Places to eat in Shanghai :)

Below are some of the good food to eat in Shanghai, if you happen have a chance to visit Shanghai one day :)

Shanghai food:

 1. Lai Lai Xiao Long - 莱莱小笼 (Michelin)

Lailai Xiao Long - Must eat the crab and meat xiao long bao :)

Address: Huangpu, Tianjin Road No.504

Recommended food: crab and meat xiao long bao (soup dumpling) 8 pcs/basket - CNY46, ginger with vinegar (to enhance the depth of the xiao long bao flavor - CNY1 per small plate), fried pork cutlet - CNY25, crab and shrimp Wonton soup 8 pcs/bowl - CNY55. 

Open 8am-9.30pm. I was second in queue around 7.40am. Before, there was nobody. But once the queue was formed, it was getting longer, longer, and longer. You need to come early (slightly around or before 7.30am) to avoid longer waiting time. 

2. Xiao Shao Xing - 小绍兴

Xiao Shao Xing - Sliced boiled chicken or baizhanji :)

Address: Huangpu, Yunnan South Rd No. 69

Recommended food: sliced boiled cold chicken or baizhanji - CNY55 per500g or CNY77 for half chicken, scallion oil noodle - CNY8/bowl, and chicken congee - CNY3. 

The chicken dish may look simple but it is prepared with superior quality compared to ordinary poultry. It is served with dipping sauce.

It is a traditional brand food street shop (government owned) and has been there for a long time. If you prefer something to eat that is simpler and healthier, this is the place to go. My local Shanghai friend brought me here. It was perfect to have it with Qingdao beer :D

3. Da Hu Chun - 大壶春

Address: Huangpu, 11 Sichuan Rd (South) and many other branches.

Recommended food: pan fried pork buns - CNY11 for 4 pcs or small pans one - CNY39 for 10 pcs.

4. Xiao Yang's Sheng Jian or pan fried bun - 小杨生煎

Address: Hongyi Plaza 299 Nanjing Rd E or 178 Ningbo Rd and many other branches.

Recommended food: Xiao Yang pan fried pork buns - CNY13 for 4 pcs. If you want to try more choices, you can choose the 3 flavor in 1 plate (pork meat, prawn mala, and vegetables) - CNY24.50 for 6pcs. 

Personally, I like both the pork bun and prawn mala fillings. It is very juicy and tasty. Bite a little hole on the soft part of the skin, and slurp the juice before biting the big flesh, otherwise you will burst the whole juice out and become a waste :D I did not have a chance to visit Da Hu Chun and managed to try the 3 flavor pan fried bun here at Xiao Yang. It was good. You can add some sauce and chili oil provided by the restaurant.

Xiao Yang's and Xiesanbao combo - Must eat both :)

5. Xie San Bao - 蟹叁宝上海 

Address: Huangpu, Tianjin Road No.513 and many other branches

Recommended food: crab roe noodle, crab roe rice, crab roe porridge. I paid CNY103 for takeaway the crab roe noodle (inclusive of the warmer bag, plastic container and cutlery). It was better to eat it at the restaurant. They give two small side dishes (black fungus - really nice! and very salty beans - not to my liking) plus vinegar to be eaten with the noodle. 

I bought takeaway because my hotel is very near from this restaurant (only 3 minutes walk) so the noodle was still warm and the crab roe was still hot when I had it. It was not cheap but I really love the taste. The noodle was thin type, portion was just nice for me as I also takeaway 6 pieces of the Xiao Yang pan fried bun back to hotel. If I just had to eat it alone, perhaps I would order rice to make my stomach fuller. 

There are plenty of restaurants in Shanghai that sell the crab roe noodle. I chose this because it was the nearest from my hotel and it ended up good enough. Plus the staff who took my order was very good and friendly. She asked me not to go anywhere after ordering because it would be ready very fast (since I ordered noodle and had to be eaten fast to prevent soggy). The order really came in about 5 minutes time.

6. Shucaiji Sheng Jian - 舒菜记 生煎菜饭 

Address: Huangpu, 49 Yunnan Rd (Middle) and many other branches

Recommended food: pan fried pork buns - CNY10 for 4 pcs and vegetarian fried rice - CNY15 per plate.

