Food a la Singapore

Unlike Canada and most other countries I've visited, it is much cheaper to eat out in Singapore than to prepare your own food at home. However, the average Singaporean doesn't eat at restaurants as we know them. Instead they eat at "Hawker Centres/Stalls." These are basically food centres where tons of private vendors sell their food at prices so cheap you'd almost think you were taking advantage of them. These stalls are not pretty and sometimes they look like they're dirty, but thanks to strict Singaporean health regulations, there is no risk of getting sick. For those who are interested, dictionary.com defines a Hawker as "One who sells goods aggressively, especially by calling out." This isn't how it works here. Everything is very calm and orderly, and nobody harasses you.

Everybody says to reserve your seat with a small packet of kleenex, but I usually just leave my bag at the table; so far nobody has stolen it. Alternatively, you can stand beside a table as they are eating. Seems a bit rude, but what else is there to do when the Hawker Centre is packed to the brim?!

Now on to the food!

I'm fairly easy going when it comes to food (except for smelly cheese), so I get along great in Singapore. The only difficult thing is deciphering what the Indian/Malay/Chinese names actually are! On many occasions, customers have explained dishes to me and helped me choose. How kind! One lady even got my tray for my, put the cutlery on it, gave me some sauces and told me what they were for. I was touched, to say the least!

The first day I was here, I had tandoori chicken, prata and a drink at an Indian stall at NTU for about S$3.50. What a bargain! Tandoori chicken is chicken coated with this red seasoning (don't know what it is exactly) then deep fried; very tasy, and also very fattening. Prata is a typical Indian bread generally served with a curry sauce. I prefer to eat mine with 'Dal' which is made from lentils. It has a bit more texture and is not as runny as the curry. So far, Indian food is probably my favorite, although I'm taking a break from Prata. Eating 4 of those a day is not healthy, but at S$0.60-S$1.00 they are a bargain!

When I need a carboydrate break, I try to eat soup. Soups here are nothing like ours back home. I've had 2 different varieties so far that I really like, and I forget the name of both. How convenient! One tasty dish is pork dumpling soup with home made noodles. I think everybody knows what pork dumplings are; no need to get into that. Home made noodles are also self-explanatory in that they are actually noodles made by hand. Dough is repeatedly pressed through a machine until it's the right thickness, then cut. They're a nice change from the dry pasta we eat at home.

Not surprisingly, McDonald's is the tried and true standby when I feel like familiar food or when the school canteen (school hawker centre) is shut down. It's a dangerous situation because a BigMac meal on campus will set you back about S$4.30 (C$3.50!). A good C$2.00 cheaper than back home! I try to sample the local delites as often as I can, but sometimes I just need a burger and fries.

There are many places along Clark Quay where we can sample many different types of WMF ('white man food'). Clark Quay is very pretty to walk around because it's beside the water, and is lined with bars and restaurants. If you want to be with a bunch of whiteys, it's the place to be. I've sampled some 'Mexican' food there, which was tasty but not so Mexican. I've also went to 'Brewerkz' which makes excellent hamburgers, and a sampling of other WMF.

A little about drinks:

While drinking alcohol in Singapore can be prohibitevly expensive, non-alcoholic drink are quite cheap. One of my favorites is 'Milo,' which tastes like a mix between ovaltine and hot chocolate. It's nice because it is not too strong or too sweet. I was unaware that we can actually get this at home, so pick some up if you'd like try it out! It's made by Nestle and comes in a green tin. You can still get the typical soft drinks here, although the cans are about 20 mL smaller. This will cost you anywhere from S$0.80-S$1.00 depending where you buy them. They have many different kinds of tea and coffee, but they call it 'teh' and 'kopi.' It's confusing when they have 'teh o' 'teh c' 'kopi o' and 'kopi c' on the menu. My understadning is that the o's and c's explain if it is black, or if it has milk and sugar in it. I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I still have to figure that out

I'll post an article sometime with some pictures of what I eat throughout the week.

Keep fit and have fun!

Sean