Wind In My Head: My beef with the heartlands
Wind In My Head
Monday, January 29, 2007
My beef with the heartlands
I found myself in Toa Payoh this afternoon. I had won tickets to the Stuttgart Ballet's production of Romeo and Juliet (I cannot hyperlink this because all the relevant links are in German so that's not very useful. You'll just have to take my word for it) . Incidentally, that's causing me a whole lot of stress because I had already bought tickets to the performance and am now desperately trying to sell off my tickets and use the complimentary ones that I got for guessing correctly that the dancers were in a grand jete rather than an assemble.
But I digress.
Anyway, yes, I was in Toa Payoh. I don't go there often anymore because I don't live near enough. I do have fond memories of the place since I spent a great deal of time there with Olie when I was in school. But finding where things are in the area is now a mystery to me. I figured since I was in the area and I knew there were supermarkets around, I would do some grocery shopping and pick up stuff for dinner. I had already decided that we were having beef stew for dinner. The supermarket wasn't too bad. It wasn't crowded, it wasn't tightly packed and the fresh food looked fresh. So, I managed to get most of what I needed for the stew save for one thing- the most important ingredient.
There was no beef. NTUC only sold minced beef and I wasn't making meat sauce, I was making beef stew and I needed pieces of beef. I looked and I looked. I found a poultry section, a seafood section, a pork section a deli section but no beef. How can a supermarket not sell beef? I spotted another supermarket across the carpark and decided to try that one out. Same thing. Poultry section, BIG pork section- fresh and frozen, seafood section, no beef! Shop n Save also does not sell beef! What's up with that?
Two big supermarkets in the town central area did not stock beef. Ok, I know beef isn't like the most popular meat around but seriously? It's more popular than lamb!!! The only rationale I could come up with was a very snooty one that it's the heartlands and Heartlanders aren't as big eaters of beef as the Cosmopolitans in Singapore. I don't want to say that, but from my excursion yesterday, it's the only conclusion I can come to.
If the supermarkets in Toa Payoh do not sell beef then the people who live in Toa Payoh must not eat very much beef.
QED.
Technorati Tags: Singapore, heartlands, beef stew
Ondine tossed this thought in at 20:00
4 thoughts...
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At 1:23 pm
Tym said... The NTUC supermarket at the Singapore Post Paya Lebar building doesn't carry beef either. It's baffling and inconvenient, to say the least.
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At 1:33 pm
Wes & Jo said...
i think most supermarkets in the true blue heartlands (ie those with more older folks) stock less beef coz the demand is a lot less. i think it's coz most of the older generation are buddhists and they don't consume beef. or maybe the drought in oz and the heavy rain north are affecting beef supply? ;-)
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At 7:36 pm
儒 said...
or they all crazy about beef and all sold out! =)
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At 2:25 am
S said...
Actually... I think maybe it's an NTUC thing. The new NTUC at Novena's Square 2 doesn't carry beef either, which left me wandering round and round muttering, "Please don't tell me they don't have beef, this can't be for real". Like your Toa Payoh experience, they had mince, but no real beef to be found. Was most distressing.