Singapore Culinary Chronicles... Part VI

Another day, lots of delightful gastronomical surprises and that does deserve another edition of Singapore Culinary Chronicles... 

After getting ready, and before proceeding to Orchard Road, I was keen to show Neeti my favourite Balestier Food Market. We went to the central koptiam, but Neeti wasn't interested in kaya toast with soft boiled eggs. She went around the market looking for something appetising and different...

But true to my addiction to the Singaporean breakfast, I hogged on kaya toast with eggs and yes, not to forget kopi-c .....

Neeti took a stiry-fry vermicelli with tofu and cabbage...

And she took a large mug of Chinese to down the umami-ness from the fish sauce in the vermicelli noodles...

But I was truly hungry...

I took a pork pau for 50c to supplement the kaya toast...

The pau is steamed bun, filled up with loads of goodness - shrimp, chicken, pork...  

Later in the day, at ION Orchard, we came across an outlet of TWG Tea, which claims to be celebrating 1837, when Singapore became a free port and a trading hub...

Seeing the prices, we gave it a miss! 

The tea menu was tantalisingly exciting, but we were glad we resisted the temptation... Afterall we were in Singapore on a shoestring!

Finally headed for Nirvana at the Chinatown Food Street!

Reminding you of a bygone era...

Everyone seems to be having a great time here!

The hawker stalls have an interesting look to them!

Su su for anyone?

Everything looked great around here....

But I settled for this stall...

I placed an order for the Laksa

The chef doing his magic for me!

Here comes my laksa....

Laksa is a noodle soup in a coconut milk base...

My laksa had bean curd cubes and hardboiled egg.... and it went well with sambal and red chilli sauce

Hearty and creamy, laksa brings together Chinese and Malay flavours and is a classic Peranakan dish...

Lovely juices here... we settled for a glass of sugarcane juice...

Man was once the beast of burden here...

After a trip to the ECP, we landed up at Balestier, famished and absolutely hungry...

As we saw people eating, we hungrily waited for food to get ready...

And finally came the hearty goodness of chicken rice, which both of us enjoyed!

Singapore Culinary Chronicles... Part V

Before this trip, I had never known, or even imagined that Singapore was such delight for a foodie. In the last couple of days over here, I have been surprised and intrigued by the smorgasbord of tastes, a melange of flavours and a delightful potpourri of anything culinary....

But actually it's hardly surprising...

Singapore is right in the midst of the Equator with a climate conducive for any kind of spice. Further, with its development as a centre of trade, commerce and finance, it has become a melting pot of various people. Walk on any street of Singapore - you'll find Chinese, Malays, South Indians, Punjabis, Bangladeshis, Arabs, Africans and Europeans. Alongwith the influx of immigrants, come their culinary traditions and overtime, a cuisine has evolved which is so distinct, so unique to Singapore!

Roaming around Chinatown, I was happy to show Neeti this South East Asian delicacy, the durian.

The durian has inspired the architecture of Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay...

Despite its strong odour, I really loved and devoured the fruit!

Lip-smacking Xiang Wei bak-kwa, Neeti chose to give this a miss....

I spent a good 20 minutes here sample the sweet strips of pork, which is so unique to the ethnic Chinese  

Fragrance, a ubiquitous brand in Singapore was founded by a lady, Wong Tan. Fragrance started as a small stall selling bak-kwa using her unique recipes. Today they make bak-kwa from exotic meats like crocodile...

Next, I proudly led Neeti into Ya Kun Kaya Toast for some tea, coffee and some tit-bits to fill our tummies that were rumbling after a long walk...

I secretly wanted Neeti to try Kaya toast with soft boiled eggs... and she did try it

We shared two Kaya toasts and some soft boiled eggs with soya sauce...

While I stuck to the timeless favourite kopi-c, Neeti chose teh-c - black tea with a dash of condensed milk, which she didn't really like....

But she enjoyed Kaya toasts with eggs! That delighted me...

Ya Kun Kaya Toast was founded in 1926 by a 15 year-old Hainanese immigrant, Loi Ah Koon, who came in on board an old Chinese junk. He came in with just one small black suitcase but with lots of dreams and hopes and ambitions....

Those dreams came true, you can feel that at Ya Kun Kaya Toast...

