PART 1: Be Logical

Fiendishly difficult brain-twisters.

1. Muthu is grilling steaks for Yam Ah Mee. His little grill can broil two steaks at a time, but Ah Mee is hungry and wants three.
That’s a problem: It takes four minutes to grill each side of a steak, so he’ll spend eight minutes grilling the first two steaks, then another eight grilling the third. Sixteen minutes is a long time to keep a Returning Officer waiting.
How can Muthu improve his time while still cooking the steaks thoroughly? Ah Mee really likes his well done.

2. Ah Seng challenges Ah Boon to a 100-meter race. Ah Boon crosses the finish line when Ah Seng has covered only 97 meters.
The two agree to a second race, and this time Ah Boon starts three meters behind the starting line.
If both run at the same speed as in the first race, who will win?

3. Ali says Ahmad lies. Ahmad says Siti lies. Siti says Ali and Ahmad lie.
Who lies and who tells the truth?

4. You arrive in the Fifth Court of Hell to find it’s just a typewriter on a desk. As you take your seat, you notice that the C key is glowing faintly. Yen Lo Wang, the God of Death says, “All you have to do is type the integers, in order: ONE, TWO, and so on. The first time you strike the C key, you’ll be released into paradise.”
That doesn’t sound too bad. Assuming it takes 10 seconds on average to type each number (and that you spell each correctly, in English), how much time will pass before you first type the letter C?

PART 2: Spot the Difference

Ten things are not quite the same in the photo below. What are they?

PART 3: A Tasty Crossword

How well do you know your local food?

Across

05. Roasted or fried nuts or beans usually sold in a paper cone. (7, 5)
06. A type of meal that involves small individual portions of food served in small steamer baskets or on small plates. (3, 3)
07. Which household brand was the first in the world to package its drinks in Tetra Brik Aseptic containers? (4)
10. Besides gin, Heering cherry liqueur, lime juice, Cointreau orange liqueur, Benedictine herbal liqueur, grenadine syrup and a dash of Angostura bitters, what else is required to make a Singapore Sling? (9, 5)
12. What chain of air-conditioned kopitiams in Singapore was founded in 1944 by Loi Ah Koon? (2, 3, 4, 5)
13. What seed from a poisonous fruit is eaten as a delicacy in Peranakan cuisine? (4, 6)
16. What stir fried noodle dish is cooked with lard, shrimps, squid and slices of pork? (7, 3)
17. A convenience store selling miscellaneous sundry goods, often run by Indian shopkeepers. (4, 4)
19. What product was traditionally made using leftover meats from festivals and banquets and preserved with salt and sugar before being smoked? (3, 3)
20. What drink is poured repeatedly back and forth from one cup to another to give it a thick frothy top? (3, 5)

Down

01. A soup consisting of meaty pork ribs simmered in a broth of herbs and spices. (3, 3, 3)
02. What is the name of Singapore’s first market? (5, 4, 6)
03. What drink contains edible pearls? (6, 3)
04. What drink is topped with an extra spoonful of powder that is rich in protein and made from malted Barley? (4, 8)
08. What local chain of bakeries has transparent glass panes separating the kitchen from the retail space? (9)
09. Small and roundish, this food item was rumored to be soaked in horse urine during preparation. (7, 3)
11. A spicy dipping sauce made with chili peppers, garlic, shallot, fermented ground shrimp and sugar. (6, 7)
14. The method used by your grandma to determine the amount of salt for her famous Itek Tim. (4, 4)
15. A salad, the name of which is also used to describe something as being a jumbled mix. (5)
18. A curried noodle dish with a reputation in Katong, usually cut up into smaller pieces and can be eaten with just a spoon. (5)

PART 4: Photo Zoom

Do you have an eye for detail? Try and guess these everyday Singaporean objects up close.

PART 5: Local Trivia

How well do you know Singapore, really?

