BUGIS

Today we toured one of Singapore's biggest shopping areas... BUGIS!

Bugis Street was renowned internationally from the 50's to the 80's for its nightly gathering of transwomen, a phenomenon which made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations during that period. Today, Bugis Street is now a wide, cobblestone avenue sandwiched between the buildings of the Bugis Junction shopping complex. The lane presently touted as "Bugis Street" by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board is billed as "the largest street-shopping location in Singapore". It's filled with clothing stalls, fruit stalls, watch stalls, food stalls, trinket stalls and juice stalls, pretty much any stall you can think of, it will most likely be in Bugis. 

One thing you really notice about it however is the smell. It's something you will never experience in Vancouver because we rarely have the reason for this smell anywhere in our city... DURIAN. Bugis has Durian everywhere, fresh Durian, dry Durian, Durian Juice and Durian treats, it's everywhere and you can never really live in Asia until you try Durian because the people here, love love love it. The smell however makes trying this fruit a difficult proposition, it's strong, pungent and not at all appetizing (although apparently 1/4 of the globe disagrees with me), to me it smells like overripe cantaloupe that's been marinating in sewage and than been stepped on by sweaty feet.

Now Michelle has had Durian before and she doesn't like it but she doesn't hate it. She says that is doesn't taste as bad as it smells and for her, it tastes like Sour Cream & Onion chips... a fruit that tastes like Sour Cream & Onion chips??? Hmm...

So I tried it, and it's awful. I can see where Michelle gets the SC&O chip flavor but to me, it's soft, gooey and rancid but I tried it because I had to and now I never, ever, ever have to try it again. That chapter is closed, that mystery is solved, that game is over, that train has sailed. 

I don't like Durian one bit but Bugis is pretty COOL!!!