August 19, 2015 - Singapore
I recently returned from a work trip to Singapore. I’ll
spare you descriptions of all the meetings I had with my APAC colleagues but I
will freely share all the eats to be enjoyed in Singapore. I do this partly
because I just like posting pictures of food (like that needs to be said –
snort) but also as part of my travelogue to document what I enjoyed in case I ever
go back or want to recommend it to someone going there in the future; I like
having specifics to point to.
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The bakery I found walking from the hotel to the office |
First of all, if you’ve never been to Singapore, you
should rectify that. It’s an interesting place and one of the few places in
Asia where I see a very diverse group of people, not just Singaporeans but
other Asians from the rest of the continent as well as Europeans, Australians
and Americans amongst others. I’ve always thought of it as expat country since
so many global companies have their Asia headquarters in Singapore and there’s a large
expat population working out of Singapore for their respective companies.
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Curry Pok |
Second, if you like shopping and eating, Singapore is a
must-see destination. It’s probably only rivaled by Hong Kong in the plethora
of shops in its business district. What’s fascinating and tremendously convenient
about Singapore’s shops is many are located underground in esplanades that
connect high rise buildings and public transportation together. Think of it as
an underground, air conditioned mall. This type of set up is more common in
Asia and makes for convenient walking, especially when it’s hot and/or humid
and outdoor walking is to be avoided.
And it’s not just shops in the underground esplanades but a number of eateries. Like a
food court on steroids but with local, delicious food. My Singapore coworkers
tell me the locals have high expectations for great food and from what I could
tell in the brief time I spent there, those expectations are readily met and
they’re right to have high standards.
On my first day, I walked through an underground
esplanade on the way from my hotel to our office. Lo and behold, the path took
me past a local bakery. I swear, I have an inner GPS that never steers me wrong
on discovering local bakeries. It’s a typical Asian bakery that leans more
towards breads and savory items than sweets and cakes, although they had some
of the latter too. What I love most
about Asian bakeries? Bread! They’re soft and just unbearably good. My first
breakfast was a simple bread roll with a sausage stuffed in it. The sausage was
my concession to protein but it was the bread itself that was comforting
goodness. I’ll never get tired of Asian-made bread.
Later that same morning, my coworkers introduced me to a
typical Singapore coffee break: 3 types of coffees, mostly differentiated by
whether you added evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk or no milk, curry
pok which was like empanadas filled with potatoes and fried, and “Chinese roti”
which is unlike the Indian roti of flaky flat bread. Instead it was soft white
bread - not Wonder white bread, mind
you, this had flavor and texture – slathered with butter and a local jam, kaya, that
was a cross between dulce de leche and coconut. It’s a typical Singapore
breakfast and quite good.
Lunch with a couple of coworkers was in a different
underground mall-type food court but food court is such a humble term for the
plethora of little eateries and restaurant in this particular underground bevy
of shops and food places. We went to a place called Teahouse, The Asian Kitchen
and you order dishes family style to share.
After lunch, we did a quick walkaround the underground floor of the mall and, of course, I found a dessert stand to patronize. It was called Awfully Chocolate and while there wasn't a huge variety on offer, what they did have looked delicious and I was hard pressed to limit myself to just one. But I did because lunch had been sufficient and I was only looking for an afternoon snack for later.
I settled on the Hazelnut Crumble and it turned out to be a slightly cakey brownie with hazelnut crumbles on top. It looked deceptively fudgy and dense but it actually wasn't. More like a baked mousse with an airy texture rather than the rich fudginess of an American brownie that I was used to. It was still good but if I had my way, I would probably remake it as a more traditional fudgy brownie, top it with a thin layer of nutella then sprinkle coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts on top. Hmm, maybe next time I bake brownies.... In any case, lunch was so satisfying that I ended up just eating half the hazelnut crumble and a bread roll for dinner.