Posts That I Did Not Want to Create A Post For...

Warning: This post has a few lewd connotations. You have been warned.

I recently made fun of a friend who created an album on Facebook because he created an album of random pictures he wanted to share, but (in his words) "did not want to create an album for".

Today, I find myself in the same situation. This post contains 4 mini-posts. Things we enjoyed and want to share, but by themselves, not momentous enough to expand and elucidate about.

First up - let's start with the one thing everybody seems to be crazy about - that four-letter word that begins with the letter F - the one thing that everybody wonders where to have it at least once a day.... you got it!

♫ Let's talk about food baby, let's talk about you and me, let's talk about all the things that go into our bellies, let's talk about food.... ♫


Part One - Food
When we arrived at Macondo Hostel in San Gil, we saw a note that directed us to the hostel next door for a breakfast set of freshly cut fruits, toast, eggs and coffee at COP 5,000 (USD 2.50). Decent enough. Pretty filling too. Then we were talking to 2 fellow hostellers and they told us of this this stall at the marketplace that offers a fruit salad that was unbelievable! Curiousity aroused, we checked it out.

Fruit salad at the marketplace in San Gil

Though we ordered from a different stall from our fellow hostellers, we were also amazed by the fruit salad. For a measly COP 2,000 (USD 1), you get something like half a kilo worth of freshly cut fruits - bananas, strawberries, papayas, watermelons, honeydews, kiwis, apples, guanabana (soursop) and peaches. All stacked into a mountain like an ice kacang, then topped with grated coconut, grated cheese and drizzled with a heavenly concoction of sweetened milk. I have never been so in love with fruits before!

For the rest of our stay, breakfast was always the fruit salad, sometimes with freshly squeezed juice as well. The stall owner was really nice too! COP 1,700 (US$0.85) doesn't just get you one glass of mora (raspberry) or guanabana (soursop) or mango con leche (i.e. fruity milk shakes) - before you're even done slurping up the last drop, she tops up your glass with the remainder milk shake in the blender. Always! And FOC too! We like! :)

The wife and her tasty bit.... of empanada

A few steps from the fruit stall was another stall selling empanadas. The wife really likes her empanadas - maybe they remind her of the curry puffs back home. The ones we tried in Bogota were only so-so, with skimpy fillings of tuna or extra tough minced meat. The ones in San Gil were much more generous, with eggs and rice added to the meat (tender pieces of shredded chicken) inside. Muy deliciosa!

For anyone searching for directions to the market:
1. Go to the church at Plaza Mayor
2. With your back facing the church, walk straight down the road
3. You will pass by an Exito supermarket on your left, and a yellow-edged building on your right. The yellow-edged building is a market.
4. At your forward-right (1 o'clock direction) you will see that the yellow-edged market continues across a small road. That is the building you want.
5. Enter the building, walk past the vegetable stalls and proceed all the way across the building, and you will see the cluster of fruit stalls there.
6. The one we ordered from would be on the right side of the aisle, across from another stall with juices called Matrimonial and Divorce (yeah... a real huh? moment right there!), but we reckon all the stalls there will sell you the same stuff. Try it and enjoy!


Part Two - Music
On our last day in San Gil, we made our way down to the marketplace for fruit salads and empanadas as usual.

Surprise, surprise, there was a marching band on the street!

Don't you just wish you had a bowling ball?

Some roads were closed to public, and there was some sort of announcement of appreciation being made. Unfortunately, our Espanol was too mediocre, and we were not able to understand exactly what the appreciation was for.

Fast and nimble hands. She will find appreciative men easily, I'm sure

I could appreciate, however, how good these kids were. This girl was holding this heavy-looking xylophone thingy and standing still while the speech was being made. Then, when the command was given, she started playing without even seeming to look at the instrument, and every note rang true. When it wasn't her turn to play, she was twirling her xylophone-thingy-stick as if it were a mini-baton. In fact, you could see this simple bit of showmanship from all the band members.

Impressive!


Part Three - Haircut
For some reason, the state of my hair has become a major fixation amongst friends on Facebook and readers of this blog. Maybe it's because the wife made such an unforgettable post about my DIY haircut.

I had just wondered on Facebook whether I should cut my hair, and it somehow became a poll! Of course, because of WOW (Will of Wife, not World of Warcraft), it was actually already a foregone conclusion.

Snip Snip the Sequel

So yeah, four months and a bit after my last proper haircut in Singapore, and 2 months after my DIY attempt, I went for a haircut at the local peluquero.

Sigh.


Part Four - National Day
I had wanted to put this as Part One, actually, but I prefer the entries to be in chronological order. We celebrated National Day away from home in Bucaramanga, which is one of the nicer cities in Colombia.

Being 13 hours behind Singapore, we had to wake at 5am just to watch the webcast of the NDP. The alarm from the wife's iPhone rang, and we literally just rolled over and switched on my laptop, having already downloaded the necessary plugins and bookmarked the website earlier.

Good thing we had a private room this time round!

I have to confess that I snoozed a little more while el Presidente was inspecting the honor guard, but other than that, I thought the whole parade was really pretty interesting. Before we knew it, all 10 chapters were up, and the 8.22pm moment came and it was time to put on some clothes for our next picture.

I was looking at the laptop, not sleeptalking. Yi Lin was trying to remember the words

Because we love you, Singapore!

Hmm... Today newspaper just reported that there were viewers of the NDP webcast from USA, Australia and some other country. What about possibly the only viewers from Colombia, huh?!



P.S Yi Lin was not really trying to remember the words of the Pledge, but she can't say it in Mandarin either! So I win! :p