Eat Like a Local – Singapore – November 16, 2023

So here we sit on the MRT Yellow Line heading for the Green Line where we will transfer to the Brown Line, and one more stop on the Yellow Line, which will take us to our hotel. Confused? Join the club. We thought our original four-stop ride on the Blue Line would do the trick but it left us a mile or more from the Marina Sands Hotel in the middle of a thunderstorm. Finding a taxi won’t work in this downpour. A kiosk salesman at the train terminal, told us to take the Yellow Line, which would take us on a circle, underground, around the entire city. Finally, we looked at a map and figured out a better way all by ourselves. 

But this is a minor inconvenience after a great day Eating Like a Local with our guide Su Ling. We started at 9AM from a 7 Eleven store a 10-minute cab ride from our hotel. We were joined by Hugh, a visitor from Lausanne, Switzerland. The three of us made the minimum for a public tour and of course the small group made for a great experience. 

At the end of the tour, Su Ling asked us to name our favorite food of the day, out of at least a dozen (I’ve lost track of the exact count). Interestingly, we all named the first: a breakfast featuring a curry puff, the Singapore equivalent of an empeñada from South America. It was, in fact, first introduced by the Portuguese in the 15^th century. Then, a dish of Kaya toast with pandan jam dipped in a concoction of soft-boiled egg and soy sauce, plus tea or coffee to drink. The other dishes we experienced today are something of a blur: all good, some spicy, some cold drinks – you name it. I’ll try to reconstruct the day based on my memory, the pictures and Su Ling’s notes. 

The big news is that we experienced not only the food but also the neighborhoods and cultures of the three main groups of people that make up Singapore: Chinese, Indian, Malay. Singapore’s official languages includes one for each each, plus a common lingua franca of English. English has evolved into Singlish, just as English is sometimes evolves into Spanglish in Spanish-speaking cultures. We heard all five today.

All of the above I wrote while traveling the MRT to reach our hotel. Twenty stations on four of the MRT’s five lines (we somehow missed the Red Line). Upset? Us? No way. It was fun to experience the very fine efficient, clean and well-organized mass transit system of this city. Along with two bus rides and a taxi today we’ve seen a lot of the city.

So now to the Herculean task of describing our day. I’m going to try to give a sense of what we did by referring to the pictures that Su Ling and I took.

Our day started with an 8 AM taxi to our meeting point, a 7-Eleven store up the coast perhaps halfway to the airport. We arrived early so strolled around the neighborhood to see what life is like here. We happened to see a coffee shop with a tempting array of pastries in the window. Turns out, that was our first food stop shortly after meeting Su Ling and Hugh.

Nearby is the Marine Parade district where originally wealthy Peranankan families. Peranankan are people whose parents were Chinese men who intermarried with Malay women. The houses we saw dated from the early 20^th century, if I remember correctly. Today they are rented out, sometimes to expats, who want to live in this upscale neighborhood. The once wealthy Peranankans are, in general, not quite so wealthy these days,

We stoped for food at a “coffee shop” featuring traditional Peranankan food and, equally interesting, the home furnishing and artwork of wealthy Peranankans back in the day. They also sell Peranankan clothing. You guessed it. NaiNai and Babu Rick will be knocking them dead on the Sun Deck of the Viking Orion and at the Sun City Center dance hall. See the pictures.  The featured food here was Kim Choo Kueh Chang’s Nyonya rice dumplings, whose origins date to the 1940s.

Next up, a stop at one of the original Singapore Hawker Centers. In other countries I’d say it was a market – lots of shops selling lots of food and other items. Here, however, the Hawker Center shops sell nothing but prepared food. Here we had Laksa, a fish dish with a broth, noodles and other good stuff (I’m ordering a recipe book so maybe someday I’ll serve you some). We also had a carrot cake, which contains no carrots and wasn’t what I’d call a cake but it tasted great nonetheless.

Then on to another Hawker Center, this one reached by bus. I took some pictures out the window to get an idea of what streets in this China Town area of Singapore are like.

This Old Airport Road Hawker Center is where we had Chendal from Nyoyan Chendal, a hawker stand with an actual Michelin recommendation. It is a shaved ice desert with pandan jelly and coconut milk. Hit the spot on a day getting progressively hot along with some of the spiced food we were having.  From the Fortune Popiah food stand we had, of course, Popiah, a spring roll with lots of good stuff inside (don’t ask me; I close my eyes and bite most of the time). We also had a lemon sugar cane drink. It was noon time and so we got to see lots of locals having lunch.

Another brief bus ride to a restaurant near the Sultan Mosque in little India neighborhood. The Sultan Mosque we see today was constructed in 1932 on the site of the original mosque built in 1824. Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, donated $3,000 to the original building.

Speaking of Raffles, a brief historical side note: Sir Stamford came to the area to establish a trading center from which Britain could compete with the Dutch East India Company. One thing led to another, and Singapore was handed over to Malaysia in 1963. The marriage was not successful. Singapore’s toleration of its diverse cultural and religious groupings was not to Malaysia’s liking. So, Malaysia gave Singapore its independence in 1965.

Things got a bit more spicy in Little India but not so bad that a swig of water took care of the burn.

Our final food stop was at the Tekka Center, where Hawker shops shared space with some retail establishments. Here we had a pancake-like Indian Sweet accompanied by chai tea.

Then, on to our homeward bound adventure on Singapore’s MRT.

Singapore deserves more than the day and a half that we gave it. But today’s tour with Su Ling was certainly a great way to get a taste of Singapore, both gastronomically and culturally. We dun good in our selection and got really lucky to have such a congenial pair to tour with.

Back home at the Marina Bay Sands we went topside to see the light show and have an order of chicken wings and a drink (Pina Colada for Judy and a Singapore Sling for me).

Tomorrow, on to Bali where we will fall into the welcoming embrace of the Viking Ocean Cruise Line Company. No more guessing; all of our moves will be orchestrated by others. We’ll just have to sit back and enjoy the flight. It remains to be seen how long we can put up with being told what to do. There’s much to be said for independent travel, but like today’s MRT adventure, Judy and I will figure out how to have fun no matter what.