Hits and misses

We never had our bak chor mee in Singapore. That was my initial plan when we went down to Singapore in February but like all plans go, it was subjected to change once we got there. Neither did we get our chilli crab there. What happened was that a few days before my gang of brothers and sisters-in-law in Penang were due to fly south to Singapore to visit my brother-in-law there, we received word that an aunt there had invited all of us to lunch on the second day of our stay. But with no further details, our plans became awry.

It was an invitation that was impossible to decline. Everyone had to accept. After all, this was the family of my father-in-law's youngest brother in Singapore. We had plans to visit them but they had better plans for us. Anyway, it would be a fabulous opportunity for my wife and her brother and sister to meet up with their Singapore cousins. It wasn't like they were staying in Penang and we could pop around the corner to visit them. So in accommodating them, that put a clanger in all our feasting plans. But we still had our makan moments....

This was our first meal in Singapore at a Chinese coffee shop in Ghim Moh. Belachan chicken wings. One of many dishes ordered by our sister-in-law there. I must say that the wings - and other dishes- tasted delicious. Maybe it was because we were famished. Very famished.

We were in Chinatown. We wanted to see the last of their Chinese New Year street lights there but we saw very little. Frustrated, we walked around and landed at this shop in Tiong Bahru that sold chicken rice. It's supposed to be well-known, this Tiong Bahru Hainanese chicken rice. Even claimed to have a bib gourmand award from the Michelin fellas. In my opinion, their reputation is a little over-rated.

Although the portion was generous enough and there was an endless flow of soup if one is so inclined to drink and drink it, I found the chicken meat to be a bit too dry to the extent that it had lost its succulence. So I can't claim to be impressed with this coffee shop despite their reputation. There must be better chicken rice stalls or shops elsewhere!

Oops, walking aimlessly around Chinatown after our dinner, we suddenly found ourselves entering the Maxwell food court. We were supposed to have this place in our itinerary on the following day and yet, here it was right in front of us. So we went in to look around. I showed them the Tien Tien chicken rice outlet which was in the midst of clearing up after the day's business. Anyway, we wouldn't be able to eat any more chicken rice for the day. We bumped into this stall and my wife and my nephew had the experience of deep frying the mini hum chim peng themselves. Five pieces for one Singapore dollar. We ordered 10 pieces to take away.

This I liked, the satay centre at the Gardens-by-the-Bay. Its uniqueness was that it sold pork belly satay. Everyone of us thought that it was heavenly. This is not something that we would see at satay stalls in Penang: pork satay, yes, pig intestine satay, yes, but pork belly satay, no. 

On the second day of our stay, we had breakfast at the Ghim Moh market's food court. A very traditional food court. I turned my attention to their chwee koay. I had it before and it tasted very good. But in this visit, it tasted kinda bland. Not as delicious as before, unfortunately. Oh yes, a word of caution for anyone from Penang searching for good popiah here. Don't bother. Unlike the Penang version, the version we are all so very familiar with, the Singapore popiah is all dry. Definitely not to our liking! I'd give it a BIG miss.

Two pictures of chicken rice in one story. But this one's from a stall at Food Loft in Geylang. stall by the name of Teik Kee which serves roast pork, char siew, roast duck etc. I opted for their chicken rice since it looked so irresistible and I did not regret it. In my opinion, one of the better sources for chicken rice in Singapore. My brother-in-law chose their roast pork and char siew rice and did not regret it either. 

For breakfast on the third day, I was rather apprehensive of the choices at the Ghim Moh market food court and opted for a simple roti telor. But then I saw that the same stall was offering mini roti chanai too. So I ordered a plate too. This mini roti chanai was nothing different from an ordinary one. It's just that the hawker had sliced up the flipped dough into five parts and made mini pieces out of each of the parts.

Quick lunch at the Changi airport before heading home. I ordered the prawn paste ramen from Woke Ramen. Can't say that I enjoyed the bowl. Maybe it was because I was too anxious about making sure that we did not miss the flight. While everyone else were taking their sweet time to finish their food, I kept looking at my watch. Would we make it to the gate? Luckily my mother-in-law was on a wheelchair which I could push ahead while the others caught up with us. Anyhow, we did make it to the gate before it closed.