After a dinner of frog leg porridge in Chinatown with my sis and her Penang friends (there’s a whole bunch of Penang people in Singapore – I told my sis to set up her own Penang Club even), Nic and I decided to drop by Singapore’s Little India for a quick look-see.
After all, visiting Little India in Penang is my favourite pastime, besides eating banana leaf rice at Sri Ananda Bhawan’s. I wanted to see how similar things are down south, particularly as it was nearing Deepavali then. Singapore’s Little India would be bustling!
Was I right! The streets were decked out with gorgeous lights and a sense of gaiety punctuated the air. Although it was almost 10, the streets were still crowded.
Some Indian vendors were just in the midst of arranging their vegetables – oddly people were buying carrots and tomatoes at night. I guessed these people were very busy indeed and could only come out at night to shop for their food.
Within a specific bazaar place set up for this Indian community, we gawked at the trinkets and decorations, the bells and the incense, the biscuits and the prayer items.
Finally after walking about, I felt a little smug. This Little India, while clean and not very noisy, couldn’t really compare to our Penang version.
Ours is noisier, busier and an assault to all your senses. Loud music, smell of burning incense, people talking loudly – all these make our Penang an undisputed winner in the cacophony department.
With that, we were ready to stop for a cup of masala chai at one of the Indian shops.
One clear similarity was that the sweetmeats were still the same garishly pink and green!
Year: 2011
Loi Ah Koon…Modernized
When I was visiting my sis in Singapore last October, we were of course feted.
I mean, Singaporeans are just as proud of their food culture as we are. We’re so similar in many ways. And to add to this, I met up with so many Malaysians (not to mention a whole group of Penang folks, thanks to my sis). Like all good hosts, food was definitely the order of the day.
As we stayed for a few days in the pleasant suburb of Tiong Bahru (actually come to think of it, which suburb isn’t properly planned and pleasant by Singapore standards? It better be nice or else the complaints will rain!), we particularly enjoyed having breakfast at Ya Kun, just a 5-minute walk away from her apartment.
Ya Kun is the modern version of the old-style kopi tiam – something like our Old Town Cafe. It serves half-boiled eggs with kaya toast. Small yet cosy (but with airconditioning), Ya Kun is really an old establishment, started yonks ago by a Hainanese man named Loi Ah Koon – the picture of the founder in the typical white cotton shirt is on the wall.
Probably Ah Koon would never have thought his old-style Hainanese coffee (made the same way since 1944) would be transformed into a modern coffee and breakfast place. Ya Kun is an upgraded version of the old days. Ya Kun has personality too – there’s an indelible pride in the Hainanese coffee culture with a very Asian twist too.
Ya Kun is creatively funny – I liked most their cheeky and clever posters on the wall. It made me chuckle!
One said “Screw the French press – we’ve got the sock”. Another said “Want a skinny latte? Stop at half a cup!”
Like Andrew Sia’s article in The Sunday Star a few weeks ago, I find that we Asians have a lot to be proud of.
Slowly but surely we are realizing we are living in an area steeped in fantastic culture. That’s the reason why Ang Mohs are here. While I love blue cheese, there’s nothing compared to durian. While I may enjoy going elsewhere for a while and wishing for spring weather all the time, there’s really nothing like rain which seeps into your bra and sun so strong it makes your skin freckle. Or the familiar smells of street food. One can never go hungry in Malaysia – there’s some food stall on some corner open at some ungodly hour.
Other than Ya Kun, there’s another famous breakfast place called Toast Box. Some who have eaten at Toast Box say it’s nothing special though people have been seen lining up for the food. But then again, every place we go to seem to have lots of Singaporeans especially cafes and restaurants.
What is lovely though is that customer service is taken very seriously in the island republic. You do get service with a smile, unlike some cranky waiters and waitresses in most restaurants in Malaysia. And if you complain, someone somewhere will respond to you. Here we’d be lucky if they even bother to open their emails!
I wouldn’t want to live in Singapore – but visiting for a few days and eating my way through the island is indeed fun!
Full of Beans
I was in Langkawi last week – it was a very quick trip to visit a client. At the same time it was also a meet up and discussion about a marketing project we are doing with another client.
As we were visiting a client who just had leg surgery, I was wondering what I could bring. Fruits was out of the question – I was not going to carry fruits onto the AirAsia flight (as an aside, I was on the same flight to Langkawi as celebrity chef, Chef Wan!).
Finally I settled on a very healthy gift – a packet of nutritious cereal powder from my favourite Buddhist society – Tzu Chi.
I’ve always been in awe of Tzu Chi because they’re a charity organization like no other. Instead of asking for handouts, they prefer to engage in honest business to help them fund their work. Their dialysis treatments for kidney patients are completely free. Amazing.
Nic and I decided to go to their Macalister Road building to get the nutritious bean powder. (You can also buy them from the Jing Si Book shop on Beach Street which is a lovely serene cafe with Buddhist books for sale. However, I prefer their Macalister Road outlet which is actually a huge grey building – you can’t miss this. Plus like everything else in Penang, parking is important. In this place, parking is very convenient. No doubt about it.)
The interesting part is, the ingredients for their products are mostly grown by themselves in Taiwan. Taiwan is the headquarters of Tzu Chi Merit Society – this is where they started some 40 years ago with just 1 nun (Master Cheng Yen) and 30 housewives. Today, Tzu Chi is a global phenomenon with a task force of volunteers all over the globe, ready to serve at any moment’s notice. Their dedication is truly incredible.
The bean powders are purely vegan and consists of ingredients like Job’s tears, almonds, Chinese yam, oats, sesame seeds, lotus seeds, black beans, brown rice and more. The bean cereal powder are suitable for both young and old and a good replacement for sugared beverages. I also discovered a plant called Jew’s Mallow when I bought one of the bean beverages which contain Jew’s Mallow which is cultivated in Taiwan by their master and her disciples. Jew’s Mallow is also called Kerria Japonica – a yellow flowering shrub with leaves used as a vegetable.
While I was there buying these bean powder beverages for family and friends (and you know how suddenly one thinks of everyone who could and would benefit from this healthy beverage), the Tzu Chi volunteer asks if I’d like to try their instant noodles. She said their noodles were often in high demand and taste great, without the MSG! I am not a noodle fan so I politely declined.
They also sell a quick version of rice gruel or instant porridge where you just add hot water and presto, your porridge is ready. I heard that this was an innovation of theirs especially when Tzu Chi serves in disaster areas – easily cooked or hot food makes a big difference to disaster survivors. Even their rice is of this instant version – just add hot water and you get rice immediately.
What I especially like about Tzu Chi products is that they’re made with the Earth in mind. Their packaging is recyclable. And their design is simple yet elegant. None of the Jinjang designs – no way. Like their founder, Tzu Chi volunteers live a simple, practical lifestyle and often are serene, calm people. The entire Tzu Chi organisation lives and breathes simplicity and practicality.
And if I have a choice when buying responsibly, I will. In this case, you are not only buying a healthy bean beverage for yourself but also supporting an organization which does good.