7. Xian De Lai Chop Nian Gao -  鲜得来

Xian De Lai Pork Chop and Nian Gao or rice cake :)

Address: Huangpu, Yunnan South Rd No. 36

Recommended food: fried pork cutlet with 4 pieces of nian gao (rice cake) and soup (with 2 pieces of kind of yong dou fu items) - CNY23 per set.

This is also government operated and owned restaurant. That is why it sells the food with a very affordable prices. According to my local Shanghai friend, this local food was not that popular until one of the Chinese TV drama was taken at this restaurant. Since then, the sales was boosting up and everyone wanted to try the food.

FYI, pour the Xian De Lai soy sauce into your pork cutlet before eating to add the flavor. Not many people know this. Only local Shanghai people know about it :D

8. Wei Xiang Zhai Noodle Restaurant - 味香斋面点 (Michelin)

Address: Huangbu, Hubei Rd No. 151

Recommended food: sesame sauce noodle with scallion  - CNY14 per portion and beef broth - CNY10 per bowl.

Too bad my days were too short in Shanghai. The food here looks so delicious. Maybe one day when I visit Shanghai again, I will drop by and dine here.

9. Jia Jia Tang Bao - 佳家汤包

Address: Huangpu, Huanghe Rd No. 127

Recommended food: pork meat xiao long bao (soup dumpling) 12 pcs/basket - CNY23, scallion oil noddle - CNY12, dry crab roe noodle with soup set - CNY89, 

10. Huxi Lao Nong Tang Pork Liver Noodle - 沪西老弄堂面馆 

Address: Guang dong Rd, No. 500

Recommended food: clam and pig liver noodle - CNY38, large intestine noodle - CNY34, fried pork cutlet - CNY18.

If I have a chance to visit Shanghai again, I will definitely visit this shop!!! A must visit spot for pork liver noodle lover :)

Shanghai snacks/sweets:

1.Shen Dacheng - 沈大成

Shen Dacheng - tasty and sweet green red bean rice ball qingtuan :)

Address: 636 Nanjing Rd (East) - the only Branch that make the fresh one.

Recommended food: shuang niang tuan (双酿团) - CNY5, jin tuan (金团) - CNY5, tiaotou gao (条头糕) - CNY4 and red bean qingtuan (青团) - CNY5 or egg yolk with pork floss qingtuan- CNY8. All is made of glutinous rice. 

2. Shanghai Hongkou Gaotuan Foodstuff Factory - 虹口糕团 

Address: Jingan Nanjing West Rd No. 969 (Tongli Commercial Building F B1)

Recommended food: glutinous rice cakes wrapped with sesame and youtiao 全家福 - CNY10

3. Park Hotel Deli - 国际饭店西饼屋

Park Hotel Deli - famous butterfly (sweet and savory) cookies. Perfect for gifts back home :)

Address: Huangpu, Huanghe Rd No. 28

Recommended food: the original sweet - CNY32 and cheese savory butterfly cookies - CNY35

Got to know about this from my local Shanghai friend. He was the one who recommended me to buy this when I mentioned about the butterfly pastry. The queue was crazy. It took him 70 minutes starting from the + Junction traffic light until the ordering place. He was kindly queueing on my behalf as I had to go back to hotel to pack and check out :D Both flavor are delicious. Each has its unique strength. Worth queueing for!!! :) Fyi, you can smell the fragrant butter while queueing from a far :D

4. Panyongxing Cake - 潘甬兴糕点

Address: Jingan Wujiang Rd No. 269

Recommended food: Tiaotou cake, peppermint cake, mugwort rice cake, citrus cake or juhonggao, Handmade糍毛球 (sticky rice balls), 酒酿糕 osmanthus (fermented rice cake);小米糕 (millet cake) and黑米糕 (black rice cake).

