GRIP, Internships Abroad Singapore Food and Culture

Business Development in Singapore

I’m in love with Singapore. Walking down the alleys of Chinatown, Little India, or other areas like Bugis or Arab Street, the sidewalks are always buzzing with energetic chatter and chaos (in the best way). The atmosphere in Singapore is so uniquely diverse and rich with cultural influences from the Malay, Chinese, and Indian populations. And the food is incredible.

In Singapore, I’m at my happiest when I’m in a hawker center, an open-air complex where individual vendors sell a variety of affordable, ready-to-eat foods. Characterized by an almost obscene amount of liveliness from the flocks of people on lunch breaks or the elderly socializing with old friends, it’s so fascinating to watch everyone line up at their favorite stalls for some delicious eats, each walking away with something different but delicious-looking all the same. Surrounded by the actually endless variety of foods, fruits, and drinks, I love strolling around all the stalls, leading myself further and further into decision paralysis as I make mental promises to come back to try everything I couldn’t fit in round 1. The variety of cuisines offered in such close proximity is something I think is so unique to this city.

From lunch trips with coworkers and friends, I’ve gotten to try so many iconic authentic local dishes like stingray, curry puff, prata, milo, carrot cake (a salty dish made of stir-fried radish cake), laksa, and more, and I can honestly say I’ve pretty much never had a bad food experience here.

In addition to all the savory food, Singapore offers a seemingly endless assortment of delicious fruits, and during weekly fruit potlucks, I’ve gotten to eat rose apples, durian, soursop, rambutans, mangosteen, custard apples, not to mention the biggest mangoes I think I’ll ever see in my life. (Fun fact I’ve noticed about Singaporeans: everyone seems to have an incredible wealth of knowledge about the different types of durians and the textures/flavors/aromas associated with each of them, regardless of whether they like the controversial fruit or not).

Another cultural highlight of my time in Singapore has been trying batik painting, a uniquely SE-Asian art style characterized by dropping dye into canvas/fabric sheets outlined with wax. Even with very limited art background, I so loved my time painting, as it was a super stress-free process where you just get to freely choose and mix colors without overly stressing about coloring outside the lines or the end product since everything ends up looking super cool! Overall, have been loving the Singapore food scene and unique culture!