Doesn't TaZte Like Chicken

Location: Singapore

Author: My Husband

Three weeks ago, on my way to India, I had to connect between flights at Singapore’s Changi Airport. I usually try to fly direct to mitigate the risk of missed connections and lost luggage, but alas direct was not an option between Vancouver and Kolkata. The travel agent gave me two choices: fly Singapore Airlines and connect in Singapore or fly Air Canada/Lufthansa and connect in Frankfurt. It was a VERY easy decision and I said “Singapore Airlines” before the agent could even finish saying “Air Canada”.

I think most long-haul fliers will find it easy to identify with my choice. Singapore Airlines’ reputation for safety and service has been second-to-none for the last two decades, and Singapore’s Changi Airport has consistently been rated the best in the world. Rankings and marketing propaganda aside, Changi is truly a very practical choice for connections as it offers transit passengers a huge variety of activities with which to occupy themselves. For passengers on a layover, they can: watch current release movies at the free airside movie theatre; or play video games at the free x-box stations; or catch a nap in one of the many free chaise loungers in the terminals; or take a swim in the roof-top pool; or go for some food and retail therapy at the many eateries and shops spread between the three large terminals; or take a free guided tour of Singapore; or… why don’t you take a look for yourself at Changi’s website. Even with a long layover, chances are you will not run out of things to do at Changi – it really is that good of an airport!

I remember my first visit to Changi shortly after it was opened in 1981. I was just a wee lad then and everything about the airport – from the now iconic control tower to the multi-story waterfalls, travelators, shops, and check-in counters in the terminal – was ultramodern and exciting. For me, that first visit to Changi held out the promise of adventures in far-flung places in the future; even now, many years and trips into/out of Changi later, I still feel a sense of excitement whenever I set foot in that airport. Since 1981, four additional terminals have been built, passenger traffic has increased multiple-fold, and Changi has become the major air hub in SE Asia, but it still manages to be the most user-friendly and efficient airport that I’ve traveled through.

On this trip, my two colleagues and I landed at Changi T3 at 6am, but our connecting flight did not leave until 10pm that day. Since we had sufficient time to pop into Singapore proper for a quick visit, we decided to do just that. A ‘quick’ visit was sufficient for me as I had a two-day stopover (the topic for another post) planned when returning from Kolkata.

Terminal 3, which was officially opened in 2008, is one HUGE terminal. It takes a full 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other, and houses many shops as well as a bunch of eateries. I’ve heard that there is a very good basement foodcourt landside, but I did not have the chance to visit it during this trip.

As one of my colleagues has never been to Singapore, we decided to avail ourselves of the free Singapore tour for transit passengers. While it wouldn’t have been very illuminating for me, it was the easiest and quickest way for my colleague to get a feel for the city. Getting through immigration was painless and literally only took half a minute. It actually took me longer to fill out the immigration form than for me to clear immigration! My personal record at Changi, set in 2007, for disembarking from the plane, clearing immigration, picking up my checked luggage, getting cash from the ATM, and hopping into a taxi was 15 minutes. 15 minutes!!! That is not likely to happen anywhere else, not even at HK’s Chek Lap Kok.

The tour took 1.5 hrs, and quite honestly, was a bit of a time waster. For the price – free – I won’t complain. But suffice it to say, if you had a few hours to spare, take the hop-on hop-off bus (free for transit passengers) or purchase a ticket on the MRT (the subway) into the city and do your own sightseeing instead.

Juxtaposition of old and new

We ended up having lunch at the Food Republic, my favourite food court chain, at Vivocity. More on the food at FR in a later post.

Decorated in the style of days gone by

continue reading…

Location: Singapore

Author: My Husband

For our friend headed to Singapore soon, here’s the post I promised – a small sampling of our favourite hawker dishes. Since we don’t live in Singapore, I don’t know the locations of the “famous” hawker stalls that sell these dishes, so perhaps some of our Singaporean readers (few though you may be ) can chip in with their recommendations?

Yes, there is a HUGE amount of variety when it comes to hawker fare; the dishes described here are but the tip of the proverbial iceberg that is hawker food in Singapore. S, my best advice is to stop and taste everything that looks appealing to you. But remember to pace yourself…

Murtabak. This is a super-sized roti prata with meat filling. The hawker used twice the amount of dough of a typical prata to make this; filled with your choice of meat, onion, and eggs, it is fried on a big griddle until it is nice and crispy. This was served with a bowl of curry for dipping. This is tasty stuff, but be that as it may, I have never been able to finish one of these by myself.

Fried Hokkien “Mee” (noodles). There was an interesting discussion on ChowTimes about this dish, but the consensus is that the Singaporean version (as opposed to the Malaysian one) isn’t cooked with a dark sauce. This version had plenty of ‘wok hei’ and was sufficiently “prawn-y”. Remember to ask for the sambal chilli as it provides the dish with a nice kick.

Do not forget the satay.

Chai Tow Kway. The locals refer to it as carrot cake, but obviously, it isn’t carrot cake in the North American sense. This can be cooked with or without the dark sweet soy. This is really very similar to the Cantonese 蘿蔔糕 , but cut into pieces and pan fried over high heat. This was one of my favourite dishes growing up, and even now, I make it a point to eat it more than once when I’m visiting.

