M1.  There are outlets for these stores in Suntec City.
• 7-eleven stores and Cheers Convenience Stores.  These are everywhere, including the Changi airport.  If you have to have your phone connection right away, this is it.
• Singapore Post

Since 2006, the Singapore government has made prepaid SIM registration a mandatory requirement. This means the card must be registered under the name of the person who will be using it, in this case you. As a result, you will be required to produce your passport when you buy the prepaid mobile card (that means you should not forget to bring out your passport when you want go buy it). Once registered, the card is ready for use immediately.

Prepaid SIM Card balance in Singapore is normally valid for 6 months which means any unused balance will expire after 6 months, if not refilled (topped-up) by buying additional credit.  10 dollars may seem a lot of money but I personally find the peace of mind in having local rate calling at your convenience.  The prepaid cards all features slightly different long distance rates to your family and friends back home, but don’t vary too much.

So those linguists out there will wonder about the origins of the word ‘handphone’, more popularly used here than ‘mobile’ or ‘cell’.  Well that’s easy: ‘手机’ the Chinese translation is literally ‘hand machine’.  How’s that for pop etymology?

For example, to go from Suntec to NUS, you can try performing this search. On the right you’ll see a map of Singapore showing the public transit route. On the left, you can customize your trip by choosing whether you want to travel by bus, bus+mrt (yes, remind me to put up another post on Singapore’s public transport), or taxi/driving. Below it you can also select the time you plan to leave and the choice of routes, including time and fare.

Disclaimer: While the website is mostly accurate, there might be shorter and better routes (e.g. using free shuttle bus). The walking direction is not perfect too. Once I was asked to cross a private property and a hill to get to the bus stop. The rest of the time, the direction works wonder. Even on familiar routes, it gave me a better routes several times.

ACL-IJCNLP Plug

Hello! This is Swee Lan from Singapore. Now that you’ve seen the conference bag posted by Haizhou, I believe you’d be interested to know what special stuffs you could find in there. Right?

Well, a hint here. You probably want to check out the voltage and frequency used in the country you want to travel to, so that you can make sure that you bring appliance(s) of correct voltage and frequency to use in that country. But what if the plugs do not take the plug configuration of your appliance(s)? It’d be rather frustrating and an unpleasant experience, isn’t it? [Editor: When I got delayed in Narita, I was given a stay at Hilton and we had to pay $10 to rent out the adapter; not cheap!] Well, when you attend ACL-IJCNLP 2009 conference, you’ll not have such trouble.

Oui! You’d receive a universal travel adapter in your conference bag and voila! No more plug trouble. So don’t forget to check it out in your conference bag (along with other stuffs). It’ll look like the picture on the right, with ACL-IJCNLP 2009 logo printed on it. Having said all these, I’d still like to remind you that the voltage and frequency used in Singapore is 230V/50Hz, and the socket type is the G plugs (same as that used in United Kingdom, Ireland, Malaysia, and Hong Kong).

—
Wow, and did you read the posts by Chris and Su Yuen about Singapore and Malaysia? The places look interesting and exciting to visit. While you are here, you might want to try exploring some of these places (and the editor, Chris, has informed me that more posts like that are coming). There are still many more interesting places in Singapore that you can also visit: Chinatown, Sentosa, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Flyer, or even cruising onboard Singapore River cruise. We’ve also arranged a local travel agency—Global Travel—to help you plan your trip and check out these places in Singapore, if you need so. Check out what tours they have in place for you. Also, complimentary pick-up service will be provided from major hotels in Singapore to the tour assembly. Pick-up service usually begins 30 minutes before the tour commences, and the pick-up time is subject to the hotel location and traffic conditions. Major credit cards are acceptable for advance payment of your tour reservation. And cancellation is allowed 7 working days prior to the date of tour. However, travel insurance is not included. These are some information that Rose has shared with me. If you’d like to know more, do not hesitate to contact Ms Rose Lee at Global Travel Pte Ltd. She would be more than happy to assist you further.

