antipaucity

Today for perhaps only the third time in my adult life, I had something that was too hot.

I love Thai food. Being in Singapore has showed me beyond a doubt that Thai food is one of the few ethnic foods that is done the same everywhere – it’s the same in Durham, Sunnyvale, London, Nutley, and Singapore.

That’s a plus, because it means that ordering the same food will give you the same outcome every time. I like that kind of consistency, especially in comparison to some other ethnic foods I’ve had where the implementation varies wildly place-to-place – even in the same town or strip plaza!

So today I ordered (insert Thai name here) ginger chicken. It’s was labeled three peppers. I like hot food, so I went with it.

Turns out that while the food descriptions are identical everywhere, the pepper ratings are not. In every place I’ve had Thai before, three peppers is very spicy but not tongue-numbing. Turns out that at Thai Express in Plaza Singapura, the three pepper rating really isn;t for the faint of heart – and I definitely needed the extra rice to help mollify the effects.

Did I make it through all the [extremely] spicy chicken? Yes. Would I do it again for anything less than vast piles of green paper? Not likely.

Next time I’m going for the old standy-by: yellow curry with chicken.. at the two pepper level.

Couple things I’ve discovered about Singapore – beverages of the adult persuasion are nutty expensive. Soda doesn’t taste the same (and I don’t just mean the better versions of Coke that use sugar).

I actually like the flavor of Diet Coke (the American kind). Coca Cola Light, as it’s called here, does not taste the same. We have a free dispenser at work that squirts-out little cups of the stuff, and it’s just not right. I’ve had it straight from the can, and it doesn’t taste the same there either. Not “bad” – but “weird”.

Since there’re few sodas I actually enjoy, and fewer here than in the states, I’ve called a ban on carbonated beverages till I get back to the states next week.

On the upside, the tea here is really good, and the water’s drinkable