Day Three: Self-Presence, Robots, & Mall Food

This morning we wake up extra early to get ready for Robby's talk at 8:30am. Because I had dragged Atticus on our 5-hour excursion yesterday & because Robby dragged the both of us to the opening social event of the ICA (International Communication Association) Conference in the evening, he was wiped out by bedtime and slept 6 hours straight.

We head to the food court on the first floor of the Sun-Tec Convention Center. It's called Food Republic & it has regional ethnic foods behind glass counters. We try some soy milk, a curry puff, a sesame ball, & some more dim sum (siu mai, ha gao, & bbq pork pastries).


YUM.

It's the type of dim sum one can find in Los Angeles but SOOOO much better! The flavors are different & subtle, & overall the dim sum is less greasy than what we get in California. The soy milk has real soy flavor because it hasn't been watered down. The curry puff is spicy with a distinct curry flavor & a flaky crust on the outside. The sesame ball - Robby's favorite dim sum dish - is filled with red bean paste with bits of peanuts mixed in. The siu mai is topped with salmon roe. Mmmmm. If the dim sum in this generic food court is good, imagine how delectable it must be on the street! in Chinatown!!

Robby is the first to give his talk, which focuses on this dissertation topic of self-presence. It goes over well. He even manages to include Atticus at the end of his talk. I hand him over to Robby like a trophy while he stares blankly at the audience. Since there is no one to chair the talk, in which 4 presenters share their papers, Robby happily takes on the role of a pseudo-moderator. People trickle in through the hour, & the presenters receive some helpful input from the audience members.

After Robby's talk, we wander upstairs to watch another convention going on called Robocup, an international robotics soccer competition. High school, college, and graduate students convene to do battle. Battle their robots on mini soccer fields, that is. Boy, this convention sure beats Robby's ICA Conference! Different kinds of robots compete with each other on a small artificial green field and an orange ball the size of a golf ball. The two teams of programmers sit on either end of the field with their numerous laptops, looking nervously as their robots shuffle toward the ball. Occasionally, a team member will switch out a fallen robot with another. When I say "shuffle", I really mean shuffle. These are not robots sprinting & dodging & jumping. These are ponderous, lumbering, clunky robots whose feet barely leave the ground. They really do shuffle slowly toward the still ball. There are rarely simultaneously moving robots on the field. Most of the time one to three robots are moving on the field at the same time. Some robots approach the ball, turn their heads left & right, the gingerly kick the ball. These are the somewhat anthropomorphic robots. There are also cube-like robots that spun and rolled on little wheels. At these games, there are about 8 of them on the field, & they dart around like those popular little hamsters (Zhu Zhu) that little girls play with nowadays.

Robocup is awesome. I am a little embarrassed that Robby & I giggle at how cute the robots are & cackle whenever one falls over or kicks the ball. I'm sure the programmers work very long and hard on their masterpieces. But it is pretty hilarious.

In the late morning, Atticus & I nap. Then we have a late lunch with one of Robby's former professors. We decide to go somewhere close by, so we opt for the Marina Market (mall) adjacent to the hotel & convention center. We decide on Thai. All I have to say about mall food is... YUCK. Granted, it's better than anything we'd eat in an American mall (hands down), but it's nothing special. The Thai iced tea in California is better. The real deal. You can see the condensed milk sinking into a rich burnt caramel-colored tea. Here, at the mall, it was a pre-made concoction that consisted mostly of ice and water. & the food was spicy with no distinguishing flavors. Very disappointing.

So, I've made a new rule about the rest of our stay here in Singapore: NO MALL FOOD ALLOWED.

Keep in mind, we are in the business/financial district of Singapore. We can't find street food here because we are surrounded by spotless streets, enormous hotels, & shiny malls. We have to venture out of the Colonial District (business center) in order to find better food, I think.