Orchard Road is a shopper's paradise where you can find some good bargains. We got off the beaten path to scour the ethnic areas for some good bargains and souvenirs. Working up a good appetite we joined the food-mad locals at the hawker centers, open-air food courts where each stall serves one dish and the cooks yell out their specialties like ballpark vendors. Famous food writers have appropriately glorified Singapore's venerated street stalls and we wanted to make the best of it.
One should not leave the city without trying the local favorites. These dishes hail from Malaysia, China, and India, but Singaporeans have embraced these dishes and made them part of their lives. Should you find yourself in Southeast Asia's food capital, try these top dishes at any hawker and food center on the island - bak kut the (tea from pork ribs steeped with assortedherbs, carrot cake (savory egg and radish cake, of course, carrots are actually radishes that locals call white carrots), chilli crab (cooked in fiery spices - set your fork and knives aside), roti prata (flaky Indian bread served with curry), fish head curry (with dollops of steamed rice), char kway teow (flat noodles cooked with eggs, Chinese sausages, cockles etc. in large woks) and laksa (a coconut based curry soup).
It's late afternoon, we met with our tour guide for the day, Linda Chan, who introduced herself as Jackie Chan's sister. She broke into peels of laughter when she saw the amazed look on our faces. But for the common last name, she said with a smirk, there were no ties between these two Chans. Linda was loads of fun and kept the whole group laughing with her anecdotes on Singapore and Singaporeans. She helped us to discover the rich historical Chinatown and offered great tips on bargaining at the Night Market. After dinner, we all hopped onto a trishaw for a ride from Chinatown to Clarke Quay. The trishaw rider cranked up the music as he weaved his way energetically through the traffic. We arrived at the quay to board a bumboat for a cruise along the Singapore River. The romantic ride through the river lit by the night skyline gave us a different perspective of this beautiful city. We bade Linda goodbye and she piped, "you will have to bear with me again tomorrow at the Night Safari".
One should not leave the city without trying the local favorites. These dishes hail from Malaysia, China, and India, but Singaporeans have embraced these dishes and made them part of their lives. Should you find yourself in Southeast Asia's food capital, try these top dishes at any hawker and food center on the island - bak kut the (tea from pork ribs steeped with assortedherbs, carrot cake (savory egg and radish cake, of course, carrots are actually radishes that locals call white carrots), chilli crab (cooked in fiery spices - set your fork and knives aside), roti prata (flaky Indian bread served with curry), fish head curry (with dollops of steamed rice), char kway teow (flat noodles cooked with eggs, Chinese sausages, cockles etc. in large woks) and laksa (a coconut based curry soup).
It's late afternoon, we met with our tour guide for the day, Linda Chan, who introduced herself as Jackie Chan's sister. She broke into peels of laughter when she saw the amazed look on our faces. But for the common last name, she said with a smirk, there were no ties between these two Chans. Linda was loads of fun and kept the whole group laughing with her anecdotes on Singapore and Singaporeans. She helped us to discover the rich historical Chinatown and offered great tips on bargaining at the Night Market. After dinner, we all hopped onto a trishaw for a ride from Chinatown to Clarke Quay. The trishaw rider cranked up the music as he weaved his way energetically through the traffic. We arrived at the quay to board a bumboat for a cruise along the Singapore River. The romantic ride through the river lit by the night skyline gave us a different perspective of this beautiful city. We bade Linda goodbye and she piped, "you will have to bear with me again tomorrow at the Night Safari".
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