The Reyes Report

I am developing 3 morning routines …

1. Weekday breakfast in the apartment lobby (it’s free) — mine consists of a muesli-like cereal, a glass of apple juice, and a mini-croissant. (Boring.)
2. Get to work and promptly get a Teh Tarik.  “What is that?” you may ask. Well, “teh” is just how they spell “tea”, and “tarik” means “pull” — but the reason it’s so good is that its main ingredient is one of main Singapore pantry staples — condensed milk. Yep. This is not a place you go to lose weight! So “pulled tea” — it’s basically tea-cappuccino, except the froth is not made from steamed milk, it’s tea + condensed milk, and it’s poured back and forth from a very far distance (like a competition, how far can you hold the glass from the pot) — and the distant pour creates the frothy bubbles (they say this helps better mix the condensed milk w. the tea). Mmm … it’s so yummy.
3. Weekend tradition — on Saturday I head “opposite” to the mall across the street called Wisma Atria. There in the foodcourt is a little cafe that sells local “toast.” Only the toast is slathered with butter and a sweet coconut spread. Mmm, that 2 soft boiled eggs, and tea are sold as a “set” and are the perfect accompaniment to a good book.  On Sunday. I head across the street to my overpaid yoga studio for a morning torture treatment (I mean “class”), and then go downstairs to this other flashy mall which has a little trendy cafe called “Toast” — there I treat myself to a $10 sandwich and drink — for comparison, this little place reminds of Three Cups in Chapel Hill.

So … I’m only allowed coconut milk two times a week — and that’s HARD. The realization I’ve come to is that Atkins never broke in to this market. They eat rice for breakfast. Indians put their curry rice into a pita pocket. Fried rice comes with sauteed pepper potatoes.  Dinner is noodle soup. Well … it’s tasty, but Conrad, it’s not doing anything for my waist line!