01. What do the five stars on the national flag symbolize?
02. Before the government started reclaiming land, which temple used to face the sea?
03. What is the maximum height that buildings can be built to here?
04. In what year did the government ban the manufacture, import and sale of chewing gum?
05. How many floors did the tallest building in 1924 have?
06. What animal can be found on the right side of the National Coat of Arms?
07. Which is the only other country with a Merlion statue recognized by the Singapore Tourism Board?
08. Which country has taken over Singapore as the world’s busiest container port?
09. Who was the first non-Chinese to take up the post of army chief of Singapore?
10. How many opposition political parties have held seats in our Parliament post-Independence?
11. Who scored the last ever goal at the National Stadium?
12. How many public stadiums do we have?
13. What is the name of the 11th expressway to be constructed?
14. What were the predecessors of the ERP?
15. Which popular US reality television series did Phua Chu Kang appear on?
16. What was the lowest temperature recorded in Singapore?
17. Who became the first person to fly an airplane here on Mar 16, 1911?
18. Which was the first hotel to offer a swimming pool in its premises?
19. How many capsules does the Singapore Flyer have?
20. What upgrade to the cable car system cost $30,000 per cabin in 1999?
21. What was the name of the oceanarium that stood on River Valley Road near Fort Canning from 1955 to 1998?
22. How many pedestrian and vehicular bridges go over the Singapore River?
23. Name the first market that opened here in 1825.
24. What is the name of the oldest Roman Catholic church?
25. Where is the tallest slide found?
26. In which estate, where British soldiers were once housed, will you find roads with names like Portchester, Crowhurst, Brockhampton and Braemar?
27. Name the country’s tallest mall.
28. When and where was the Institute of Mental Health first built?
29. How much prize money was on offer during the first race at the Singapore Turf Club?
30. What is the name of the building that now houses the Peranakan Museum?
31. What is the maximum amount of water Singapore is allowed to draw from the Johor River per day?
32. What are the names of Ah Meng the orangutan’s two sons?
33. What is the name of the first polar bear to be born in the tropics at the Singapore Zoo?
34. In what century did Sang Nila Utama found Singapura?
35. What is the name of the systematic massacre of Chinese by the Japanese military in Singapore during World War II?
36. Where did the British surrender to the Japanese on Feb 15, 1942?
37. Workers from what company were involved in the riots on Black Thursday in 1955?
38. What is the minimum age to run for the office of President?
39. Who was the first (and so far only) directly elected President of Singapore?
40. Who founded the Workers’ Party?
41. In what year did the government transfer Christmas Island to Australia?
42. Singapore was known as Temasek once. What does “Temasek” mean?
43. Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore. When did he die?
44. What office used to occupy the premises of Dempsey Hill?
45. What is the name of the country’s first international airport?
46. When did Singapore become a member of the United Nations?
47. Which year did the government introduce a Goods and Service tax?
48. Which part of Singapore is sometimes called the “Muslim Quarter” due to its history?
49. What was the name of the organization responsible for mass housing programs before the Housing and Development Board?
50. Name the four operational lighthouses administered by Singapore.

TURN TO PAGE 2 FOR ANSWERS

PART 1: Be Logical

1. Grilling steaks
Put two steaks on the grill. After four minutes, flip one and replace the other with an uncooked steak. At the eight-minute mark Muthu’ll have one well-done steak and can finish cooking the two half-done ones that remain. Total cooking time: 12 minutes.

2. 100-meter race
Ah Boon will win again. We know that Ah Boon covers 100 meters in the time it takes Ah Seng to cover 97. If Ah Boon starts three meters behind the starting line, the two will be neck and neck at the 97-meter mark, and Ah Boon will pull ahead.

3. Truth and lies
Only one answer is free from contradiction: Ali and Siti lie and Ahmad tells the truth.

4. Arrived in Hell
It’s a bit worse than you thought. You’ll type for 300 quintillion years before reaching ONE OCTILLION.

PART 2: Spot the Difference

PART 3: A Tasty Crossword

Across
05. KACHANG PUTEH
06. DIM SUM
07. YEO’S
10. PINEAPPLE JUICE
12. YA KUN KAYA TOAST
13. BUAH KELUAK
16. HOKKIEN MEE
17. MAMA SHOP
19. BAK KWA
20. TEH TARIK

Down
01. BAK KUT TEH
02. TELOK AYER MARKET
03. BUBBLE TEA
04. MILO DINOSAUR
08. BREADTALK
09. CENTURY EGG
11. SAMBAL BELACAN
14. AGAK AGAK
15. ROJAK
18. LAKSA

PART 4: Photo Zoom

Supreme Court

Red Dot Traffic Building

Hokkien Mee

The Art Science Museum

Merlion

PART 5: Local Trivia

01. Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality
02. Thian Hock Keng Temple
03. 280 meters
04. 1992
05. Two. Ellison Building, corner of Selegie and Bukit Timah Road
06. Tiger
07. USA, California
08. Shanghai
09. Colonel Mancharan Singh Gill, in 1982
10. Four: Workers’ Party, Singapore Democratic Party, Singapore People’s Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance.
11. Noh Alam Shah, Jan 6, 2010
12. 19
13. North-South Expressway
14. The RPS (Road Pricing Scheme) and ALS (Area Licensing Scheme)
15. The Amazing Race, Season 3
16. 19.4 degrees Celsius, Jan 31, 1934
17. Joseph Christiaens, a Belgian engineer and racecar driver, in a Bristol Boxkite
18. Goodwood Park Hotel, 1947
19. 28
20. Glass-bottomed cabin
21. Van Kleef Aquarium
22. 15
23. Lau Pa Sat
24. Cathedral of the Good Shepherd
25. Changi Airport, Terminal 3, 12 meters
26. Serangoon Gardens
27. Orchard Central, 12 floors above ground and two levels of basement
28. 1841, corner of Bras Basah Road and Bencoolen Street
29. $150
30. Old Tao Nan School
31. 250 million gallons
32. Hsing Hsing and Satria
33. Inuka
34. 14th century
35. Sook Ching massacre
36. Old Ford Factory, Bukit Timah
37. Hock Lee Amalgamated Bus Company
38. 45 years old
39. Ong Teng Cheong
40. David Marshall
41. 1957
42. Sea Town
43. 44 years old
44. Central Manpower Base of Singapore
45. Seletar Airport
46. September 21, 1965
47. 1994
48. Kampong Glam
49. Singapore Improvement Trust
50. Bedok, Horsburgh, Raffles, Sultan Shoal

Gather your friends and try out at any of these trivia nights at these bars in Singapore.