Doesn't it all just really come down to finding your new comfort food?

My first two days of teaching have gone by in a blur!  I'm planning to write a post specifically about this in a few days, once I have some pictures to do the descriptions of the SIM campus justice.  For now, let me just say that teaching at SIM is going to be a lot of fun!

But while that post is in the works, I thought I'd tell you about my newly acquired habit: Kaya toast.  I had this treat on my first morning in Singapore, when I enjoyed breakfast at Killeny Kopitiam, a local breakfast chain (which, being a dyed-in-the-wool Buffalonian, I refer to unapologetically as "Killeny's").  Since then, I've been sampling this delicacy in order to scope out the best places to have it.  

Today, my bus route ended at a shopping mall on Orchard Road, where I found myself with a half hour to kill while I waited for a shuttle to take me the rest of the way to the apartment building.  Following my nose to the source of a delicious baked-bread aroma led me to the Toast Box.  It happened to be right next to the taxi stand I'd be waiting at, so I figured this was kismet, and placed my order.

Kaya toast is made by toasting a very light and airy bread and spreading it with kaya and a slab (yes, a slab) of salted butter.  Kaya is a jam made from egg yolk and sweetened coconut.  It's one of those things that sounds strange but tastes unbelievably delicious.  The coffee is served with a traditional dollop of sweetened condensed milk.  The coffee looks black when you get it, but once you stir the spoon around to blend the condensed milk into it, it turns the exact color of a melted Hershey's bar, and quite honestly, tastes just as rich and wonderful.

So that is how I spent my time waiting for the shuttle that would take me from there to Fraser Suites.  More on the buses in a later post, as well - they deserve a highlight of their own!