It's been a great trip.
Ok then,
The next morning I had breakfast at the kopitiam again. This time around I had 2 toasts with kaya, coffee with sweetened condensed milk and two soft boiled eggs. The eggs are served in the shell, and one cracks them open with a spoon and pours (yes, pours) the contents into a little dish, scraping the remaining bits into the dish. It gets seasoned with soy sauce and pepper. Once it's all mixed up, slurp and enjoy!
Later on I went out for lunch. I was gonna have a Singapore classic, Chicken Rice. Refer to my posts in Singapore to learn about Chicken Rice. I was back at Tian Tian Chicken Rice at the Maxwell Food Centre. And oh was it good! It was as good as I remembered, if not better. The chicken was just as moist and tender; the rice was just as fragrant. The sauces, chili-lime and sweet soy, once again, rounded it out perfectly. No, it doesn't need the sauces to be truly one of the best things I have ever eaten, but they do make it even more amazing. I waited 10 minutes in line for this. I waited 15 minutes the second time around. Ok, ok, you got me, I had seconds, I couldn't resist. This stall sure has legions of fans. Oh, did I tell you how great it is washed down with a sugarcane juice with lemon?!? Well, I didn't, but it is. It's iced fresh squeezed sugarcane juice livened up with a splash of lemon. It's oh-so-refreshing in the sweltering Singapore heat.
For a mid-afternoon snack I had some fried fish with onions in a sticky sweet sauce over rice. The fish had been batter fried and coated in the sauce with had slight sour notes to it. It was surprisingly light, which was good considering the ridiculous amount of food I'm eating.
Later, I had my first small dinner. I ate at an African place in Little India. Singapore, while being mainly populated by Chinese, Malays and Indians also has a wide variety of smaller minority groups such as Koreans, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais and more. Africans are also represented in Singapore, who come looking for work. C.L.E. African Restaurant sounded like a good idea. Wrong! Ick! Now I've had food from various African countries before like Ethiopia and Liberia (yea, don't ask how the heck I've found Ethiopian and Liberian food in the US) and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of it. However, this was not good at all. The rice was mediocre. The meat was just big hunks of tough beef that had been fried into oblivion. The beans seriously had a taste similar to the smell of an old, un-emptied ashtray. The only thing that made it even bearable for just a few bites was the big bowl of greasy, knock-your-socks-off pepper sauce that attempted to mask the flavors. I eventually gave up on this dish.
Fortunately, dinner #2 was much better. I had Indian food again. It was actually very similar to the previous night's Indian Food. Once again, I had a mango lassi and a meal served on a banana leaf. There was rice with the gravies, green beans, yogurt salad, potato, and a few other items. I also had chapati, which is a flat bread. It was very good.
The next morning, Wednesday, I had my same breakfast at the kopitiam, 2 eggs, 2 toast with kaya, and coffee with condensed milk.
Alright, let me stop here. I know I'm just talking about food. Honestly, though, I haven't been doing a ton else besides eating, sleeping, chilling and walking around.
Anyways, let's continue.
I went to the Chinatown Complex Food Centre for lunch. There was another national dish I had yet to try. Chili Crab. Why I haven't had it, I can't explain. But honestly, it's a good thing in a way that I;ve waited this long, or else I'd be broke from eating it everyday thereafter.
I found a hawker that sold it and ordered a plate consisting of two crabs. They set me up, strange for a hawker because you usually even have to bring your own napkins, with a box of tissues (napkins) and a bowl of water ("for wash your hands," as she said) and various other items. A while later, out it came.
