SINGAPORE

Tuesday, January 31 2012

Last weekend I had the opportunity to fly out to Asia for a couple of DJ gigs in Singapore. Besides the 20 hour flight from Vegas, I was really looking forward to seeing the city, trying the food & checking out the streetwear shops that Singapore had to offer.

One of the many things I heard about Singapore was how clean & safe the city was. They’re strict fines & penalties for littering & even chewing gum is against the law. Incidentally, prostitution is legal but you can do life in prison for bringing a bag of weed into the country.

After my 20 hour flight, I took a quick nap to recharge & quickly went out into the streets to explore. Singapore is vast but fairly small & everyone speaks english. It’s probably one of the best cities to get lost in cause it’s incredibly safe & there’s always someone around to help you with directions. Their MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) subway system, similar to New York, was really convenient & you could reach almost any point of the city from it.

I used my trusty Gearbottle app on my Android to see where the local streetwear shops were & it directed me to the Queensway Shopping Center where Da’Cave was located.

These shopping centers are huge & never ending. Low ceilings, tight corridors & tiny retail spaces make these maze-like malls seem like endless underground tunnels.

Finally made it to Da’ Cave…

Big shout to Shakur & Afiq for the hospitality…respect!

This is the mini-version of a mall food court in Singapore. I was like a mouse in maze racing through the shopping center halls following the scent of pork & noodles.

Saving my appetite for something more substantial, I decided to get a quick snack from the “Rice-Cake Peanut Man” (a name I bestowed on the poor guy). I’m assuming the ”Rice-Cake Peanut Man” spends a good 8-12 hours a day standing at his Rice-Cake Peanut station making Rice-Cake Peanut Snacks everyday, 7 days a week…pretty fuckin’ amazing.

Warm balls of rice, mixed in crushed peanuts & sugar, served in a plastic container with 2 toothpicks. I can’t explain how good this was…and it only cost $1.00.

So I did a lil’ research on where to eat in Singapore & it led me to the Tiong Bahru Market Place. Now when I say “research”, it basically means I watched a couple of episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservations” & “The Layover” on the Travel Channel.

The Tiong Bahru Market Place is basically a Hawker Centre which is an outdoor food court with a wide variety of vendors selling everything from Thai Panang Curry to Vietnamese Pho. It’s extremely inexpensive & really good grubbin’.

My first stop was at the famous Jian Bo Shui Kueh where they’re known for their chwee kueh, steamed rice cakes served with preserved radish & hot chili sauce.

The rice cakes are steamed in tiny metal tins & individually removed one by one per order.

Mama-san then scoops a bunch of diced up preserved radishes on top of the steamed rice cakes & finishes it off with some spicy chili sauce.

Looks like absolute death but it tastes so fuckin’ good. I had to make another stop by Jian Bo Shui Kueh before I left Singapore…it was that good.

My next stop was at Lee Hong Kee for bbq pork & roasted chicken. Now there’s a bunch of vendors at this Hawker Centre selling bbq pork & roasted chicken but this spot had the only line forming outside their stall. When in doubt, follow the locals cause they will always know best (same goes for Vegas too!).

Behind every good meal in Singapore, there’s a tough ass mama-san screaming at customers & working her magic behind the kitchen to give you some great food. Hail the mama-san!

My 2nd course…Bbq Pork & Roasted Chicken over rice with hot sauce on the side.

My last stop at Tiong Bahru was at the Kim Fa Fishball, Minced Meat & Noodles. The mama-san at Kim Fa was truly special. This amazing lil woman cooked me hand-made noodles, served fresh to order in a hot ass kitchen with a big smile on her face. She even gave me extra soup at no charge when I went up for seconds.

Hand-made noodles made fresh, just only a few minutes before I ordered.

The stove was separated to 3 compartments. From what I observed, there was one section to cook the fish & meats, another to boil the noodles & the last section to keep the broth warm.

My last course was the Fish Balls & Minced Pork on top of Spicy Noodles with the broth on the side. This was one of my favorite meals in Singapore & I came back for another bowl before my flight back to Vegas.

With my face full of sweat, my mouth full of spice & my tummy full of pork & noodles, I ended my first day in Singapore on a very high note. I couldn’t wait to see & try more the next day. Until day two Knyewtrons…Crooked aka Korean Blow aka Coke Hane signing out!

By Crooked