a taste of Singapore

My first visit to Singapore in July was in time for the Singapore Food Festival. A few days after my arrival, my sister and I headed to the nearest kopitiam so I can have some char kway teow. I first tasted this dish in a Malaysian restaurant in the Philippines. Here in Singapore it's a very common dish and anyone can get it at the hawkers. I won't be expounding on the differences between a kopitiam and a hawkers center but in my experience you can get cheap food at both but the latter is traditionally an open-air food court.

char kway teow

Char kway teow is like a mix of everything - sea food, rice noodle, chilli and more. I cannot tell what else is in there. It doesn't look pretty but the taste turns out to be mysterious but good. I'm not even sure how to describe it. Singapore identifies a lot with this food. The country is a mix of different cultures and has turned into something exciting and interesting.

Without a proper itinerary, we headed down to Clark Quay one night to see the lights by the river. To my surprise, the bridge has been converted into a huge food court selling just about any Chinese street food and other local delicacies. We bought a kopitiam card, topped it up and tried three items.

The first item was the carrot cake. This one is not the sweet dessert. Instead it is white raddish with egg and spring onion. This one cost us SGD 4.00 though we could have gotten it somewhere else at a much lower price. To me it tasted close to omelette but with more substance so I give this a score of 8/10.

carrot cake

Item number two was the deep fried prawn ball. This one was SGD 1.60 per ball. There was no dripping oil, and I love prawns so I gave this a score of 9/10.

fried prawn ball

The third item was the pork bun and is very similar to the Philippine siopao. It is locally called kong ba bao. Stewed pork is inserted in between the bun and stuffed with some lettuce. To me it is a complete meal, so I gave this a perfect 10/10.

kong ba bao (pork bun)

The night wasn't over after my last bite. The city was still filled with lights and people craving for more food for the soul.

Left: The author; Right: Clark Quay Food Street.