Western Bakery in Shanghai:

It has been a trend these days with the upcoming western bakeries in Shanghai. People post at TikTok bringing awareness of these bakeries that not only having wide variety of breads and cakes, but also have Instragammable outlook. Brands like Butterful and Cremorous, Amamlon Bakery Town, Fascino or Fengshengli, the Bakehouse Grand Liz, Pompi Tiramisu, etc. like what you can see at the photo below. All these can be found near West Nanjing Rd metro.

You can also found good cafes and beverage shops like Birdie Cup Coffee or Xiaoniaobei, Manner Coffee, Chagee Bawang Chaji, Goolden, Tims Tianhao Coffee, and so on.

Birdie cup coffee - Nice one :)

And you can find many at other places too, good place to take a break after walking or shopping too much. Hahahaha.... :P Also the best place to chit chat with old friends :)

Manner Coffee

Since I only had 3 days 2 nights stay in Shanghai, I tried those that I could not find in Singapore. So I had to miss Luckin coffee and Chagee although it was much cheaper than in Singapore :D 

There are many more food establishments that you can visit during your stay in Shanghai. I only covered a few here since I had a short visit this time. But I hope, it could help you for your next visit there. Hope you can enjoy the Shanghai delicacies as I did. Happy eating!!! :)

Where to go and what to do in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

We spent a night in Karakol. Karakol is the forth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located near the eastern part of Issyk Kul Lake. It used to be a place where the Russian military outpost founded in 18th century, and also the place where the place where large number of Dungan, the Chinese Muslim fleeing warfare in China. I will share here some of the places that you can visit or things you can do in Karakol.

Holy Trinity Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Church) - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

1. Visit the Russian wooden Orthodox church called Holy Trinity Cathedral. The building was constructed in 1894-1895, replacing the earlier church that was destructed by the earthquake. During that period, this church was initially built as a chapel for the Russian military personnel. Later on, after the 1917 revolution, it also served as a school, sport hall, theatre, and even a coal store, before it was briefly returned as a church. By 1961, again it was not used as church until the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. 

The church is beautified with flowers and trees at its surrounding, plus the snow capped mountains view as the background. Inside it was quiet, calm and peaceful. You could grab some wooden souvenir or accessories to bring home afterward. 

Dungan Mosque - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

2. Visit Dungan Mosque - a mosque built and designed in 1904 by Dungan, the Chinese Muslim, without a single nail and looks resemble like a Buddhist temple. If you visit it in September, the place will look more like a garden with so many beautiful roses beautified the area. Fruit trees like pear, apple, and walnut would be full of fruits too!!! We were lucky that the staff plucking some of the apples and pears to be shared with us. I had them for breakfast next day and it was really wonderful!!! They were juicy, sweet and crunchy, most importantly, organic and grew with TLC (tender loving care) :D

Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

3. Shop local products at the Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - a store that sells natural, high quality handmade products made by local community, such as: honey (Kyrgyzstan is famous for its pure white honey and varieties of honey from Kyrgyz mountains), wool products (bookmarks, wallet, hat, shawl, doll, slippers, bags, etc.), various local fruit juices and jams made of sea buckthorn, barberry, raspberry, walnut, etc., soaps, lip balm, hand cream, paintings, various handcrafts, etc. You can try some of the products before deciding to purchase or not. The store commits to support the local communities with OVOP - One Village One Product concept - to produce, sell, and earn from their products sustainably. You can find more information about the shop here. 

Dinner at Dungan Family House - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

4. Have dinner at Dungan family house, tasting the dishes that Chinese Muslim would eat on their daily life. We were given a private room where 7 of us could peacefully enjoy our meal. They served 9 different types of dishes plus laghman (handmade pulled noodle - similar with Chinese lamian) as the base to eat the dishes with. The owner's son served us the food personally, explained their cultures and traditions, also origins with us. He could speak a little Chinese too as he went to learn Chinese in China himself, so that he could communicate better with his guests (many Chinese or Chinese Asians guests came and dined at his house). It was a great experience and for us, we could finally have something Chinese in our food after almost a week of mostly Central Asia food on our menus. Hahaha... Something spicy and delicious :D

5. Visit Karakol local bazaar. Unfortunately it had closed by the time we reached Karakol and we did not have time to visit the next day as we still have many places to go. But if you have more days to visit, it will be a great experience to see how it looks like and what types of things they sell over there.