Fullerton Hotel @ NDP '07 (red and white are part of Singapore colours)

Last but not least, if you don’t already know, 9th August is Singapore’s National Day. This year, it will be Singapore’s 44th birthday! As usual, there’ll be national day celebrations in town. The major attraction is the National Day Parade. It will be held at the Floating Platform along Marina Bay (off Raffles Avenue), which is very, very close to the conference venue.  There could be traffic congestion along Raffles Boulevard, Raffles Avenue, Republic Avenue, Bras Basah Road, Nicoll Highway and Esplanade Drive.  You are advised to use public transport if you happen to travel around the vicinity of Suntec City and Marina Square.  But staying in the hotel, or going out for a stroll could just be as fun too. If the weather is good, you should be able to watch some lovely and beautiful fireworks in the evening on 9th August! You may therefore want to consider extending your stay in Singapore for another few days after the conference.  If you’re not able to do so, don’t fret for there’ll usually be a national day parade rehearsal a week before 9th August. You may be lucky enough to catch the sight of fireworks on the 1st/2nd of August!

[Editor's note: While you probably would not be able to get into the floating platform itself (all tickets have been balloted out), you should be able to stroll around nearby to catch the sight of the military parade and fireworks. If you're into photography, a fast 70-200mm zoom or a 300mm prime would probably be a good lens to bring for this event. And make sure you have a tripod with you. ]

—
This post is contributed by Swee Lan See, who is a Singaporean. Swee Lan is the Manager of the Student Volunteers Programme of ACL-IJCNLP ‘09. She is currently the Assistant Department Head of the Human Language Technology Department in the Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), A*STAR , Singapore. She is also a Committee Member of the IEEE Women In Engineering (WIE) Affinity Group (AG) in Singapore. Her research interests include human-computer and human-robot interactions, speech & dialog processing, decision support systems, interactive digital media  and education.

Durian

On a hot afternoon in Singapore like this one, a major preoccupation of mine is looking to find ways to cool down. Besides having the ceiling fan on, I do enjoy a platter of chilled, tropical fruits. I feel like papaya today. It’s not really in season, but you don’t really have to wait for a fruit to be in season anymore. Just pop by the nearest supermarket or fruit stand, and you’ll find a wide and attractive range of fruits from across the region. From Dragons (dragon fruit) to Dukus and of course, Durians.

The fruit synonymous to Singapore is the Durian. But, mind you, do not have a go at durians on any hot afternoon.  I fainted once while attempting this feat. It’s well-known in the area of holistic medicine as a rather ‘heaty’ fruit.

Esplanade Theatre a.k.a Durian building

Even if you’re new to Singapore, you might have heard about this rather controversial fruit.  The Durian is a native fruit of South-east Asia, and a favourite of many Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Thais alike. In fact, it’s even a favourite of our fellow South-east Asian native, the orang utan.

So where’s the controversy? Not unlike other exotic treats, one man’s meat is at times another man’s poison (or should I quote the Malay proverb, duri dalam daging – a thorn in the flesh).

The size of a soccer ball, this fruit has a distinctive appearance with its spiky, olive green husk. Inside, you’ll find five neat segmented compartments, each segment separated from the other with a thick lining that encapsulates a cream-coloured, custard-like pulp. This creamy flesh that covers each large seed is relished by some, described as truly delicious and even regal – hence the name the King of fruits – but can be foul to others.

Opened Durian

But it’s not the unusual appearance of the durian that makes it different from other fruits. You can smell its pungent odour, literally, a mile away. Some say, if you can get past the smell, you’ll most likely enjoy the durian’s taste. It doesn’t really taste the way it smells, but it’s strong enough to deter even the most adventurous of food experts like Andrew Zimmern. And if you think a whiff of air freshener would do the trick, think again. The smell of the durian is indeed resilient and could linger on for hours. So don’t wonder much if you see “No Durian” signs in public areas in Singapore.

Game for the Real Thing?

If you feel ‘brave’ enough and would like to have a taste of the fruit, then head straight for the real thing. There are many durian cafes on the island — a local haunt is a short stretch along Sims Avenue, between the Kallang and Aljunied MRT stations. A durian café is, for obvious reasons, an outdoor café serving durians that are selected by the customers and served directly in their husks. The tables and chairs are right next to the fruit stand.

And if you really like Durians, you might consider a Durian tour which takes you on a day trip (by road) to one of the durian orchards in Johor (southernmost Malaysian state).

