Edible Things

I heard it from a local: shopping and eating are the two favorite pastimes of Singaporeans. This is very logical, as both can be done in air conditioned buildings.

Since the only shopping I've done is for clothes hangers and detergent, I'll leave that topic for another day.

I have however, made my foray into the sport of eating. It was a daunting task. This sport requires concentration, strategic brilliance, and sheer determination. I am but a novice. I didn't even manage to finish what the relatives piled in front of me for lunch, dinner, and that meal in between lunch and dinner.

When we began at the hawker center for lunch, I was told to sit, while the three pros went to buy a slew of dishes to sample. I knew they were serious when they showed up with armfuls: sugarcane juice, laksa, rice noodles, carrot with egg, chicken and rice, egg tart, yam something, spring roll thing, etc. Each dish had its own special chili sauce to properly complement the flavors. Apparently, getting your chili right is a big deal. My favorite chili sauce reminded me of Tabasco. To quote my taste buds, "Slight tang, nice kick, yes!, life is good."

The mid-afternoon eating fest was pretty brightly colored. It revolved around ice, syrups, lumps of beans, and jelly things. Some jelly/jello-like lumps were very chewy and others were sort of crunchy. I tried some Bo Bo Cha Cha. I just like saying that. Bo Bo Cha Cha. Would you like to Bo Bo this Cha Cha, perhaps, Madame?

I did had a moment of epiphany as I sat in the food court of the local mall with ice dripping down from my Chinese soup spoon. My revelation: SOURSOP IS THE MOST DELICIOUS FRUIT EVER!

Dinner was bountiful. The locals had a good laugh at my attempt to eat prawns fried in oat bran. Most people, it turns out, eat the shell! Who would have guessed? We also dined on a special New Year salad that we all tossed into the air with our chopsticks before eating. I think you say something in Chinese about "cheers to making more money!" when you toss it up, but I improvised with "Hurray!". You can learn about this salad from a legitimate source here. Hurray for being edified!

I didn't think I'd ever be hungry again after yesterday, but miracle of miracles, I actually wanted to eat again by 2pm today! My latest discoveries: dragon fruit tastes like a tasteless kiwi (in a good way) and I don't think I pronounce "dan dan noodles" correctly. At least I continue to be a source of amusement for those around me!

Well, I hope you're hungrier than before you started reading. And since my local guides informed me that I have only just begun to sample everything I need to try, I'll be sure to write about lots more edible things soon.