We continued our journey to Bokonbayevo village and on our way, we passed by many places, which I will cover next. Stay tune :)

What and where to eat local food in Singapore

Memories of hawker center and its good food

Many of my friends come to Singapore and they often ask me this question, "What should we eat (local food) in Singapore? And where?", especially for the first timer.

I have been living here for more that twenty years now but it does not mean that I have tried every nice local food here because of many concerns. First, the location. Yes, Singapore is a small country and you can go almost everywhere using the public transport such as MRT and bus. But for me, I do not eat out every day. Even if I do, I just go to the places nearby where I live or work. Otherwise, when I eat out while meeting friends or family members.

Second, the queue. Many eating places in Singapore are famous for its food. But famous often relates to long queue. I would not waste my time queueing too long to eat nice food.

Third, the price. The more famous the place, also the more it nears to city center, shopping belt and other touristic places, the higher the food price would be. For tourist who comes to Singapore once in a while, they would be ready to spend more money for the delicious famous local food. P.S. For eating in restaurant, you have to fork out additional 10% for service charge and 8% (9% in 2024) of GST - Goods and Service Tax, apart from your bill.

But still, I will give some suggestions of what to eat and where. Whether they want to go ahead with it or not, it will be up to them.

First, you might want to experience to eat at the local hawker center. 

"A hawker center or cooked food center is an open-air complex commonly found in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. They were built to provide a more sanitary alternative to mobile hawker carts and contain many stalls that sell different varieties of affordable meals. Dedicated tables and chairs are usually provided for diners." - Source: wikipedia.org

As mentioned above, it is usually slightly more affordable, no air-conditioning, no service provided (mostly self-service - queue, order, and collect your food), using plastic (not easily break) bowls, plates, cutleries with plastic trays as well, clean the table yourself after finish eating (otherwise you will get fine - Starting 1 September 2021, enforcement officers will continue to advise diners to properly clear their dirty tray, crockery and litter and enforcement will apply to diners who do not heed the officers’ advice. First-time offenders will be issued with a written warning. Subsequent offenders may face composition or court fines of S$300 - Source: NEA.gov.sg), more varieties of food sold, more local ambience or feel - especially with the sight of those uncles occupying table with bucket beers, groups of uncles aunties occupying table, each with glass of kopi or teh on the table, some playing Pokemon, some with shopping trolleys below the tables - usually during breakfast time, and so on.

There are many hawker centers you can experience in Singapore. I will list those nearer to the city center (as more tourists living there).

Maxwell Food Center

1. Maxwell Food Center - nearest MRT: Maxwell/ Chinatown. This place is famous for Fu Shun Shao La Mian Jia (selling roasted meat, char siew, wanton noodle, etc), Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (long queue but price has increased a lot and tastes so so for me), Fried Kway Teow • Fried Prawn Mee • Fried Oyster • Carrot Cake stall (01-53), Rojak · Popiah & Cockle (which you can share with your group - the mixed fruit rojak with peanut crunchy sauce), ( China Street Hum Jin Pang (selling local fried dough - either filled with red bean or made with five spice powder - with a cup of black coffee, Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake (one of my favorite local snacks - must eat with the provided chili sauce), Heng Heng Ondeh-Ondeh & Tapioca Cake (if you want to try the sweet stuff/ local dessert - freshly made every day).

The middle picture - Baguette Huong Viet (Vietnam food) and Bold x Braised (Taiwanese food) - that are located side by side, are recommended by local in case you do not feel like eating local food. Portion, price, and taste are all good.

2. Old Airport Road Food Center - nearest MRT: Dakota. This place is famous for To-Ricos Kway Chap Old Airport Road (delicious pork organs dishes with silky, smooth and chewy white flat noodle - must eat for pork lover!!!), Roast Paradise (roasted pork and char siew with rice), Xiang Ji Lor Mee (thick noodle with dark brown thick broth and fillings), sweet icy desserts at Nyonya Chendol,small little dessert (min jiang kueh or traditional pancake with peanut, red bean, coconut fillings, etc.) at Munchi Pancake, locally craft beer at Hello Ren Min, etc. 

