Episode 1048: Chattiest Taxi Driver Ever!

Went to Raffles Hotel today for the lunchtime buffet with my dad. Raffles Hotel is one of those iconic Singaporean landmarks that I've somehow managed to almost completely avoid. Think the last time I was there was in one of the courtyards, the one with a place selling ice-cream. The buffet was reasonably good, and I have a new appreciation for duck after trying the duck confit. The dessert section was the best part though. Crème brûlée made using gula melaka! Was originally going to head to the Borders warehouse sale at Expo directly from the hotel, and then double back to the Marymount area for dinner with Mrs Smith, but the timing for that changed, so it made more sense to head home first. Didn't buy much at the warehouse sale, which has been par for the course, as far as I'm concerned, ever since I started buying books online. Dinner was at Jai Thai, a homely restaurant tucked away in a stretch of eateries along Clover Way, itself in the midst of industrial buildings. It was good catching up with Mrs Smith over dinner and then coffee at Long House. The stuff she told us about the teaching programmes at RI really made me wish I could go back to teach there. Then I had a really interesting conversation with the taxi driver on the way home, who coincidentally, lives on the other side of Yishun, in the Chong Pang area. Chatted for at least an hour, even after we reached the void deck of my block. I mean, Audrey got home before I did, saw her walk past the taxi. He had a lot to say, but I left his taxi with a healthy respect for his can-do spirit.