Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Singapore 1, 2012

25/7/12

I got home on Sunday and promptly lost my beloved cobalt blue 2-month old smart phone on Monday, third phone lost in 3 years in exactly the same way--I have a bad habit of having the phone on my seat and forgetting about it when getting out of my car. I've lost confidence in myself. I was downright depressed last night. I don't think I should have any phone worth more than RM300. I'm telling you this because I think if I lost it in Singapore, there's a good chance whoever found it will return it. My son Wey was sitting on a bench in a food court in Singapore when a lady came over and pointed to his wallet which had dropped out of his pocket onto the floor. Wey told me that he left his phone on the table several times and nobody grabbed it. Singapore and West Malaysia are only 5 minutes apart on a bridge but there's such a huge difference in terms of security.

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Our first stop was 328 Katong for the Singapore laksa, one of my fave food. I don't bother to check out other places anymore because on my previous trip I ate laksa at several places including the one at Queensway which claimed to be the original laksa stall, but I found that laksa too thick while 328 was perfect. This trip, however, 328 Katong laksa  tasted rather bland and thin. The best thing about it was the cockles, lots of them, and they were sweet and springy to the bite. The other best thing was the price of S$3, 4, 5 for small, medium and large bowls, which is very cheap because in KK, noodles are RM5.00 per bowl and up. I don't convert the currency because that gives me a feel of how it feels to be local and eat like one. Of course if you want to feel like a tourist, you can convert the currency in which case, with the low Malaysian ringgit, everything will be expensive and if you are a Brit, everything will be cheap.

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Bland nyonya kuihs which were pasty and "tasted of jossticks", according to Wey, who gagged and spat everything out.

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These 'piggies in baskets' announce the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and remind me of my childhood when getting one of these was a treat.

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Katong's very pleasant to stroll in the evening and there are so many restaurants it's hard to decide where to eat. Singapore is a lot hotter and humid than KK.

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Katong laksa was for late afternoon snack so for dinner, we ended up at the food court/hawker stalls in Koven. IMO, crunchy Hong Kong shrimp wontons are the best so these Singapore wontons, like Malaysian ones, made of  mushy pork filling, FAIL.

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Super crispy scrambled egg with oysters, one of the most greasy dishes, is yummy if the oil doesn't bother you.

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My BIL insisted that we must try Ponggol Nasi Lemak (coconut oily rice), so good that there's always a line. We passed by Ponggol Nasi Lemak in Katong one night and there was a long queue too.

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No kidding? This is one of Singapore's best nasi lemak? I was bewildered. The rice was good, fragrant with coconut milk and the brinjals were good too but the crispy chicken drumstick was just very crispy and I much preferred the Malaysian nasi lemak with curry chicken. The sambal, the most important side to a good nasi lemak, was okay but nothing compared to Malaysian sambal, which is sweet, sour, savory and full of gravy and spices. And where's the hard boiled egg? Some recipes are better left traditional.

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This bowl of mee bok was good, and cheap too, at S$4.00. That Thai pandan coconut was only S$3 and twice the size of the ones we get in KK. We pay top prices for low grade products in KK.

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We walked further on, and there were durian stalls but we were too full and decided to leave durians for some other night but of course we never did eat any the whole trip because we were always too full and durians couldn't be brought onto public transport and had to be eaten on the spot.

BIL insisted that we try Teochew congee so we sat down, our eyes nearly popping out from the choices of cooked dishes. The dishes above are just 1/4 of what was available.

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S$2 per plate and 40 cents per bowl of congee, cheap cheap!

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On the way back, I bagged this for my son because he loves pork knuckle and we don't get bak kut teh pork knuckle back home. This was only S$5.50! While walking to get a cab, my stomach started to hurt and I had to dive into a toilet. Yes, I got sick the first night and I thought it was very deja vu because the same thing happened on a previous trip. It must've been the oysters.

In one night, I had put on 1.5 kg and all my cabbage diet the weeks before was wasted. Wait till you see what we ate the next day.

10 comments:

Tina said...

So lucky you, to be able to pop over to SG! hehe. So when are you next coming over here again? Miss you!

Michelle Chin said...

where else have you been when you were in sg?

Anonymous said...

Hi Terri!!
I really love your pictures!! ..and the food you're showing us! I don't know what I could do for a taste of everything!
Lau

Anonymous said...

Terri,
I used to go to S'gore every month. I can only remember 2 times, I have great food. Both my brother and sister live there but last ten years, I can not remember the great meal I have. I always put up near Chinatown. Can anybody tell me where all the great food nearby.3

Happyeverafterbride said...

I am sooo craving Laksa right now. Good thing lunch is only an hour away and there is a Laksa King next door...

I miss Asia so much. Thanks for sharing the posts.

Blur Ting said...

It's difficult to recover a lost phone even in Singapore. Recently two of my friends lost theirs and never got it back.

However, my son lost his wallet twice and both times, they were sent to a police post. Everything inside was intact. Then again, he's just a poor student with nothing valuable inside the wallet!

RUNNING BROOK said...

There's a chinese saying, lose wealth to deflect/block misfortunes.

Hope you had an enjoyable trip in Singapore. Do come to KL soon. :P

terri@adailyobsession said...

tina: when you are there, i'll go!

mich: basically, no where else but MBS & Orchard Rd. oh i went for a baking class:)

laobao: it's funny how the grass is greener on the other side bc i sure wish i am in italy!

anon: i think the food scene in sg has improved a lot recently. you can get great chinese food in geylang n chinatown, and the restaurant choices are fantastic.

bride: asia is exciting but can be a shock too:)

blurting: tt's nice, getting his wallet back:) *sigh* why do ppl keep other ppl's things...dont they know how it feels? n if smthing is not mine, i'd nvr feel good having it...

can i come visit ur garden when i'm in sg? hv u been to the gardens by the bay?

runningbrook: ! it's pure carelessness:( oh, i am thinking of gong for a class at bayan indah. been there? looks so cosy n beautiful.

Anonymous said...

hi i am in kota kinabalu, how to reach you ?
My email : valentinalee@gmail.com

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