Orh Jian. This is a wonderfully greasy fried oyster omelette. Eggs and oysters are combined with a binding agent (usually a slurry of potato flour) then fried in a huge pan until a nice crispy crust forms. The vinegary chilli sauce that accompanies this dish is important for (i) cutting the greasiness and (ii) giving it a nice heat – ask for more if you like.

Hainanese chicken rice. OK – it IS weird to just order the rice without the chicken. But Christina likes free range chicken and doesn’t think much of the “tofu” chicken that is so prevalent in Singapore. But the rice by itself is fantastic. Aromatic and flavourful, each grain is distinct and al dente.

Teh Tarik. This is a strong tea – flavoured with both condensed AND evaporated milk – that involves a degree of showmanship to prepare. The tea is first mixed with the milk, and then poured between two containers to (i) cool it down (ii) aerate it for a smoother texture. The showmanship comes into play when the hawker gradually increases the distance between the two containers during the pours, thus giving the impression that the liquid is being “pulled” between them.

Ice kachang. Shaved ice, red bean paste, and a black jello like substance(涼粉). The ice is drizzled with various coloured syrups and gula melaka. Gula melaka, which I had referenced here, gives this dessert a smokey, coconutty flavour that elevates the taste of simple shaved ice into the flavours of haute cuisine. Superb stuff.

Chendol. Like ice kachang, except with the addition of coconut milk and the little green jellies. The version shown here is served in a bowl, but this is usually served in a cup. It is yet another wonderfully refreshing dessert with which to fight the Singaporean heat.

There are many many other dishes that I haven’t described, but consider the above a preview for your trip, S. I’ll continue with a sampling of street snacks for my next post.

Location: Lei Garden
#03-00 Orchard Plaza,
321 Orchard Road,
Singapore 238866
(65) 6734 3988

Author: My Husband

The last time Christina and I were in Singapore, we were invited to a dim sum lunch hosted by a prominent businessman. The timing was great – it was the day after we got off the plane, the venue was one of Singapore’s more renowned Cantonese restaurants, and we didn’t have to foot the bill. How could we say no?

When Christina and I are in Singapore, we tend not to eat Cantonese food. Since we have plenty of opportunities to eat good Cantonese meals in Vancouver and HK (our usual stopover point between Vancouver and Singapore), we usually try to maximize our intake of local “Singapore” fare when we are in town. As such, we had never been to Lei Garden and we were both a little curious as to the quality of the food there.

The décor of the restaurant can best be described as late-80s modern. Everything was in good repair mind you, but the décor did not seem commensurate for a restaurant that was supposed to be one of Singapore’s best. We later found out the reason why this was…

Our host and the rest of our dining companions arrived shortly after we did. Since the meal had been pre-ordered, the food started showing up very soon after everybody was seated. The quality of the food was fantastic – the dim sum dishes were creative and refined, both in terms of visual appeal and taste. They only “complaint” I could muster was that the dim sum serving sizes were a tad small, but I’m sure my perspective of dim sum size is skewed (seeing as how I’m used to North American portions). Before Christina could pull out the camera to snap some photos, other guests around the table had already dug into the food – so, no shots of the dim sum.

After the dim sum courses, other dishes were served. These were supposed to be some of the restaurant’s signature dishes, and despite being somewhat full, Christina and I were only too happy to continue eating. The following photos show some of the more memorable dishes:

Treasures of the sea. These dishes comprised abalone, conpoy (dried scallops), sea cucumbers, prawns, fish maw, duck feet, Chinese roasted pork (燒肉), and assorted veggies. The ingredients were braised in a Chinese brown sauce, and served in a hollowed out pumpkin. What can I say? This was AWESOME!

Golden Sand (金沙) Lobster. The lobster meat was dredged in a light batter made with the yolks of salted eggs, then deep fried. This was cooked to perfection. The sweet, succulent lobster meat played off really well against the savory, yolky crispy batter. The serving size was not huge, but it was a pretty rich dish, and it was just the right amount for our dining party.

Hairy crabs (大閘蟹). These were flown in live from Shanghai and were decently large. The crabs were steamed, and then served. I am a big fan of hairy crabs – specifically of the rich, sweet, unctuous roe. And these particular crabs had some really high quality roe in them. If I had to describe the taste and texture – it’s a little bit like eating semi-liquid salted-egg yolk. I will be writing a quick take of hairy crabs in a separate article, and will go into a more detail on how to eat these little critters. During our lunch, we were the beneficiaries of some really excellent service (our host is a very frequent diner at this restaurant), and our crabs were de-shelled and served to us by two waitresses assigned to our table. So we didn’t have to do much work at all. Nice.

It turned out to be a pretty long lunch, and we were the last guests to be ushered out of the restaurant. I would say that this ranks among the best Cantonese meals I’ve had. Some customers have commented that the culinary standards at Lei Garden have dropped over the years, but I wouldn’t know as I don’t have any basis for comparison. Suffice it to say, Christina and I were both impressed and we will be making it a point to go and have dim sum again here when we are next in Singapore.

Oh, as for why the décor of the restaurant is dated – well, during our lunch, the restaurant completely filled up and there was a long line-up of people in the waiting area. According to our host, it is pretty crowded even during weekdays. Given the average price per meal here, closing down for renovations would result in a huge impact on the restaurant’s bottom line. So as long as the crowds keep showing up, the Lei Garden @ Orchard Plaza will continue to have its décor firmly rooted in the 80s…