LITTLE INDIA: All of this sight seeing has to take a toll and by 1pm we were ready for some serious local cuisine. We had caught a taxi from the Orchasrd Road to Little India. After a few minutes of wandering through bargain stores, tailors, phone card sellers and, electronic outlets we came across an excellent Indian kitchen.

We ordered Lamb Masala, Chicken curry, yellow rice and chapati. All up S$10.30 (AUD $8.11) for this spread. The meal arrived quickly, about 2 minutes after the order.

A well run family business.

A coffee to remember

ORCHARD ROAD SINGAPORE: Had a rest morning today and took the opportunity to sample this wonderful island nation's coffee. After strolling along Orchard Road past incredibly expensive departments stores we stopped at the franchise coffee store "The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf" located outside Borders book store.

Jeff ordered a machiato ($3.70) and I opted for a long black ($4.30). When my drink was being prepared I noticed that they just poured it from a thermos of drip filter coffee. I wasn't paying $4.0 for that and asked for it to be made fresh, on the espresso machine. He said OK, we'll just substitute your order and make it a double espresso.

When the order did arrive I did indeed have a double shot of espresso measuring about 50ml. Jeff had a machiato which was more a cappuccino in an espresso cup.

So of our two ordered drinks we weren't impressed. We were however happy with the body and flavour of the drinks.

Live Demonstrations at FHA

One thing you can be sure of at Asia's biggest food & hospitality convention is a display of big hats and excellent cooking skills. Many of the halls are scattered with live cooking displays.

The live performance is an excellent medium for equipment manufacturers to have an expert use their wares, show the ease of use and speak in the language of the target audience - food service professionals.

This oven demonstration was in Mandarin but the audience certainly looked interested.

First day in Asia

LITTLE INDIA, SINGAPORE: I arrived into Singapore last night after an uneventful Qantas flight. Meals were nothing to speak or write about. I was seated next to a man whom I thought was a very nervous passenger, constantly referring to his notebook of biblical verses. Turned out he was actually a minister or religion in Singapore for some spiritual preaching.

My hotel is at full capacity for the expo and has turned out to be quite nice given the package deal price I negotiated. Good location in Little India, nice facilities. Breakfast buffet is expansive ranging from Western - Singapore - Indian. This is a snap of the art deco furniture in the hotel foyer while I'm waiting to catch the expo bus.

The 2008 Food&HotelAsia got underway today. Seemed to be a few glitches with registration entry. Exhibitors were all happy working away on their stands. The show, the transport and the people all seem to be very organised.

First Coffee

BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: What an exceptional day. After a cramped morning putting the final touches to my travel plans, my first coffee of the day was finally enjoyed at 12:45pm at Brisbane airport. I wasn't too concerned about the presentation nor the atmosphere....just as long as it had at some stage been extracted from the humble coffee bean.

Airport coffee has undergone a major revamp over the past four years. Two factors have driven this change. The consumer expectation of better quality coffee and the stringent security regime now in force for entering the airport. The extra security means more people arrive at the airport earlier with more time on their hands, more time to drink coffee and buy duty free.

Speaking of duty free the new limitations on carrying liquids through security have done onders for that business. A nice pay back for the effects of lowering duties and internet shopping which both reduced the attractiveness of 'duty free'.

Oh well...next coffee will be the standard Qantas economy offering.