Singapore, Day 1

My friend S and I decided about a month ago to take a break from Hong Kong and fly to the nearby Singapore for some shopping, fun and good food. As we were quite late in booking flights etc, we ended up on a six-hour stop-over flight via Bangkok to Singapore, both ways! Needless to say we were hungry and tired during our flight but this didn’t stop us from having an amazing holiday!

After checking into the hotel and a quick shower, we were off to the famous Maxwell Food Centre for some cheap good eats, especially since the original Tian Tian Chicken Rice was here…

We arrived at quarter to 7 to find Tian Tian CLOSED! Slightly annoyed, we decided we’d try a bunch of stuff. I went straight for the Kam Wah stall for some sliced fish soup as there was a growing line and thought it should be good! I placed my order of sliced fish soup (S$4) and waited and waited for it… With one person manning the stove and another taking orders, I thought it would suffice to churn out simple bowls of soups quickly but it took quite a long time, at least by Hong Kong standards! No matter I thought, as long as the food is good…. Or so I thought.

The fish soup was clear, unlike the bowls of fish bee hoon which had a milky-white soup. Mine was full of MSG and too salty as well. The fish was nice but little was given, unimpressed.

To help get rid of the msg taste in our mouths, I picked a soursop juice (S$1) from a nearby stall called Drinks & Desserts Corner. We've both never tasted soursop before, so we didn't know what to expect, but were pleasantly surprised. The drink is milky-white in colour and is sweet yet slightly sour at the same time. 

Next S chose some deep-fried dumplings (S$4) and spring onion pancake (S$4) from a Gyoza stall. Both were served with a sweet sauce, resembling a lot like our Hoisin sauce, but less thick. The deep fried dumplings were stuffed with chicken and chives, quite flavourful and tasty with black vinegar. The spring onion pancakes were pan-fried till golden-brown but managed to retain a soft texture. It was nice on its own, but quite oily.

chicken and chive fried dumplings with vinegar and sweet bean sauces

spring onion pancake with sweet bean sauce

Lastly, I ordered a seafood hor fun (S$4) from a stall called Swee Ting. It was highly recommended by one of the many Singaporean food blogs I read whilst planning our trip, and so I was quite eager to try. It took, once again, forever to be sent to our table even though the stall had no queue. But my long wait this time was worth it. It arrived resembling your regular hor fun in gravy at Thai or Vietnamese restaurants in Hong Kong, but tasted very different. They were generous with the seafood on top, with shrimps, fish cakes, fish, cockles and muscles. The peppery gravy, which S and I both loved, was flavourful but not salty in any way. The hor fun was the best however. Each piece of noodle was unique random shapes of noodles with a slightly chewy texture and a very strong taste and smell of ‘wok hei’ – no wonder it took so long?? It was so good we both kept raving over the noodles =P. Best. Noodles. Ever.

seafood hor fun

Before we left, we bought another drink from the same Drinks & Desserts Corner, but this time opted for a fresh lime juice (S$1). It was a much more sour and sweet drink - more 'intense' in flavour overall but also quenches your thirst. This led me to think that a half-half of lime and soursop would make for my ideal hawker centre drink!

After dinner we headed to Marina Square at Raffles to kill some time. We were quite unenthusiastic to shop after a long day and so we decided to pig out some more by going next door to Mandarin Oriental Hotel to get some pastries from Axis Lounge…. After looking at the very well crafted pastries, we decided on a Mille Feuille and Cassian’s Coffee Plantation (each S$8 before tax and service).

The Mille Feuille was comprised of three layers of crispy puff pastry. On the bottom was a thin layer of fruit jam and fresh raspberries, on the top was some Tahitian vanilla custard sandwiched between two layers of pastry. Ingredients were extremely fresh and the puff pastry was well thought-out and glazed to retain its crispiness during the day….excellent!

The Cassian Coffee Plantation was their most popular dessert according to the waitress. We could see why. Rich in chocolate and coffee, it was like drinking thick cup of smooth mocha. On the outside was a dark chocolate glaze. Inside was a brown chocolate mousse, and a white Sumatra coffee-flavoured mousse, with a thin layer of chocolate sponge sandwiched between. There was also a biscuit base and caramelized pecans to give it crunch and cut some of the richness of the mousses. Quite sweet by our standards, but a completely delight.

So these two cakes rounded off our night and we slept like babies in preparation for the next full day of shopping =)…