Discovering the Hainanese

Our visit to Singapore Universal Studios was a Semi-Disaster due to the unexpected bad weather. We hardly went on outside rides but made sure that we are in the Jurassic Rapids, the best ride in the park. We had to wait in the queue for about an hour (which is usually considered fast moving there) and had an exciting Jurassic Water Adventure.

I was quite hungry after all the waiting, animatronic dinosaurs and water splashes. So we decided to have lunch at the Discover Food Court.

The place, though heavily crowded (most of them were there to escape the rain), reminded me of the Visitor Center in Jurassic Park.

There was a huge queue to the food counter. We could see only two items on the display board from there and hence decided to go with it . The Hainanese Chicken Rice Set and the Roasted Chicken Rice Set.

The Hainanese chicken rice set had Sliced up Grilled Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Rice and Onion Sprouts.

"The chicken is prepared in traditional Hainanese methods which involve the boiling of the entire chicken in a pork and chicken bone stock, reusing the broth over and over and only topping it up with water when needed, in accordance with the Chinese preferences for creating master stocks. This stock is not used for rice preparation, which instead involves chicken stock created specifically for that purpose, producing an oily, flavourful rice sometimes known as "oily rice" with Southeast Asian pandan leaves added sometimes. Some cooks may add coconut milk to the rice, reminiscent of the Malay dish nasi lemak." - Wiki

The Roasted Chicken Rice set had a No-Frills Roasted Chicken , Flavored Cabbage Slices,Rice and Onion Sprouts.

Being inside the park, the food was comparatively expensive at 10.50 S$ each.

Don't ,by any chance ,miss out on the Hainanese Chicken Rice set, if you are anywhere near Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand. It is definitely worth a try.

Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice in Singapore

For the first 2 nights of my Singapore visit ,I had to stay at the CityHub hotel in Jalan Besar. The Dinner at hotel was so bad that I had to go out and eat once again at 11 PM.

Right across the street was the famous Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice shop. I saw people standing there patiently waiting for their turn to taste the delicious scissor chopped meal at midnight.

Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry Rice Shop.

On my way to the top of the queue I saw pretty interesting stuff set out in the shelves.

Fried Larvae

Drumsticks

When I arrived at the Cut Centre, the man with the scissors asked me " yo whataa dhu you needth"? ( I am no Russell Peters and I don't do very good impressions.)

Honeslty i didn't knew the names of most of the items laid down before me. Some where black, some green and some where brown. I just went with my instincts and pointed everything in an order which seemed appropriate to me. He took everything and made small cuts out of it with his scissors and put those in a bowl of rice. Threw in some gravy and gave me the plate.

Scissor Cut Rice Plate.

The plate with everything chopped on it was 3 S$. It had beef, pork, fish, chicken, squid and almost everything that I've ever eaten, all together. But the combo was pretty good. Fish cakes were well cooked. The red and white meat were neat and juicy.

But the quantity wasn't that great. I was still hungry and wanted to try a few more items in the shelf.

The Shark Egg.

The Ultimate Combo. Drumstick, Grilled Shark and Meat Sausage with Chilly Paste.

In my 5 day-long Singapore trip, I've had 5 Plates of Scissor Cut Rice. I think that pretty much sums it up!

Ulu Ulu of Singapore Zoo Night Safari

By the dusk of my first day in singapore, I was dead tired from the day-long walking , standing and shooting. After finishing my Night Safari tour at the Zoo (which is an experience of great value by its own) , I was looking for a place to eat. Night Safari Campus itself offers a variety of restaurants and food outlets and as I was keen on having some authentic strange food, I chose Ulu Ulu.

The menu ranges from local favorites to international cuisines and the ambience is active with the cries and songs of Frogs, Cicades and other creatures of the night.

We could make our order right at the counter ,also the area where the actual cooking takes place, and wait under the burnished wooden roof till your dish is ready to go. The place is near to the bornean tribal art performance arena, so you can enjoy your food and the show at the same time.

We chose the Duck with Noodles & Beans and the Chicken Rice Set.

Now the people who eat with their noses, don't even try this. Frankly you don't deserve any of this. It might smell weird but it tastes so good, I am not even trying to convince you guys.

The food was quiet expensive as this being inside the Zoo, but was totally worth it. The Duck was 25 S$ a plate and the Chicken was priced at a reasonable (?) 15 S$.

Kong Kee Mutton Soup : Singapore

One thing I will never forget from my Singapore trip 2011 is the Kong Kee Mutton Soup I had from the Family-run street food place at 227,Jelan Besar Street. The lady makes this delicious mutton soup and serves that with some hot rice and traditional Red Chilly Sauce. The place is a little dingy,dimly lit and occasionally noisy, but trust me, that adds up to the whole experience. You can sit by the side of the road,listen to the feeble retro chinese song and enjoy the soup with chopsticks and a soup spoon.

Chopped Mutton Pieces ready to be cooked.

Even the idea of having a soup with chopsticks was scary. But I saw people sitting next to me doing the art with perfection.

The Kong Kee Mutton Soup comes in 3 variants. The 2 S$ Soup, The 3 S$ Soup and the 5 S$ Soup. Must be quantity of the pieces that draws the line, Anyway I had room only for the 2 S$ Soup and it was pretty fulfilling. It tastes wonderful with the mutton pieces so tender and grainy. The rice is well cooked and goes well with the Soup. Not too spicy but served hot so watch your tongue. The place opens up only after 8 PM but goes on till 1 AM. To sum it up, A must try for all potential singapore visitors out there!