Sweeter Alternatives

There are, should I say, safer ways to enjoy this fruit apart from eating it straight from its husk. Many of my friends not familiar with the fruit prefer this option. The sweet and creamy taste and texture of the durian makes it an ideal ingredient in desserts. One local favourite is the pengat durian (a sweet durian pudding flavoured with cane-sugar and fragrant pandanus leaves), bubur pulut durian (basically the pengat, with glutinous rice included), dodol (a toffee-like traditional Malay dessert), and chendol (a traditional Indonesian cold dessert). The durian even found its way to more contemporary cake recipes. Secret Recipe (there are 2 in the Marina area Suntec City Mall, Temasek Boulevard, 3 #B1-053/054 and Marina Square, Raffles Boulevard, 6 #03-211) has a mean Durian cake. Every supermarket will carry Durian-flavoured ice creams. Some bakeries (like Polar Café and Prima Deli) also feature durian meringues and even milkshakes! My personal favourite would be Bengawan Solo that features the more traditional desserts including those containing durian.

What’s in a Durian’s name?

Rambutan

The local name of this fruit dubbed as the King of Fruits — duri- plus the suffix -an — roughly means “thorny stuff” in Malay. It follows the naming convention of the durian’s smaller, less painful rival, “hairy stuff” (a.k.a the Rambutan).

Rambutans are often confused with their cousins the Pulasans, which are just as red outside and as juicy inside. The name Pulasan correctly indicates that one has to pulas (twisting with both hands while firmly gripping) the rind of the fruit, breaking it to get to its juicy, translucent edible part.

Pulasan

It’s been referred to as the Rambutan’s more ‘fashionable’ counterpart, particularly in the 80’s, I suppose due the popularity of it’s punk style, crew-cut skin.

Acknowledgments:

• A blog post on durian by Nurul Rahman.
• 30 Bananas a Day website.
• Website on rambutan.
• 5xmom for pulasan photo.
  
• And thanks to Allissa for her contributions

Well, meanwhile, I’ve just gotten the news from a friend that Singapore was just selected as the best sightseeing city in Asia Pacific at Seoul Tourism Award [see here and here]. As a long-time resident of Singapore, I was quite surprised by the award. However, when I do think about all the tourist attractions (from shopping to food to nightlife), Singapore probably does deserve the award. Well, for you guys who are coming here in August, judge it for yourself! (And tell us! I’m very curious to know.)

The next bit is probably quite useful to you. In addition to the sightseeing award, it also won the best website for city tourism promotion award (yeah, long and mouthful). That’s good news of course. In this Internet era, I found it frustrating being unable to find good, well-organized website resource about a particular city (having just experienced this when I was about to visit Berlin last week), so do check out Uniquely Singapore site. [And again, judge it for yourself whether it deserves the award; this time, I do think it does (:.]

Brochures!

Okay, back to this evening. So I tried to act a little like a tourist when I was at the visitors centre (at Orchard) and grabbed almost all of the relevant brochures that they have. I noticed that there were quite a few good ones, some I have not even visited before. My favourite brochures were (as always) the walking tours brochures. [I really love walking tours, where you got to enjoy the architectures and cultures of the place, eat good food, and, if you're lucky and happen to have a tour guide with you (maybe some local friends who are familiar with the place or hired tour guides), you'll get the local insights and some history of the place.] There were also brochures on museums, night life, historic places, and shopping and food guides, among others.

One of the best things about the visitors centre was the service. Having lived in Singapore for 8 years and interned in California for 7 months last year, I found that some establishments in Singapore (commercial and otherwise) lack hospitality[, especially with some restaurants (maybe because restaurants are entitled to 10% service charge, so waiters don't really need to work extremely hard to get that extra tip from customers)]. The guides in the centre was very helpful. When one of the guides saw me overloaded with tonnes of brochure, he approached me with a plastic bag and offered to put the brochures in the bag. We ended up chatting about this blog. He let me know that I should come for another visit in June or July to pick up latest brochures about events happening in end of July and August. You don’t really get this level of service in many other establishments (even commercial ones).

I also noticed that the centre has two electronic massaging machines and a water dispenser for visitors. Very thoughtful.

Singapore Visitors Centre @ Orchard

Overall, this visitors centre is pretty cool and deserving of at least a short visit in the midst of your shopping spree at Orchard Road. The centre is pretty obvious; you’ll definitely spot it when you’re walking along Orchard. Drop by to chat with the guides and they might be able to provide you with something new to visit that you didn’t think of earlier. For me, I will be able to write even more posts now that I have these tonnes of brochures with me. (: Wait for it!

Acknowledgment: The photo of the brochures is taken by yours truly, while the centre’s photo is taken by zephyr too under Creative Commons.