This meaty monster from the deep is delectable. Words can barely being to describe chili crab's awesomeness. Let me try... Big, succulent crabs ar chopped into pieces and stir fried. They're cooked with a rich sauce made of tomato, chilis, garlic, sugar, scallions, a touch of lime and a few other ingredients. Once the sauce and crab are cooking away, they stream in and stir beaten egg, resulting in fine strands of richness laced throughout the sauce. The end product? Pure heaven. The ingredients play off each other so well. It's spicy for sure, but not too spicy. Anybody with a reasonable tolerance spice can eat this. It's a gentle, prolonged burn. This dish takes a long time to eat, and the heat stays with you, releasing the endorphins. The sweetness curves the burn perfectly, adding another layer to savor. The strands of egg make the sauce full bodied so you can eat the sauce alone with a spoon (trust me, I had a few slurps of it). This stuff is finger food. No forks or chopsticks necessary. It's messy. One grabs a quarter of crab body, dripping in sauce, legs dangling, and sucks out the meat. Tear and rip and squeeze, please. Wiggle every bit of meat out. Dip in the sauce again and continue. Swallow a few papery shell fragments from the interior, it's no big deal. Crack those thin legs and squeeze out the meat with your teeth, crushing shell as you go. Reward yourself for all that hard, but delicious work, with and easy-to-eat claw segment. The cook has already got you started by giving the shell a crack. Pull off the pieces and nibble the insides. Don't forget to be licking the sauce of all these shells as you go. Having trouble anywhere? Use the end of your spoon (which is nearly pointless, save for using to drink the sauce) and skewer out any difficult pieces. Don't forget to breath and take your time. Enjoy.
After all that, I went for a dessert. Ice Kacang is a Singapore favorite. It, if I haven't explained, is shaved ice with syrups and sone firm pieces of gelatin, palm seed in syrup (taste kinda like coconut), sweetened condensed milk, a hit of creamed corn (sounds weird but actually tastes ok), and other sweets. It's cool and refreshing.
Later that afternoon, I had a n early dinner. As you might know, I'm a fan of roast duck, and Singapore has some great roast duck. It got a plate of it with rice. The skin was really crisp and was separated from the skin by a lovely layer of fat.
Later on, I went to Chinatown Food Street, which opens at night. I had another fabled dish, barbecued stingray. It was really moist and tender. The meat is very finely textured. The coating was very spicy and slightly crisp. It was quite enjoyable. 
For dessert I had various mochi. Mochi is a Japanese item. It's little 'cakes' make from pounded glutinous rice which results in a very sticky product. They're tossed in a bit of starch to prevent it sticking to one's fingers. The mochi are stuffed with various fillings, sweet in this case. I had red bean, purple yam, black sesame and peanut. It's a interesting, chewy snack; the texture is unique.
This morning I had my standard 2 eggs-2 toasts with kaya-coffee with sweetened condensed milk-breakfast at the kopitiam.
After taking care of some errands this morning, I went to lunch. Where else but Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice again! I can't get enough. It's so good. I waited 20 minutes in line this time. It was so good.
Um, I gave into temptation and had another plate of chili crab later. This one, from another hawker, was also phenomenal. It was different fromt eh first, of course, with his own spin, but equally excellent. Mmmm...
I had cendol for dessert, which is simlar to ice kacang. The main difference seems to be that cendol is more liquid-y, thus resulting in an icy soup-like concoction. Nonetheless, it's excellent.
I just finished dinner. My last dinner at a banana leaf restaurant. I had it where I had my first dinner in Singapore nearly 4 months ago. It was great. The items served were similar to my previous dinners. I had mutton this time around. The mutton was very, very spicy. One of the vegetable dishes was corn and green beans mixed which was great. The squash was my favorite with a perfect balance of flavors. I cooled off all that blazing spice with a nice cold mango lassi. It was a very enjoyable and pleasant meal. I still love eating with my hand, its a lot of fun. I think at Thanksgiving everyone at the Behn house should eat with their hand... (just kidding!).
Well, that bings me up to now. It's about 7:30 pm. My flight leaves at 1, which means I should head towards the airport around 10:30ish, giving me 3 more hours to love life in Singapore. I'm sure I'll manage to try a few more treats.
I can't believe this is it. Wow. I sure have enjoyed this journey. I've seen so much and have had countless experiences. When I get home I'll give you a full overview and reflection about this trip. So that's it for now. In case you're wondering, I'll be landing in Boston on the 21st of November around 2 in the afternoon, a full 26+ hours after takeoff. Oh boy! Well anyways...
Take care of yourself,
Mike
P.S. I can't wait to see everyone at home!
Oh yea... One more thing...
Folks, please share your tables like the Singapore Government asks you to do in this cartoon posted in the Hawker Centre. Thanks.
Greetings from Singapore.
It's Thursday evening.
Before I start, let me show you some of the photos from Sapa.
Ok then,
After we last spoke, I had a great last meal in Hanoi and just spent some time chilling. for the dinner I had some pork rib, roast pork, greens, bean sprouts and rice. It was excellent and definetely a good end to my eating adventures in Vietnam.
