Shopping for Supplies

I'm on a quest to find best way of managing grocery-shopping without a car.

I stopped by our neighborhood mall today for dinner on the way home. It was a choice between picking up milk and bread, or buying discounted novels from the booksale stall. As you might guess, Imogen Edwards-Jones' wickedly funny "Tuscany for Beginners" won out - which means I'll be eating strawberry yogurt for breakfast again for the second straight day...

John and I have tried having groceries delivered by NTUC, which works quite well if you buy enough to make it worth staying home the next day to wait for the delivery guy (and staying home again three days later while they exchange a stray can of cream-style corn for the whole kernel corn you ordered). The only problem is we now have enough canned goods to last us 3 months, but we quickly ran out of milk, corn flakes, and bread. If I bulk-order milk and corn flakes it will probably fill the whole apartment!

So my second option is Cold Storage. Unlike NTUC, they also deliver fresh food. So I can get them to bring cheese, cream, orange juice (those cartons are heavy), and fruit. They pack chilled and frozen food in dry ice, so even ice cream will survive the trip. On the other hand, Cold Storage's minimum order value is $60 per location. That's a lot of orange juice.

Hmm. Supermarkets in Singapore aren't made for carless DINKs* like us. We just don't eat enough to make the delivery services worthwhile. Taking a cab works, although we do feel a bit silly taking five minutes to load groceries, two minutes to drive to our place, and another five to take them all out of the cab's trunk.

I live too far away from the supermarket to smuggle a fully-loaded supermarket cart two blocks away. And I'm too thin-skinned to take the funny looks from other pedestrians at the crosswalk.

So I mostly shop when John is around to help me, and when he's busy I've resorted to swinging by Cold Storage and picking up what I need when I need it (resulting in a flurry of tiny NETS charges - I must be the only person in Singapore who regularly charges $15 or less to her debit card). When John is off travelling, my dinners rise a notch on the gourmet scale... I eat fresh button mushrooms instead of canned because they're lighter. (At least I can pretend the reason I shop daily is to get the fresh stuff)

After I got settled in the routine of lugging home a liter of milk on one day and a carton of orange juice the next, I finally realized why Singaporeans shop so often... and why they're so fit.

* DINK: Double Income, No Kids

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Exotic Dance

I finished my first exotic dance course today! We had six weekly sessions, each lasting 1 1/2 hours.

We had a lot of fun. Linna, Sarah, Sophie and Audrey (our teachers) did a great job of explaining the techniques and using humor to get us dancing well. Linna patiently took us through each new move, exaggerating any bad habits she spotted in our dancing to show us how unattractive it looks if you slouch!

The class is all-female (of course) and is conducted in a screened-off studio to give you lots of privacy. There were several first-time dancers in the class and it had a vibrant, easy-going atmosphere.

Linna is obviously very comfortable with her body and isn't afraid to laugh at herself. She's able to bring this same confidence out in her class (slowly!) and by the end of the second session most of the girls were moving fairly well.

It was great making some new friends in the class. Seeing the same faces each week makes us more comfortable with each other, and there's an indisputable camaraderie that comes out of struggling through those first few body waves together. In addition, Jes is a superb dancer so whenever I got lost I'd look over at her for the next move. :D

thebodytalks has a whole slew of classes available (3 levels of exotic dance classes, body rock, and exotic cardio, plus their salsa classes), so we spent a few minutes at the end of the class excitedly discussing our next choice. Unfortunately Bindi is flying to Taiwan for six weeks on holiday, so she won't be able to join us. She was pleading with Jes to wait for her return before signing up for Exotic 2, but we don't think we can go that long without our next exotic dance fix!

This must sound like a total advertisement for Linna and her crew. Her classes as a little more expensive than regular jazz or hip hop dance classes, but the quality of instruction makes the higher fee worthwhile.

I have to say - after six weeks of dancing on stiletto heels, walking on them is a piece of cake.

How to Join

Check out thebodytalks for schedules. Or, better yet, e-mail them at info@thebodytalks.com.sg for the latest.

thebodytalks holds classes at Jitterbugs at Millenia Walk, DanceHub (14A Murray Terrace near Tanjong Pagar / Chinatown), and a few community centers around Singapore.

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Dinner Al Dente

Had dinner at Al Dente at Boat Quay.

Although I'd seen the restaurant mentioned in magazines, I was mainly drawn in by the huge UOB 1-for-1 dining promotion poster outside. There were two of us (plus one little girl), so my friend and I decided to try it.

The four-cheese pizza was good although somewhat mild. Crust was nice. Kylie had fun looking at the wood-fired oven while her mom and I were waiting for the food to arrive. The lasagna was OK, nothing to rave about.

Service quality varied. The waiter and waitress who served us dinner were pretty good. However the waiter who welcomed us in and seated us misinformed us about the promotion. He insisted we'd have to pay for two dishes to get a third one free. Me: "So that means it's not really one-for-one then?" Waiter: "No, it's not." Luckily we asked a second waiter for a clarification.

Our bill for a lasagna and a four-cheese pizza, after the promotional discount, came to $22. Not bad considering it's in a great location. Not sure I'd go without the discount though.

After dinner we hopped on a bumboat and took the river cruise. Fullerton Hotel looks quite grand at night. I've added two more items to my list of things to try - the bars and restaurants at Empress Place, and Fullerton Hotel's chocolate buffet. We got off at Clarke Quay after the cruise and stopped for gelato before heading back home.

Getting There

Al Dente Trattoria is at 71 Boat Quay. Call 6536 5366 for reservations.

Bumboats can be boarded from both Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. Ticket stations and boarding platforms line both sides of the river. Cruises cost $10 per adult.

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Hot Chocolate at Spinelli

John and I stopped at Spinelli yesterday for a slice of cake. It was grey and drizzling outside, so he decided he wanted a cup of tea. I ordered a hot chocolate. It went perfectly with the cake - although the texture of the hot chocolate was rather thin, the flavor was full-bodied.

Spinelli's black, white & brown cake was just right. It's a gelatinous chocolate mousse, not really a cake. Which meant it was refreshingly light compared to the blocks of fudge that cafes normally serve.

Yum.

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