Hawker War

I just love the rain trees in Singapore. They are well-trimmed, healthy and everywhere, especially along pedestrian walkways and roadsides. It makes sense to grow large shade trees in wet, humid, tropical weather instead of palm trees which are more suitable for dry weather, such as in California or the Middle East.


There's always about five feet of grass that separates the roads from the footpaths, and the paths are always shaded by big beautiful trees. In Malaysia, the footpath, if you are lucky there's one, is usually right next to the road and illegally parked with cars.

Although Singapore imports all its foodstuff, the fruits and veggies are very fresh and of good quality. I was just talking with a friend who owns several grocery outlets in KK and he was surprised that blueberries in Singapore can be as cheap as S$2.99/RM7.50/USD2.50. Not just that, I told him, the punnet is bigger and the berries are also much bigger than the ones we get here, which according to my friend, are re-imported from KL. I love tropical fruits for their intense and exotic flavors but I love berries for their colors, beauty and flavors too. At RM16.90/USD5.50 per small punnet of blueberries, RM21.90/USD7 per small punnet of raspberries and blackberries (which have recently appeared in our supermarkets), I can't afford to make summer pudding, one of my fave desserts, unless there's a special occasion. Frozen berries are cheaper but just don't taste as good as fresh ones.






Tropical fruits.

It was our last day in Singapore and I made sure that Wey got to eat the crispy pork knuckle he had dreamed of for years. Western Food 85 used to be where Chai Chee Pork Porridge is but they are now at Blk 416 Bedok North Avenue 2 until next year when they will move back to where Chai Chee is, at 85 Bedok North 4th St.




Chicken chop. I didn't try this but it looked good and it was cheap, S$5.50/RM14/USD4.50 I think it was.


Crispy German pork knuckle.

We had two orders of the crispy pork knuckle, which I think was only S$12.50/RM32/USD10.20 each. All ag! reed tha t this was good, the skin crispy and wonderfully lard-scented but the meat was rather dry, which I suppose is not surprisingly since the knuckle was boiled and then deep fried.


Wonton noodles, only S$2.50/RM6.40/USD2!




Noodles with fish slices, a couple of Singapore dollars. A little too fishy for me.


Herbal bak kut teh.


White pepper bak kut teh.

We hadbak kut teh twice this trip and found them insipid. The portion and meat quality are much better than what we get in KK though.

The Prime Minister of Penang was reportedly upset two weeks ago when Penang was ranked behind Singapore for hawker food. A wise woman would not get into this hawker feud but me being the opinionated me, let me give a fair--I am East Malaysia, unbiased enough?--comment on this issue. There's no way Singapore hawker food is better than Penang hawker food (shoot me). BUT at the risk of being stoned to death by the Penangnites (and I love Penang assam laksa and can live on it everyday, and char kuey teow too if I can eat it and not become a whale, and cendol and popiah), I've heard so many people comment after a trip to Penang that after three days, they start all over again eating the same thing they ate the previous days. I didn't find the variety lacking because I ate assam laksa everyday, but if you don't like assam laksa, what else do you eat after char kueh teow, nasi kandar and cheong fun? Otak otak, oyster scrambled eggs, peranankan food, roti canai and such can also be found in Singapore. Singapore's restaurant scene has expanded and improved so much you need to plan five meals a day to scratch the surface of their list of restaurants and stalls. My conclusion is that Singapore is many rungs higher than Malaysia for variety and quality of restaurant and fine dining places and but for tasty hawker food, Penang reigns. Period. At least for now. Decades ago, Singapore's hawker food was better than Malaysia's. Remember People's Park? The difference between good and excellent hawker food, I think, depends on the condition of the kitchen. Slightly unhygenic chaotic kitchens and passionate local-grown cooks = excellent hawker food. There, I've made myself persona non grata in both Penang and Singapore.