That evening, I boarded my plane to Singapore. The filght went fine, and I arrived in Singapore around 1 in the morning on Monday. All I did was hop in a cab, go to Little India and check into the hostel and fall asleep by a little after 2.
Am I experiencing culture shock?
For the past 2 and a half months I've been in developing countries (not to mention an additional month in Malaysia and Thailand which are rather, but not fully developed). Coming to Singapore is a big change. Everything works. Everything runs on time. It's safe to walk alone wherever and whenever. Just about nobody is out to scam me. When I take a taxi now, I don't have to worry about the driver trying to rip me off; the fare is metered and the meter is standardized (unlike those 'metered' taxis in Hanoi). Taxi divers don't follow me asking if I want a ride; they know if I need one, I'll come to them. The price in a shop or restaurant is the actual price; It's the price the locals pay, not the jacked up price given just to foreigners. I don't want to sound negative about where I've been at all. It's just a change from what I've been around for the past few months.
Anyways, back to what I've been up to. I'm in Singapore to catch my flight back to the US. In my time in singapore, I want to do one thin... eat! Ok, I know I sound really fat, but the food here is just so awesome. I mean, I've been enjoying the food everywhere, but Singapore is just obsessive about food. Last time I was here, I did a bunch of stuff like seeing the sights and such. Now that that's out of the way, I can focus completely on the food (I must say I didn't do a bad job with the food last time, either, though). So, I hit the ground running.
I awoke Monday morning and went to my favorite kopitiam (coffeeshop). I frequented this place the last time I was in Singapore, as well. The menu consists of coffee, soft boiled eggs and toast with kaya (a spread made from eggs, coconut and sugar). It's run by two older guys, brothers I think, who shuffle around this little open air place taking orders (in their head) and brining out the food and coffee and taking money. Its quite amusing to watch these guys work. They never seem to be rushing, but they get the job done quite well. One of the fellows seemingly always has a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, almost to the point of dangling out, with an ash on the end that seems to go on forever. The place is busy, filled with Indians and Chinese (even though its in a corner Little India, the owners are Chinese, and attract many Chinese patrons and play Chinese television). I had a breakfast of 2 sandwiches of toast with kaya and slivers of butter, and a coffee with sweetened condensed milk. It was delicious. It wasn't very filling, though, I didn't get any eggs. That's ok, I can remedy any room for food. I went over to the Tekka Hawker Centre. It was time for Indian food. I had chicken biryani which is essentially a piece of really spicy tender chicken and some spicy rice, served with a spicy "curry" gravy. Eat with your hand (your right hand).
Later on I went to Golden Mile Hawker Centre for another favorite. This time, Sup Tulang which means 'bone soup'. I've previously explained this one, but basically it's mutton bones with bits of meat stewed ina bright red chili sauce. You gnaw off the meat and suck out the marrow. Ultimate delicuousness. I also had a bit of a discovery. I ordered some Roti John, which I simply thought was the bread to mop up the sauce. I was wrong. I've rarely been so happy to be wrong in my life. Rotio John is an amzing treat. Its ground meat patties and sweet cooked onions and other goodies in something similar to french bread, making a sandwich. It's griddled and squished down really hard and cut into pieces. it's served with a sweet barbecue-y ketchup-y sweet and spicy dipping sauce. It's an amazement. It's a truly calorific food.
Later, for dinner, I stayed in Little India. I had dinner at a banana leaf restaurant. It came with lots of rice, chicken, squash, green beans all of which were spicy and delicious. Also there was some cucumbers and onions in yogurt, different gravies to pour on top of the rice, and papadums (to answer some previous confusion, papadums are those things in the picture at the top right, just thin discs like really thin fried tortillas). I also had a yummy mango lassi (yogurt drink). It gave me plenty of heart burn but it was so worth it.