3. Chinatown Complex Food Center - nearest MRT: Chinatown. It is located at the second floor. There are many delicious local food that you can eat and drink. Try the local coffee or tea at the 1950's Coffee “五十年代”. You have not eaten local food in Singapore if you have not tried the breakfast set that contains the traditional kaya toast, half-boiled egg, and tea/coffee. Not all coffee stall gives you a nice cup of coffee though as different stall sources different type of coffee beans. Fret not, if you do not have time to visit hawker center, you can just go to Yakun Kaya Toast to have a taste of this local breakfast set. You can find it especially near shopping area. 

I recommend you to visit this hawker center in the morning time as with empty stomach, you can eat more and they have so much variety of food here. 

Ann Chin Popiah from Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre 

Jia Ji Mei Shi offers local breakfast food such as: chee cheong fan, yam cake, triangle rice dumpling, soon kueh, taro cake, peanut porridge, fried bee hoon, etc. You can buy one each and share it with your accompanies. Ann Chin Popiah offers delicious wrapped cooked turnip, veg, bean sprout, grated peanut, crispy bits, and boiled egg. Personally, I love this very much! You can also try their kueh pie tee (with crispy made cup instead of wrapped with popiah skin). 

You can try chwee kueh as breakfast too at the Bedok chwee kueh 水粿. Chwee kueh is a steamed water with rice flour and combination of other gluten-free flour served with cooked preserved turnip/ chai poh and chili - originated from Teo Chew. The chili is a bit oily but taste better with it than without.

If you like fried kway teow, you can try Hill Street Fried Kway Teow. They still cook it with cockles, prawns, preserved sausage, and crispy pork bits. When your body needs some nourishment after so much walk, you may want to try the herbal soup from Herbal Soup 瓦罐煨汤. The soups are cooked using the clay pot burnt with charcoal. If you not sure what to eat, you can ask the seller which soup is suitable to your needs. 

For lunch, you can have the soya chicken, roasted pork, and/ or char siew rice or noodle at the famous Hawker Chan 香港油鸡饭面2/F, the origin store. You may need to queue though.

Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice

If you have time to spare for dinner (open from 4.30 to 10.30pm), you may want to order the clay pot rice at Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice. It may take at least half an hour for the food to be ready but it is prepared fresh and from scratch upon ordering and cooked on top of the charcoal, which gives it a fragrant rice as a result. Inside the mixed rice, they put the chicken chunks, mushroom, preserved sausage, salted fish, and vegetable. Before serving, they will pour dark soy sauce and shallot oil. This shop has more than 40 years history and recognized as one of the Michelin-Bib Gourmand stalls. 

When you go Chinatown, you sure want to taste some Chinese food. Zhong Guo La Mian Xiao Long Bao 中国拉面小笼包 is famous for their xiao long bao (steamed juicy pork dumpling made with thin skin), pan fried or steamed dumplings, beef noodle, zha jiang mian (fried bean sauce noodle), and so on. You have to queue and wait for your food though because they prepare it fresh upon ordering.

For dessert, you may want to try the peanut/sesame/red bean ball soup (ginger or peanut soup) at the 75 Ah Balling Peanut Soup. You can try other local dessert at 一 一五糖水 115 Tang Shui. They sell sesame paste, peanut paste, combination of both, bobo chacha, walnut paste, almond paste, and so on. For cold dessert, you can taste delicious Chendol at Old Amoy Chendol.

4. Hong Lim Market and Food Center - nearest MRT: Chinatown. Ji Ji Wanton Noodle Specialist is famous for local. Long queue is expected during peak hours (lunch and dinner). Take note on the opening time as the stall close in between. If you crave for laksa, you can try it at the Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa. They also sell mee siam, which is also my favorite! This hawker is famous for curry chicken noodle from Heng Kee Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee. So, if you are fans of curry noodle, join the queue and try it! The Tai Wah bak chor mee (minced pork meat noodle) is famous too but usually at a long queue. So does with Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. If you have enough time, join the queue!!! If you like the combination of chicken cutlet curry noodle, you can try it at the Cantonese Delights - 廣東小吃. Try to avoid peak hour though!  

