Suddenly Singapore II: Meeting Kenni & Hawker Food Fest

Singapore has been a monotonous experience. Wake up at 7:15 am, check my phone, do some squats, crunches or push ups if I feel up to it, freshen up, get dressed and go down for breakfast. Breakfast is also monotonous. Eggs, garden salad, noodles, porridge. Can only vary it so much. But at least its free. LOL. At 8:45 am would walk to Bugis MRT and alight three stations later at Tanjug Pagar to get to my office. Lunch would normally be at Laupasat because compared to Amoy Food Centre, it's easier to get seats for a big group. Although more expensive, one can get discount by using the Kopitiam Prepaid Card. But on some days, we would venture to Amoy Food Centre to try the famous stalls there. Easy to spot, just look for the long queues. In addition to better tasting food, these stalls owe their popularity to their cheap prices. My colleague coaxed me to try the famous fish soup from Han Kee. Came out at 11:45 am to beat the crowds, but that was a myth. Still took me 25 minutes to clear the line. SGD5.30 for big bowl of soup with quite a lot of fish slices. However nice and fresh it was, I don't think I will queue for that again any time soon. For dinner, we usually go to Albert Centre. More choices at cheaper prices, but that place can be a little messy. I try my best to try every single stall, but at times I would go for the familiar favourites like Teochew fishball noodles and ban mian. During that trip I met Kenni, an Instagram kaki and avid doodler. He made reservations at The Flying Squirrel, a small hipster Japanese joint at Amoy Street (the entrance was in a small lane and the sign at the intersection was sooooo small). True to his pics, he turned up in all black clothes with ink-adorned skin. He claimed to be an introvert, but I found him to be kinda chatty. And he imagined me to be louder and more fabulous from his years of reading my blog. We all project an inaccurate online persona I guess. Based on my research on Foursquare, the best choices seemed to be the Chirashi Don and the Signature Maki, which we both shared. The place was really quite small, with the adjacent table just a few inches from our's. Bet they heard everything that we talked about and bar was close enough that I could very well see an ang moh feeling up his lady friend's thighs. Talked about his recent change of career and his art. And he also shared some wonderful stories from his youth and about his impending long trip to Taiwan (go for Taipei Pride!). Didn't stay long to talk and our way out I noticed that he stashed a Hello Kitty power bank in his mini bag. LOL. Walked to the MRT together, and as it reached his interchange, he suddenly remembered the selfie stick in his bag! At least we have an excuse to meet again soon!







On Saturday, woke up and had the usual breakfast. Didn't join my colleagues for their Starbucks excursion. Had boneless chicken rice at Albert Centre for lunch. Must say that boneless equals to less satisfaction. LOL. Went loitering around Bugis Junction and got myself a cup of coffee. Spied a hot daddy with thick arms (*spycam*) there! Crossed over to Bugis+ after that to take a look in Uniqlo. Think it's cheaper in Malaysia. Heard some commotion outside and went to 38. My eyes were greeted by a very buxom girl (in Cantonese, one would say she 'released half a ball', but I realized later that it was a latex bust) holding a rifle that was nearly as tall as her. Ah, cosplayers. Turns out it was the Capital of Cosplay event. Truth be told, I couldn't recognize most of the characters. LOL. Many soldiers around, most probably characters from Resident Evil and what not. Then there was Naruto and Sasuke, Shishio from Rurouni Kenshin, Princess Elsa from Frozen, Iron Man, Kamen Rider, and miscellaneous guys dressed as school girls with purple hair.

















On stage giving an interview was Liui Aquino, playing Hiccup from How To Train Your Dragon. His mother Valka was in the crowd too. His costume was pretty good and he had a pretty boy look. Strangely, he was very secretive about his age and the emcee couldn't take a hint. Stayed around taking pictures for a while. Dinner plans with an ex-colleague were cancelled at the very last minute. With fifteen minutes to spare, I pulled on my pants and rushed to sunset mass. Too lazy to put much effort into dinner, so I just ordered a large bowl of Teochew fishball noodles at Albert Centre.





The next day wasn't very eventful. The only highlight was dinner with Tater at Aston's Specialty. One had to line up, order and pay up front before being shown to your table. Throat was a bit scratchy, so I went for hot tea and a herb-baked fish. Prices were cheap at sub SGD10, but the fish suffered looking at how thinly it was sliced. As usual, had a short chat at Tater's place before calling it a night.



Counting meals as a means to pass the time... A plate of soggy noodles from Amoy Food Centre, a bowl of kway chap from LauPaSat Festival Market and a horrible pastry puff from Bricco Cafe later, I was back in KL!