The next morning I had breakfast at the kopitiam again. This time around I had 2 toasts with kaya, coffee with sweetened condensed milk and two soft boiled eggs. The eggs are served in the shell, and one cracks them open with a spoon and pours (yes, pours) the contents into a little dish, scraping the remaining bits into the dish. It gets seasoned with soy sauce and pepper. Once it's all mixed up, slurp and enjoy!Later on I went out for lunch. I was gonna have a Singapore classic, Chicken Rice. Refer to my posts in Singapore to learn about Chicken Rice. I was back at Tian Tian Chicken Rice at the Maxwell Food Centre. And oh was it good! It was as good as I remembered, if not better. The chicken was just as moist and tender; the rice was just as fragrant. The sauces, chili-lime and sweet soy, once again, rounded it out perfectly. No, it doesn't need the sauces to be truly one of the best things I have ever eaten, but they do make it even more amazing. I waited 10 minutes in line for this. I waited 15 minutes the second time around. Ok, ok, you got me, I had seconds, I couldn't resist. This stall sure has legions of fans. Oh, did I tell you how great it is washed down with a sugarcane juice with lemon?!? Well, I didn't, but it is. It's iced fresh squeezed sugarcane juice livened up with a splash of lemon. It's oh-so-refreshing in the sweltering Singapore heat.
For a mid-afternoon snack I had some fried fish with onions in a sticky sweet sauce over rice. The fish had been batter fried and coated in the sauce with had slight sour notes to it. It was surprisingly light, which was good considering the ridiculous amount of food I'm eating.
Later, I had my first small dinner. I ate at an African place in Little India. Singapore, while being mainly populated by Chinese, Malays and Indians also has a wide variety of smaller minority groups such as Koreans, Filipinos, Indonesians, Thais and more. Africans are also represented in Singapore, who come looking for work. C.L.E. African Restaurant sounded like a good idea. Wrong! Ick! Now I've had food from various African countries before like Ethiopia and Liberia (yea, don't ask how the heck I've found Ethiopian and Liberian food in the US) and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of it. However, this was not good at all. The rice was mediocre. The meat was just big hunks of tough beef that had been fried into oblivion. The beans seriously had a taste similar to the smell of an old, un-emptied ashtray. The only thing that made it even bearable for just a few bites was the big bowl of greasy, knock-your-socks-off pepper sauce that attempted to mask the flavors. I eventually gave up on this dish.
Fortunately, dinner #2 was much better. I had Indian food again. It was actually very similar to the previous night's Indian Food. Once again, I had a mango lassi and a meal served on a banana leaf. There was rice with the gravies, green beans, yogurt salad, potato, and a few other items. I also had chapati, which is a flat bread. It was very good.
The next morning, Wednesday, I had my same breakfast at the kopitiam, 2 eggs, 2 toast with kaya, and coffee with condensed milk.
Alright, let me stop here. I know I'm just talking about food. Honestly, though, I haven't been doing a ton else besides eating, sleeping, chilling and walking around.
Anyways, let's continue.
I went to the Chinatown Complex Food Centre for lunch. There was another national dish I had yet to try. Chili Crab. Why I haven't had it, I can't explain. But honestly, it's a good thing in a way that I;ve waited this long, or else I'd be broke from eating it everyday thereafter.
I found a hawker that sold it and ordered a plate consisting of two crabs. They set me up, strange for a hawker because you usually even have to bring your own napkins, with a box of tissues (napkins) and a bowl of water ("for wash your hands," as she said) and various other items. A while later, out it came.
This meaty monster from the deep is delectable. Words can barely being to describe chili crab's awesomeness. Let me try... Big, succulent crabs ar chopped into pieces and stir fried. They're cooked with a rich sauce made of tomato, chilis, garlic, sugar, scallions, a touch of lime and a few other ingredients. Once the sauce and crab are cooking away, they stream in and stir beaten egg, resulting in fine strands of richness laced throughout the sauce. The end product? Pure heaven. The ingredients play off each other so well. It's spicy for sure, but not too spicy. Anybody with a reasonable tolerance spice can eat this. It's a gentle, prolonged burn. This dish takes a long time to eat, and the heat stays with you, releasing the endorphins. The sweetness curves the burn perfectly, adding another layer to savor. The strands of egg make the sauce full bodied so you can eat the sauce alone with a spoon (trust me, I had a few slurps of it). This stuff is finger food. No forks or chopsticks necessary. It's messy. One grabs a quarter of crab body, dripping in sauce, legs dangling, and sucks out the meat. Tear and rip and squeeze, please. Wiggle every bit of meat out. Dip in the sauce again and continue. Swallow a few papery shell fragments from the interior, it's no big deal. Crack those thin legs and squeeze out the meat with your teeth, crushing shell as you go. Reward yourself for all that hard, but delicious work, with and easy-to-eat claw segment. The cook has already got you started by giving the shell a crack. Pull off the pieces and nibble the insides. Don't forget to be licking the sauce of all these shells as you go. Having trouble anywhere? Use the end of your spoon (which is nearly pointless, save for using to drink the sauce) and skewer out any difficult pieces. Don't forget to breath and take your time. Enjoy.