5. Tekka Market and Food Center - nearest MRT: Little India. It is just finished being renovated and now has opened for business starting beginning of October 2023. Indian food lover, you can head here and eat some delicious Indian such as nasi Briyani at the Allauddin's Briyani, Yakader Muslim Food, roti prata at the Prata Saga Sambal Berlada, Ar Rahman Royal Prata, various Indian Muslim food including roti prata, briyani, rice with meat or fish curry at Zham Zham Muslim Food, etc. 

You can also find non-Indian local food here, such as prawn noodle from 545 Whampoa Prawn Noodles, duck rice from Heng Gi Goose and Duck Rice, mee siam and Chinese rojak - not the fruit rojak by the way - from Grandma Mee Siam 燻鲨鱼五香虾饼, and so on. Talking about rojak, you can taste the Indian rojak at the Temasek Indian Rojak. You can not even find it in India :D if you know what I mean. So, fulfil your craving of various Indian food at this hawker center!!!

6. Golden Mile Food Centre - nearest MRT: Nicole Highway. I have eaten the chili mee (noodle) from Chung Cheng Chilli Mee/崇正辣椒面 since many many years ago, and still love it!!! The mee is topped with prawns, pork ribs, fish cakes, taupok, slices of boiled egg, bean sprouts, and of course, chili, accompanied with a bowl of soup. If you can bear spicy food, you can try it!!!

Chung Cheng Chilli Mee - Golden Mile Food Centre

If you love the fried Hokkien prawn mee, you may want to try You Fu's. Just by looking at the photos from Google map, it makes me drooling and craving for it :D For prawn mee soup, you can try it at Liang Seah Street Prawn Noodle.

The Chinese beef noodle and Singapore style beef noodle are different. Have you tried one? If you are a fans of it, or curious how it tastes like, you can try one at the Bugis (Longhouse) Lim Kee Beef Noodles. You can choose soup type or the thick gravy type. Try both if you cannot decide, but personally if I am alone, I would choose the dry (thick gravy) one. It uses white round noodle poured with gravy and topped with salted vegetable, and a small bowl of soup at the side.

Keng Heng Whampoa Teochew Lor Mee serves good lor mee. Apart from the usual fish cake, pork belly, fried fish, and ngoh hiang, the seller put in fried fish skin and wanton as well. The gravy is thick and nice. Do not forget to put some garlic and chili, plus drizzle some black vinegar on it. Guarantee, you will love it!!! :)

For duck rice lover, you may want to join the queue at the Ah Xiao Teochew Duck Rice (亞笑潮洲卤鸭). Many people recommend this place.

Have you ever tried the peranakan dish Singapore style? “Peranakan” generally refers to a person of mixed Chinese and Malay/Indonesian heritage. The peranakan food is the result of blending Chinese ingredients with various distinct spices and cooking techniques used by them. The taste is somehow heavy depending on various spices they use. I never try the food here myself, but one day I would love to bring my friend who loves eating peranakan food to eat at Charlie's Peranakan Food. The price is not very cheap but I think it is worth it as it really needs right spices both in quantity and types in order to make a delicious ones and the portion is quite a lot. They sell varieties of it, such as: babi ponteh, itek sio, sambal lengkong (spicy fish floss), ayam buah keluak, etc. The names itself are exotic and make you wonder how the taste would like. Go down and try it if you are curious! :) The dishes are supposed to be eaten with rice, so do not forget to order plain rice with it.

Tulang (bones) lover must have known Deen Tulang Specialist very well!!! The stall has been there since more than 2 decades ago. Expect for a queue!!! Must try - sup tulang merah (red mutton bone marrow soup - originated in Singapore). Use your hand to pick, eat, and suck the bones. Use the other end of the spoon or even straw to take the filling out from the bones - just be creative with it! Be careful not to dirty your clothes or people's clothes surrounding you hehehe... And better not wearing white shirt here! :D Can try the mee goreng too! 

