An Education

Another weekend of culinary and cultural delights, but this time I've decided to get deep (ish)

More on this man in a min 

Singapore, as we know it today, is not all that old. Gaining independence in 1965 this world we have emerged ourselves in is pretty shiny and new, to the extent where most high-rises are ripped down and rebuilt after 5 years and cars over 10 years old are banned. However its not all high flyers and trophy wives (or Titis as they are known here), like the residential streets of Clapham you can still find a stark clash of cultures, they just don't show it on the postcards. Behind its pristine glass and marble facade there are still the underpinnings of local traditions, in the form of food (at the Hawker markets) Architecture (streets of listed buildings) and the language often being spoken within earshot. 

This got me thinking, is there much history around us at all that we are actually exposed to every day but are completely ignorant to it? Well my friends over the next few weeks I aim to find out, I will try to google the places I go in a semi-educational exposé of modern Singapore, and in turn you can add these little factoids to your pub quiz arsenal. Deal?

My Mate Jim

After a long week at work, interrupted by the Dr experience, I was very much looking forward to Friday night. About 16 of us were going for a big group meal at a Thai restaurant called Jim Thompson. It was a great group, we didn't all know each other but all had mutual friends so we were all chatting away happily. The cocktail list was thicker than the menu, to the extent where after finally settling on a Lychee Daquiri (Icey alcoholic dreams) I didn't even make it past the Starters page. I did however learn that Goong means prawn, you know your on safe ground (if you like prawns) when the miscellaneous Thai food has 'Goong' in the title. 

This Little lady threw some shapes

By the end of the evening, in proper playground style, we had split into a boys table and a girls table, where we remained until long after the restaurant closed. We discussed gellish, cocktail bars and ladies nights...I wouldn't be surprised if the boys did too. 

The Restaurant itself was beautiful, we sat outside submerged in serene surroundings of linen sashes, human sized birdcages, traditional dancers, and water features. The food was traditional thai munch with a contrast of funky modern glasses distracting from the potency of the cocktails, and food arrived in silverware straight from Aladdin's cave.

(Pictures courtesy of jarofsalt because, well, I forgot)

Curry fishcakes, i didn't have these because they didn't have Goong in the title.

He dead

I want one of these for my cereal

This is how all Curry's should come!

Lychee Martini (not a candle)

So who is Jim?

I asked this very question in the restaurant, in my naivety I though 'Jim Thompson' was a very odd name for a Thai restaurant. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. 

In the same boat? You may know the film 'The King and I'? well then you're sort of half way there...

Jim Thompson was an American architect and retired army officer who breathed new life and revitalized Thailand’s silk industry but one day just vanished of the face of the earth. Jim's post-war contributions to Thailand are pretty big time, giving women a chance to weave from home and raising people out of poverty after establishing the Thai Silk Company. His biggest breakthrough came in the form of the musical by Rogers and Hammerstein, “The King And I” where costumes were created out of Jim Thompsons’s jewel-toned hand-woven fabrics.

According to Wikipedia (valued source) Thompson visited friends in Cameron Highlands one day to stay at the Moonlight Bungalow. Then on Easter Sunday in 1967, he heads outdoors to take an afternoon stroll. He never came back. The Mystery has never been solved.


So boys and girls next time you buy a beautiful Thai silk scarf, tie or any other silk garments you sway towards....you know who to thank.

Some of Jimmy T's Fineries 

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On that Cryptic note, I'm off. We have a proper sunday lined up, Super market, Gym, Cinema. Struggling to get out of bed so time to blare some tunes through our snazzy new internet TV (we have become proper Asian Techno Geeks) here's a tune below to get you out of bed.

Happy Sunday, 5 days till the weekend!

XXX