Barbados is a Commonwealth country with predominantly English speaking population consists of black, multi racial mix, white and Indian. Despite located in the Caribbean, it's not difficult to blend into their culture. They gained independent from the British around the time as our country too (late 1950s-60s). It is now a Republic country, and still adapting many practices as an ex-Brit colonial, such as driving direction, schooling system, judiciary etc.
Due to its multiracial influences, their cuisine is a mix blend of African, Indian, Irish, Creole and British influences.
It's not difficult to find spicy food here....the Barbadian hot chili sauce and Indian curry can be easily found.
Here's my typical workday lunch from the one-and-only cafe situated next to the office - The Coffee Bean.
I usually have wraps for lunch. I have tried all sorts of wraps - smoked salmon, jerk chicken...
but this time I tried crab salad wrap.
It came with mango chutney which tastes like jam, but i prefer to just eat the wrap without chutney.
Opening the wrap just to let u see what's inside😉
Me & colleague were seated in a room with sharing table facing the window. We can see the weather outside very well.
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It rains almost daily, several times per day...The below picture was taken on my way back to the apartment. It is one of their local house with parking lot. Yea, some of their houses don't have fence. I noticed their car plate number looks very much like ours...but nope, that car is not from Malacca...lol!
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During one of the weekend, a kind senior colleague (a local Barbadian) offered to give us a tour on the island.
Barbados is just a small island country smaller than the size of SG and population of less than 300k people. This island can be easily toured by car in just one day, depending on the weather. If it doesn't rain too heavy and the road doesn't flood, then this is possible to achieve.
Anyway, on the day of our outing, it was cloudy with occasional drizzle. We started off from Christchurch area up towards north, passing by Saint Michael, Saint James, Saint Peter and towards the tip of the island north - Saint Lucy. It was just a half island tour covering the west part of the island.
[Below] Garrison Savannah which is a horse racing track.
Next to it - a few old cannons.
Rubis petrol station. A France-based company.
Carlisle Bay, a popular hangout beach spot.
[Below] Can't remember what building this is, but it is a ministry office.
[Below] Chamberlain Bridge in Bridgetown, their capital city.
Some 'pledge' written on the independent arch
The clock tower at the background is where the National Heroes Square located.
[Below] Rihanna Drive
The famous singer's childhood home is located along this drive.
quite a humble home...
but nowadays she lives in a huge mansion😀
to be continued....
An island usually have rain almost every day. The wrap looked yummy.
ReplyDeleteI like to eat wraps when I was in NZ. I am sure the wraps u ate in Barbados taste just as good 😊💯
ReplyDeletenot difficult to blend into their culture means you like their food la. But not easy to blend in as a local, right? The locals can easily tell that u r not from Barbados, right?
ReplyDeleteA country smaller than SG? Muahahaha, I always thought SG is the smallest country in the world as we always call ourselves the little Red Dot. Oh blacks, I always have the "impression" that among the blacks there are many drug addicts. But nice small island from your description. Crab salad wrap sounds yummy. Was it good, if without the mango jam?
ReplyDeleteVery nice tour to get to know the country better. I love to eat wraps!
ReplyDeleteRose world: yes, it rained so frequently and unpredictable!
ReplyDeleteMun: easy to blend in all aspects - people, food, culture, ethics, judiciary, administration. It feels like 'home' coz their English is similar to ours, people are humble and approachable. Even when you listen to their local radio stations and news, it has no difference with our local RTM station. Strong Christianity as I see churches everywhere, but they have mosque too (though not many). There are Asians Chinese expats & minority residing in Bridgetown, hence locals are used to seeing people from different ethnicities.
Lotus: if you Googled smallest countries in the world, you'll see lots of Oceania and Caribbean islands in the list. There are many types of 'blacks' in the world, so really can't stereotype them all as 'bad apples'. So far, the 'blacks' that I encountered from the Caribbean region are well-mannered and have strong Christianity background. They are very different from the 'blacks' from Africa or big cities. Yes, the crab salad wrap is refreshing and nice, even without the chutney.
PH: Just a half day tour on the western part of the island. Great sight-seeing.
Wow! Thanks for clarifying. Now u say it like that, seems like you can easily migrate there and blend in right away 👍😊
ReplyDeleteMun: LOL, i wish!
ReplyDeleteAsk your company to post you there for a long term la
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