and I ran back to Mimi and Roslyn and told them what I had learned. They assured me that although they had also heard of such, they had never seen this and that the food in Singapore was to be a delight. In fact, the food in Singapore is a mix between Chinese, Malaysian and Indian and it is the best cuisine that I have ever experienced. There are two things that Singaporeans do, which is eat and shop. If they are eating, they are talking about shopping. If they are shopping they are talking about eating. The range of foods was incredible and I had developed my favorites soon after arriving. We still prefer to eat Singapore food to-date over any other cuisine although spicy Italian sauces are a close second preference.
I met Mimi’ s sister, who is older then Mimi and her Malaysian husband and they were delightful. They had such strong Singaporean accents and I had a strong New York accent and we laughed and laughed as we ate and shopped. They loved the fact that I took to the Singapore cuisine and were keen to introduce me to the many different tastes. We got along very well indeed. They were both very bright lawyers and I had not known any lawyers previously. Her brother-in-law told me stories of his band that he was in when he was in university and his hippie involvement and music preferences and we bonded from similar experiences.
Rooftops, Singapore Photo by Barry Epstein
Bumboat, Singapore, circa 1980 Photo by Barry Epstein
Her sister was the matriarch and was very protective of Mimi and her Mom. She had a very good involvement with her caucasian step-dad Frank who had treated her and her husband very well although Frank was a real meat and potato guy who never accepted the spicy Asian food. So I wasn’ t the first caucasian to enter the family. We stayed at her apartment and they had just had a child named Claire.
BARRY STEVEN EPSTEIN- PhotoAutobiography DRAFT 57 of 156