Sawasdee Sedap!

I had this for dinner after yoga one Friday night some weeks ago. It's minced pork fried with basil and served with hot rice and an egg. A relatively simple dish that gets me happy. It's just damn good. And I toss on the prik-ki-niu (chilli padi) for the kick that hits the throat like a raging inferno. If you haven't heard me mention Senat Thai Food before, well you have to make your way to Maxwell Hawker Centre and look for the stall nearest the loo facing the Farfield Church. The man and woman who run the stall are Thai and pointing at the pictures helps. They are also famous for their Tom Yum and fried chicken wings. And there's a photo of the couple with President Nathan (erh?). The food is great and so are the prices. Go.

Hasn't It Been A Month Since CNY?

Goodness. It has almost. I haven't really talked about what I did on this auspicious occasion. The holiday fell on a Monday and Tuesday so it became the third long weekend in 2 months (Christmas and New Year's were great long holidays too). I did little that weekend apart from watching a lot of TV. The following weekend the bunch of us trotted off to Joo Seng where Jo was going to prepare her once-a-year creation, lup mei fan. This Cantonese dish is essentially claypot rice with waxed duck meat and sausages. Yum yum yum it was. I think I ate three bowls of it.

She threw the event for her family and friends so there were always people moving in and out. There was the cacophony of conversation, card playing and clashing of mahjong tiles together with sounds of the TV to add to the festive occasion. The pictures don't quite do justice.

The next day I went to my boss' boss place for lunch. She insisted on serving her infamous chicken curry and I had somehow volunteered my mum's mutton curry some time ago. So there was quite a bit of curry at the party. Just a small group in a super apartment in a snazzy Bukit Timah condo. Aspirational.

This Curry Is Safe To Swim In

That's a slightly unsteady shot of a bowl of shark curry with two chappatis dunked in.

It's probably unsteady because it was my first meal of the day today. Lack of sugar and sustenance and all the jazz. The curry is overnight curry, which afficionados will tell you is the best curry. My mother cheats with the chappatis - she makes them thicker so she prepares fewer chappatis and we get fuller faster. It saves on cooking gas too if you think about it.

Yes, the fleshy chunks are shark. My mother likes to buy shark at the market as the cheaper fish alternative. The fins we all know are expensive and should not be eaten as an affirmation to the violent and brutal persecution of the most advanced fish species, but the meat is cheap. And tasty. The flesh is firm and takes in flavours quickly. Bet you could batter bits and fry it up as a snack.

When I told some of my friends about this seemingly peculiar protein source, they imagined a fin sticking out of a pot of curry, slowly making ever-decreasing circles as per the film Jaws with music thrown in. If only Spielberg was Indian.

Of Eager Tongue And Growling Tummy

Two fridays ago, I made a trip to Geylang Serai with some fine folks to immerse in the scents and sights that are Hari Raya Puasa. Kim, Andy, Zul and Wendy met me among the throngs of Paya Lebarese and quickly got lost in the pasar malam next door to the MRT station. There were many things to eat albeit fried things. We in fact wanted to partake upon the best fried chicken in Singapore but the queues at Arnolds were off-putting. We should have known hungry people breaking fast on a Friday would want to placate their pangs in a manner worthy of kings and colonels. So Zul took us to the hawker centre in the middle of Haig estate. This shot sees him consuming his mee goreng putih while I had the nasi goreng ikan bilis. And goodness they were good. No regrets not having chicken. Check out the Flickr set.

I came home one night and saw 5 apples neatly arranged in a curious pyramid on a tea-towel in the kitchen. I hesitated for a moment before the photographer adage of 'Take now or forever hold the memory' popped in my head. So I turned on the light from the cooker head, a deep yellow-orange glow that's more convenient to activate than the actual kitchen lighting on the ceiling (ask me about that later), to capture the fruit formation. The apple shots are at the end of my Misc set in Flickr. Images aside, it turns out that old saying of 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away' holds some truth. Sailors took apples with on voyages as a source of Vit C to prevent scurvy. There are rich in certain antioxidants and phytochemicals. These things help to prevent some cancers, combat ageing, lower bad cholesterol levels and aid digestion. So go bite into some juicy appley goodness today and every other day too.

Last Friday, my weird friends and I (aw, you guys know who you are...) had ciders at Dirty Nelly's (see more apple related stuff) and then proceeded to have a feast at Por Kee. If I haven't mentioned this before, it is the duty of all Singaporeans, ready and able to partake upon Chinese cuisine, to visit Por Kee for a meal. Located in a carpark in the heart of old Tiong Bahru, this place has already made a name for itself by just being quaint with rather mature folk running the joint. The food you order need not be epic but it will make an impression. From the photo, you may be able to pick out asparagus sauteed in garlic, sweet potato leaves in sambal, the tom yum tilapia, the house specialty braised tofu with sea cucumber and snow peas, and champagne pork ribs. Mammma mia! And we topped off the meal with mango pudding but that wasn't so good. There are many other dishes to revel over at Por Kee. I have tried the cereal prawns, yam basket and yam paste (orh ni) there and no complaints from this makan lover.

Go eat go.

Men In Green

These are my army guys. Part of a larger, more insane group bonded together by green uniforms, threats to the nation and more accurately, year we were born in, we have been meeting about once a year since 1995. Although we've all grown up and have some semblance of an adult Singapore life, we still behave the same way when we are together - like a bunch of goofballs. Perhaps that is the thread that unites this group. That and all the crap that reservist life is made out to be. This occasion came about because Alex, the 2nd chap from the right, needed an escape before his first kid left his wife's womb to become a lifelong obsession.

We had dinner at Botak Jones, our version of Singapore haute cuisine brought down to the masse. Western food always conjures up impression of grandiose extravagance. The food was good, carbo aplenty, flushed with many a lemon tea and a margarita.

The Food I Ate In Melaka Last Weekend