Singapore's TidbiTs

Often referred to as the 'Vanilla of the East', the pandan is a tropical plant easily found in Southeast Asia and of course Singapore. It is an upright, green shrub with woody aerial roots and fan-shaped sprays of blade-like leaves. Traditionally, these leaves were woven into baskets used for cooking rice and meats. Popular local coconut milk rice dish, nasi lemak, has pandan-ish fragrance, with the pandan leaves tied into knots and cooked together with the rice. Putu piring, a Malay snack, also use small pieces of pandan leaves as garnish. And we all know the fluffy and greenish pandan chiffon cake! Wild pandan Botanically called pandanus amarylifolius from the pandanus family, the pandan leaves have been used to flavour or colour desserts such as cakes and sweet beverages. The leaves are pounded and strained (or blended with a little water) to yield flavour and green food dye for kueh, desserts and sweets. Pandan is used with the essences of rose to flavour spicy rice dishe...

Having travelled quite a bit and passing through many airports, we can safely say that Changi Airport is unlike many other airports all over the world. While many airports main function is for passengers to board flights and disembark just like cruise and bus terminals, Changi Airport has transformed itself as a unique destination by itself. People simply go to the airport to eat, watch a free movie or a football game on a bigscreen, enjoy a cool tallest indoor manmade waterfall surrounded by lush gardens, even do a bit grocery shopping, tapau (take away) some food and then head back home. Dinosaurs at Jurassic Mile All without going to transit or airside areas to board a packed plane.You can walk from one terminal to another and to Jewel except for Terminal 4 which is standalone by itself. Some of the foodcourt stalls do sell delicious local fares. With MRT and buses plying to and from Changi Airport, it makes a trip to the airport very convenient. For most people a half day trip to...