After all that, I went for a dessert. Ice Kacang is a Singapore favorite. It, if I haven't explained, is shaved ice with syrups and sone firm pieces of gelatin, palm seed in syrup (taste kinda like coconut), sweetened condensed milk, a hit of creamed corn (sounds weird but actually tastes ok), and other sweets. It's cool and refreshing.
Later that afternoon, I had a n early dinner. As you might know, I'm a fan of roast duck, and Singapore has some great roast duck. It got a plate of it with rice. The skin was really crisp and was separated from the skin by a lovely layer of fat.
Later on, I went to Chinatown Food Street, which opens at night. I had another fabled dish, barbecued stingray. It was really moist and tender. The meat is very finely textured. The coating was very spicy and slightly crisp. It was quite enjoyable. 
For dessert I had various mochi. Mochi is a Japanese item. It's little 'cakes' make from pounded glutinous rice which results in a very sticky product. They're tossed in a bit of starch to prevent it sticking to one's fingers. The mochi are stuffed with various fillings, sweet in this case. I had red bean, purple yam, black sesame and peanut. It's a interesting, chewy snack; the texture is unique. This morning I had my standard 2 eggs-2 toasts with kaya-coffee with sweetened condensed milk-breakfast at the kopitiam.
After taking care of some errands this morning, I went to lunch. Where else but Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice again! I can't get enough. It's so good. I waited 20 minutes in line this time. It was so good.
Um, I gave into temptation and had another plate of chili crab later. This one, from another hawker, was also phenomenal. It was different fromt eh first, of course, with his own spin, but equally excellent. Mmmm...
I had cendol for dessert, which is simlar to ice kacang. The main difference seems to be that cendol is more liquid-y, thus resulting in an icy soup-like concoction. Nonetheless, it's excellent.
I just finished dinner. My last dinner at a banana leaf restaurant. I had it where I had my first dinner in Singapore nearly 4 months ago. It was great. The items served were similar to my previous dinners. I had mutton this time around. The mutton was very, very spicy. One of the vegetable dishes was corn and green beans mixed which was great. The squash was my favorite with a perfect balance of flavors. I cooled off all that blazing spice with a nice cold mango lassi. It was a very enjoyable and pleasant meal. I still love eating with my hand, its a lot of fun. I think at Thanksgiving everyone at the Behn house should eat with their hand... (just kidding!).
Well, that bings me up to now. It's about 7:30 pm. My flight leaves at 1, which means I should head towards the airport around 10:30ish, giving me 3 more hours to love life in Singapore. I'm sure I'll manage to try a few more treats.
I can't believe this is it. Wow. I sure have enjoyed this journey. I've seen so much and have had countless experiences. When I get home I'll give you a full overview and reflection about this trip. So that's it for now. In case you're wondering, I'll be landing in Boston on the 21st of November around 2 in the afternoon, a full 26+ hours after takeoff. Oh boy! Well anyways...
Take care of yourself,
Mike
P.S. I can't wait to see everyone at home!
Oh yea... One more thing...
Folks, please share your tables like the Singapore Government asks you to do in this cartoon posted in the Hawker Centre. Thanks.
4 comments:
Mike!
Oh my God - Your detailed description of the crab is borderline orgasmic! I don't smoke but I have this incredible urge to go out and have a cigarette! Thanks, it was good for me too.
Annette
OpenRice is the Yelp of Asia. It shows a city’s most popular restaurants, ratings, menus, booking numbers, and everything in between. It’s widespread
in Southeast Asia and a better resource than Yelp. It has listings for Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The app
puts the power of the website at your fingertips.
App Name: OpenRice
OpenRice is the Yelp of Asia. It shows a city’s most popular restaurants, ratings, menus, booking numbers, and everything in between. It’s widespread
in Southeast Asia and a better resource than Yelp. It has listings for Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The app
puts the power of the website at your fingertips.
App Name: OpenRice
OpenRice is the Yelp of Asia. It shows a city’s most popular restaurants, ratings, menus, booking numbers, and everything in between. It’s widespread
in Southeast Asia and a better resource than Yelp. It has listings for Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. The app
puts the power of the website at your fingertips.
App Name: OpenRice
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