The fruits in Singapore are amazing! We knew this would be the case before we even moved over here. Fruits and vegetables are two of the very few things you can get for a reasonable price over here. Unless you buy produce that has been imported from the U.S. You might pay anywhere from $10- $20 SGD for a container of U.S. strawberries but I pay $2.50 – $3.50 SGD for Korean strawberries. As with any fresh produce, you should always wash them thoroughly. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you live in. Yesterday at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, my friend bought a large papaya for $1 SGD! Now that’s cheap.
We bought a Mazda 3 before we left the U.S. for Tommy to drive for his long work commute at the time (great gas mileage) and to have a dependable vehicle to leave with our daughter for college. The salesman that helped us was from either Vietnam or Cambodia, I can’t remember exactly. As a young boy, he survived the killing field horrors in the 70′s by being rescued and spending several years in a refugee camp in Singapore. I had actually forgotten about that until now but I should do some research and try to find out where that camp was. He spoke of going to the beach so my guess is it would have been on the East Coast somewhere. Anyway, when we told him we were moving to Singapore, he sat back in his chair and sighed a reminiscent sigh and told us we were moving to heaven! He went on and on about the birds, the flowers, the trees and the fruit. It’s hard to believe that a kid growing up in a refugee camp would think of it as heaven but I’m thankful that he had such a positive experience. It could have easily gone the other way.
Now for the fruity part…. In Singapore, the fruit choices are endless! I buy more fruit than we can eat all the time. It’s just so beautiful and interesting and I want to try it all. After spending the first few months throwing so much fruit away because we weren’t eating it quickly enough, I got pretty clever. I freeze it!
Freezing fruit is obviously not a new concept but for me it has opened up a whole new world of fruity adventures. In my freezer right now I have frozen bananas (take the peel off before freezing), pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, mangos and my latest experiment, passion fruit ice cubes.
At any given time, I can make a blueberry strawberry smoothie. A pineapple banana smoothie, a passion fruit strawberry slushy, a mango icee. I can add yogurt, orange juice, milk, water, ice individually or in any combination and make an amazingly healthy and refreshing drink. You can use a blender but I use my Kitchen Aid Immersion Blender that I brought from the US. I have seen them in Singapore though. Probably for twice the price but unless you have a transformer, you’ll need to buy one here. I can make just enough smoothie for one or two and the clean up is much easier than a regular blender.
I just took a break from writing this post and made me this smoothie.
Passion fruit, banana, pineapple with orange juice and milk. I added one splenda for a little extra sweet and a little water because it was too thick. That is rooty tooty fresh and fruity!! Cheers!
Are you inspired? Tell me what your favorite fruity combinations are. I’m always game for trying new things.