He worked as a coffee-stall assistant, then started off on his own - he setup a stall selling coffee, crackers and toast at Telok Ayer Basin.

After his marriage, his wife helped him in his business. She suggested cutting each slice of bread into half and combining the toast with her homemade kaya, which created their signature kaya toast.

Ya Kun grew in popularity and was registered as a brand. It set up shop across the island starting with Lau Pa Sat market and has since grown in size expanding beyond the borders of Singapore....

And I now hear Ya Kun is headed to India!!!! Yay!!!!

Whatever your poison, Ya Kun is a place to relax a bit and grab a bite...

This poem aptly described me... I would boast back home that I had kaya toast...

And yes, I didn't forget to buy a bottle of kaya before I left... I certainly didn't mind paying SGD4.80 for it!!!! 

Now I'll have kaya toast with soft-boiled eggs back home in Mumbai.... I certainly will be carrying the lip-smacking memories, of the delectable food I am having in Singapore, back home with me!

The Raffles Trail....

After getting back from Neeti's institute, I had to impress her and show-off my new-found knowledge of Singapore!

After relaxing for 2 hours in the hotel, we headed out again to Chinatown from where we were booked on a group that was to head out on the Raffles Trail of Singapore's downtown.

Being a Saturday afternoon, Chinatown was less crowded...

As we waited for the group to assemble behind the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, I treated Neeti to a scoop of durian ice cream from Sweet Musings... I am still wondering whether she liked it or not....

From Chinatown, we headed with a group of Australians on a trail of Singapore's colonial district...

In the early days, life in Singapore was along the Singapore River...

We started off at of the earliest colonial administrative buildings in Singapore, the Empress Place Building, which now houses the Asian Civllisation Museum - a place I had visted on my first day here... 

I had the pleasure of showing the River Gallery to Neeti....

Right opposite Empress Place is the Cavenagh Bridge, one of the oldest bridges in the island city. It is the only suspension bridge. 

Opened in 1870, to commemorate Singapore's new Crown colony of the Straits Settlements status in 1867, it was intially called Edinburgh Bridge to commemorate the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh. 

The name was changed to Cavenagh Bridge in honour of Major General William Orfeur Cavenagh, the last India-appointed Governor of the Straits Settlements, who governed from 1859 to 1867.

The coat of arms of the Cavenagh family can still be seen atop the signage at both ends of the bridge.

Today, it is a pedestrian bridge....

Right across, you can see the high-rises of the business district...

People were having along the riverside...

I am told that the Singapore River was polluted and was much like a drain, but painstaking restoration over the years resulted in what we see today, a clean river....

A magnificent tree at Empress Place...

Between the Empress Place and the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall stands an obelisk called the Dalhousie Obelisk.

The obelisk was built to commemorate the second visit of the Marquis of Dalhousie, who was the Governor-General of India to Singapore, in February 1850. The objective of the visit was to consider the reduction of administrative expenditure. However, prominent merchants and traders, who felt that Singapore's infrastructure was not keeping pace with its economic development, wanted Dalhousie to exert his influence in their favour. 

To win over Dalhousie, they renamed the pier by which he came ashore Dalhousie Ghaut and marked it with a commemorative obelisk. The memorial was also built to remind succeeding merchants of the benefits of free trade.

In 1891, it was moved here, after land reclamation at Dalhousie Ghaut was undertaken.

Our next halt was at the Raffles Hotel for its famed high tea.... more on that in the next edition of Singapore Culinary Chronicles...

We moved next to take a boat raide along the Singapore River...

The warehouses along the quayside have been restored into boutiques and high-end shops...

Like the famed pewter shop, the Royal Selangor...

Ecouraging courtesy to raging drivers at Chinatown Point....

After the boat ride, we walked down to Chinatown....

I was keen to show Neet around....

We asked a lady for directions, and she gleefully told was she was headed to Chinatown and we could join her...

A landmark in Chinatown, Hotel 81

Yue Hwa building.... this building was once home to the Grand Southern Hotel...

Chinatown was decked up for the mid-Autumn Moon festival....

As we roamed the streets of Chinatown, we came across a live promo for Nippon Paints... led by a dragon and Indian men (Tamils) playing musical instruments...

That's what Singapore is today - a microcosm of cultures, evolving into something unique, something distinct...