After our long bus journey which involved getting on and off a few times at the border for immigration procedures, we didn’t really feel like walking too far so after doing a few circles around the immediate vicinity, we decided to eat at an exciting looking hawker centre called the Lavender Food Centre.
There were up to 30 different food stalls selling a range of exciting foods from eminent frog porridge to simple spring rolls. We put a pack of tissues on a table because supposedly this is how you reserve your seat, and went for a look around the stalls. Our tired heads weren’t really working properly and we sat down again, still unsure of what we wanted so we settled for the stall nearest our table which was called ‘Starlit Homemade Curry’, sounded good to me. We chose a mutton curry, rice and bread to share, with a Tiger beer to wash it down. The mutton was chunky, tender and strong tasting and the curry sauce was delicious with a fairly soupy consistency and a meaty, spicy, definite Indian flavour. The bread was disappointingly just a few slices of crusty baguette, I was expecting Roti or Nan Bread, but it still served its purpose of mopping up the leftover sauce. This was enough for the night and we went back to our dungeon for an uncomfortable nights sleep. 
The next day we got up early and set about seeing some of the sights of Singapore. To be honest, in two days and with a limited budget, there wasn’t much for us to do. We were paying so much for our room (in backpacker terms!!) at £24 a night that we even had to compromise on the food and drink. Our breakfast consisted of going to a Kopitam, where we had a lovely coffee and some soft boiled eggs. Melissa proceeded to shell the eggs and the insides just slopped out onto a little saucer. They were the runniest soft boiled eggs I’ve ever seen. Melissa didn’t like them at all so I was left to mop up what I could with the few slices of toast I had. After looking very clumsy trying to balance egg slop on my toast, trying in vain to use my little spoon only to see the egg slide off, and even ungraciously slurping some of the egg off the saucer, I eventually just gave up with the runny mess and we set off on our day.
After visiting a fairly boring art gallery, even Melissa found it a bit dull, I was in desperate need for some more substantial food than runny eggs. We were also a bit disappointed that the famous Singapore Sling cocktail that was invented here at the very grand Raffles Hotel was premixed!! Priorities were prioritised and we started to look for a vegetarian Indian restaurant that I had read about that prided itself on huge portions of food, sounded good. About two minutes after we had sat down in the very basic but clean looking restaurant, the heavens opened and I was even more happy than usual to be sitting in a restaurant, watching people desperately trying to open their umbrellas as the torrential rain cut through the muggy air. Melissa ordered a rice dinner and I ordered the special of the day which was a Masala Thosa, more commonly known as a dosa in India. The food arrived at the table and the portions did not disappoint, they were humongous!!
I already knew that there was no way that Melissa was going to eat all of hers, which meant more for me, but then I looked at my monstrosity of Indian bread and wondered if I was going to finish all of mine. The bread itself had a consistency that was similar to Staffordshire oatcakes. It was stuffed with what looked like meat but being as we were in a Vegetarian restaurant with anti meat signs on the walls, it must have been some sort of substitute, maybe soy mince or lentils. Melissa’s rice dinner had no fewer than 10 dipping accompaniments, the highlights being the delicious tangy and spicy lime chutney, the unusual coconut dip and the green sludge looking substance that we assumed was spinach. Each dip had a totally unique flavour but there was so much food on the table that we had to leave some behind, something that we rarely do. 
Wondering around Singapore at night was a pleasant experience, the city is safe, well maintained and very tourist friendly. However, if you feel like having a drink in a bar you will find that a pint costs at least £6 which to us backpackers is just a crime! That’s a nights accommodation! This is where hawker centres come to the rescue. The great thing about these partly open air food centres is that there is a great range of food to choose from and you can just buy your beers from a shop at shop prices and take them to your table. We chose that night to eat at the Maxwell Road Hawker Centre, an established spot that we read was home to some of Singapore’s finest local cuisine. We did a lap of the giant food hall and disappointingly, many of the stalls were closed, maybe because of the time in the evening or day of the week, we weren’t too sure. There were still however many stalls to choose from and the usual hawker centre confusion crept over us… Imagine having forty different restaurants all around you with forty different menus serving many more different foods and hundreds of tables. It’s hard enough with one menu!! First things first, find a table, get a bottle of beer. It doesn’t matter where you sit, you don’t have to give your allegiance to one stall, you can order food from different stalls. I liked the look of the hanging crispy roast ducks and Melissa chose a beef kway teow noodle soup which is a famous local Singaporean dish. We set off to our different stalls and met back at our table with food in hand. My sliced crispy duck over rice was nothing special, it certainly didn’t look as good as the red, shiny, mouth-watering ducks that were hanging at the stall. I suppose the meat on my plate came from one of the ducks but the portion was meagre, there were lots of bones and not much meat and it just didn’t do the duck justice. Melissa’s noodle soup turned out to be noodles in a very thick, gravy like sauce. The noodles were thick, soft and ribbon like, and the sauce was slightly gelatinous, dark and delicious. The bowl was finished with a sprinkling of spring onions, peanuts and sesame seeds. Joy Feast!! Bellies full, legs worn out, our night was over.
Singapore’s modern, cosmopolitan vibe means that it’s not only great Singaporean food you can find. Our final day we went wondering towards the Arab Quarter and found a nice spot amongst the palm lined streets of this pleasant neighbourhood. We ordered a mint tea, hummus (again!) and tabouleh. The extremely hot, refreshing tea was a perfect tonic to an even hotter Singapore day, the hummus was wonderful, the tabouleh was fresh, healthy and wholesome and the flat breads were thick, hot and fluffy. Many bars and restaurants had shisha pipes and comfortable seating and the whole area was very laid back and friendly.
With a strong, lingering garlicky taste in my mouth, we set off to the Singapore National Museum, a huge, old building home to a maze of facts and history about Singapore. The museum inside was a lot more modern than the outside and we were given these little computer guide things that we put around our necks, we looked like the Ghostbusters! After being pummelled with Singapore’s history we were in desperate need of some coffee. Fortunately for us, we happened to stumble across a coffee shop that sold us probably the best coffee I have ever tasted. The shop was called Nanyang Old Coffee and we each had a small cup of coffee, served to us in an old fashioned little cup and saucer. The coffee was incredibly fresh, strong and thick. The dollop of condensed milk that had settled in the bottom of the cup, something of which I’m becoming a big fan of, gave the mouth a sweet wash after the bitter assault of the coffee, or in other words it helps to get rid of coffee breath!
Our brief stay in Singapore was nearly over. There was one last thing we decided to do which was to take an open top bus tour of the city that took you past all of the Christmas lights, mainly because it was free! We drove past a snow machine blasting Singaporean children with snow, something which they’ve never seen before, lots of lights, lots of shopping malls and some more lights. It was a strange way to end our time in Singapore. Somehow, even with all of the Christmas lights and music, it’s difficult for it to feel like Christmas when it’s 28°C outside at night!!
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