For dessert, a bowl of icy grass jelly would be perfect for such a hot Singapore weather!!! You can get it at the Zhao An Granny Grass Jelly. You can add toppings like nata de coco, palm seeds, longan, and sea coconuts. Or head down to Thong Sum Hot & Cold Desserts 糖心糖水 for a more variety desserts!!! 

7. People's Park Food Centre - nearest MRT: Chinatown. Back to Chinatown area. I think this place is a favorite place for Chinese people who come from China to work in Singapore since many food stalls here are selling the Chinese food that suit their taste buds. Chinese noodle and dumpling, Mala hotpot, grilled fish, cold dishes, etc. Sunday will be the worst day for you to visit as this place will sure be very crowded. There are two sides of seating area though. So when one side is crowded, try to sit at the other side. 

Ri Ri Hong Mala Xiang Guo - People's Park Food Center, Chinatown

Ri Ri Hong Mala Xiang Guo 日日紅麻辣香鍋 used to serve the best Mala hotpot. I brought so many friends to eat their food. But after the recent renovation, I personally feel that the standard has dropped. It has become dried and less tasty (perhaps they cut down on their spices when cooking the ingredients. They have two stalls. One in front, and another one at the back. I have tried them both recently and do not reach my expectation. But you may want to give it a try because you may like them. 

Hong Peng La Mian Xiao Long Bao is my most favorite shop in this hawker center. I have purchased from them since long time ago, since before they moved their shop from the other side. They serve the best Zha Jiang Mian or fried bean paste noodle and kuo tie or fried dumpling, in my opinion. Their xiao long bao and hot sour and spicy soup are delicious too! They make the dumpling fresh almost every day. In the past, he even pulled the noodle in front of you upon ordering, but now he uses machine as the quantity ordered increased and only few of them work. Try it and see if you agree with me :)

I am not a fans of braised duck, but this stall - Lek Kee Authentic Teochew Braised Duck - are liked by many. People say the stall serves a very good Teochew braised duck dishes. 

Yong Xiang Xing Dou Fu 永祥興豆腐 always draws long queue. Fyi this shop sells clear soup with variety of tofu (beancurd) with fish cake products and fish ball. Most customers are elderly but they keep coming back. It must be one of the comfort food for them and their ingredients are freshly made.

If you want to try homemade local delicacies, you can head to Fatt Soon Kueh. They sell soon kueh (Teochew style steamed crystal skin dumpling filled with jicama, bamboo shoot, black fungus and carrot), ku chye kueh (made of chive), and png kueh or rice kueh (Teochew glutinous peach-shape kueh).

8. Seah Im Food Centre - nearest MRT: Harbour Front. Usually I will have breakfast here before starting my morning walk to Mt Faber and Henderson Waves. But after renovation, I have not gone there yet, maybe soon. This hawker center has lots of Indian and Muslim food. I will usually order teh tarik or teh halia here as they will usually pull the tea in the making. With the tea, epok epok (curry puff) from Makan Boleh and some other fried stuff would be the perfect companion, like sardine puff, jemput jemput (sweet fried banana balls), bakwan (vegetable fritters), and goreng pisang (fried banana).

I love having roti prata (Indian flatbread dish served with curry) for breakfast too, also perfect with my teh tarik and teh halia. You can get it from Mohamad Arafat Muslim Food.

If you crave for Malay food like mee rebus, mee soto, soto ayam, lontong, gado gado, satay, etc. you can try the Daliman's Corner. If you love chicken rice, you can have it from the Aspirasi Food Galore.

At Shi Ji Noodle Stall, you can order prawn soup noodle and braised duck lor mie. If you crave for fried kway teow, you can have it from Seah Im Fried Kway Teow Mee. Fish ball and minced meat noodle from Lucky Fishball Noodle Stall 好運魚圓麵攤 is nice and coffee and tea from Coffee Queen stall is recommended too!

9. Changi Village Hawker Centre - nearest bus terminal: Changi Village. There is no MRT nearby and more accessible by taking the public bus. Located at the eastern side of Singapore, it offers varieties of delicious food that sometimes people come all the way just to eat. 

