Simon Noerdjan » Singapore https://www.simonnoerdjan.com a man on a mission! Sun, 28 Jul 2024 15:27:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 Eating at the Hawker Centers https://www.simonnoerdjan.com/eating-at-the-hawker-centers/ https://www.simonnoerdjan.com/eating-at-the-hawker-centers/#comments Sat, 29 Mar 2014 07:44:42 +0000 http://www.simonnoerdjan.com/?p=81 So I not on a food quest in Singapore or after specific foods I want to taste, but once you’re here you automatically get dragged in to it. Before my departure from Suriname a friend of mine, uncle Rudi, who worked in Singapore for 6 months, told me that the best places to get your food is just at a local Hawker Center. You can find one in almost every neighborhood. Good food for a reasonable price.

So from my experience in camping in Suriname, whenever you arrive at a camping spot the first thing you do is setup your accommodation (tent, hammock, etc.) and then prepare or look for food. So after settling at in my hotel the first night I decided to wandered around in the neighborhood and yes, I found the Hawker Center! That definitely beats taking the metro every night to the mall to get some food. The variety of food available at the Hawker Centers is great. From noodles, to fried rice, dumplings, seafood, fish and also the simple chicken rice with vegetables.

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To be honest, I haven’t tried the most interesting yet, but I’m planning to go for some seafood some time soon. I also discovered 4 more Hawker Centers in the neighborhood, so they’re almost everywhere.

 

]]> https://www.simonnoerdjan.com/eating-at-the-hawker-centers/feed/ 0 Getting my first haircut in Singapore https://www.simonnoerdjan.com/getting-my-first-haircut-in-singapore/ https://www.simonnoerdjan.com/getting-my-first-haircut-in-singapore/#comments Sat, 22 Mar 2014 20:08:14 +0000 http://www.simonnoerdjan.com/?p=64 Back home in Suriname I usually get a haircut once every 2 weeks and rarely once a week depending on what I have planned. So it was time for me to get a haircut and to be honest, I haven’t seen one place called “Barber Shop”. They’re all just hair salons. Scary, I know!

So I decided to go to a place in a mall nearby called “Express Cuts” where you just walk in, put a 10 dollar into a machine and receive a card to queue up for your turn. I already knew what not to expect, because I could see the difference between the barbershops back home and the results of the customers before me. I got my turn, told the lady I wanted a Crew Cut (apparently that is what my haircut is called) but not too short on top. After 10 minutes she was done… and no pencil line side burn what I’m used to. They don’t do that.

Before After Haircut

So the service was “okay” but not to be compared to what I’m used to when going to a barbershop back home. When you get a haircut in Suriname, you almost appear BRAND NEW when walking out of the shop, looking sharp as a razor!  Going to the barbershop is also more than going to a barbershop. It’s going to a chill spot where you could actually enjoy waiting your turn, listening to good music, watching a football game or just conversations. Not to degrade the hair salon here, but the point is that barbers in Suriname have very good skills and can definitely match up their skill to the world!

Having said that I’d like to send a shout out to The Basement Barbershop (Paramaribo) and Jased Barbershop (Commenwijne). Just want to let you know you’re doing a great job! Big up!

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