I love nasi lemak, the fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk, eaten with fried egg, ikan bilis (small fried salted fish), fried peanut, cucumber, and sambal chili. It is best eaten with additional fried chicken wing and otah (grilled fish paste wrapped in banana leaf). I used to go to this hawker center just to eat the nasi lemak here from Mizzy Corner Nasi Lemak. It was my favourite! However, there is also another stall - International Muslim Food Stall Nasi Lemak - where you can buy. 

One of my favorite faraway hawker center - Changi Village

Later on, other food is proven to be good there too, apart from nasi lemak. Weng Kee Original Taste Ipoh Hor Fun serves a delicious Ipoh Horfun, added with chicken chop. Do not forget to add the sour green chilli! You will crave for another bowl! 

If you like satay bee hoon, you can try Ho Guan Satay Bee Hoon. There is lesser people selling this local food nowadays, hard to find, especially good one. Satay bee hoon is rice vermicelli with kang kong (morning glory), cuttlefish, pork slices, bean sprout, prawn, with lots of chili-based peanut sauce. I eat them once in a while. Really good!! If you have not tried it yet, order one and share.

On your way home, do not bring empty hand. You have traveled far to this place. Dabao (takeaway) some fried stuff snacks from the Million Star Fried Banana and Mei Xiang Goreng Pisang (美香炸香蕉,as it would be prefect with a cup of coffee or tea for the evening tea time. They have various snacks to choose from. I always dabao goreng pisang or fried banana from Warung Nenek. Their bananas are always sweet, its outer layer is crunchy, coated with sesame seeds. It is cheap too. You can always air-fry them at home before eating. Or you can eat them at the nearby Changi beach park :)

Wahh... so many food to eat and all at different places!!! So you know now why I never ever slim down in my life? Hahahaha.... ^^" Singapore is really heaven for food, as many people would eat outside rather than cooking at home. For singles and married couple or even small family with only 1 or 2 children, the cost of eating outside would be more or less or even cheaper than buying food ingredients and cook at home. Not yet count the amount of time and energy required to buy the ingredients, carrying it all the way to home, washing, cutting, preparing, cooking, and again, washing the dishes after eating. When you go to hawker center, you just have to spend time to queue and order your food (sometimes to find seat during peak hours), and money to buy the food you required. At least you do not have to wash the plates afterwards.

But of course, eating out every day would not be a good choice to maintain good health and diet. Exercise is needed and balance meal is important as well (perhaps includes the oatmeal / other healthier options on your daily food intake, choose more vegetable dishes or even salad, and not forgetting to take fruits or dairy like milk, yoghurt) to fulfill the required nutrition for your body. 

As and when I am free, I will update more on the hawker center and food list onto this post.

P.S. I do not do any advertisement or receive any benefit from posting this here. I just want to help my fellow friends who come and visit Singapore and want to know where and what to eat here, especially local Singaporean food, which will add their eating experience from this part of the world. Hope it helps! :)

Almost forgot!!! Please check the location, opening time and day, directions, from Google Map. Thank you!

Lunch pack

Lunch pack (Pic source: Google.com)

When I went to Australia, I always saw people bringing lunch pack to school and/ or to work as it was not only healthier, but also most importantly, more affordable. The price of buying lunch outside was pretty expensive, especially in city area. It was wiser to save the money by bringing the leftover food from the day before and reheated it at the office pantry upon consumption. 

In Bhutan, it was a normal thing for people to bring lunch pack from home. They even exchanged their food so that they could taste different dishes every day. These days, the cost of living in city area had increased tremendously too, and it was only wiser to bring the homecooked food from home. They had the taste of love of their spouse, siblings, and parents too.

I really loved the idea of bringing lunch pack to work and/ or to school.

So this time, as I went back to workforce, I decided to prepare my lunch pack too! I was quite exciting with the idea actually! 

There was a fridge, kettle, and a toaster in my office. However, there was no microwave. So, if I brought food to work, I would have to eat it in cold condition (heated food was better for the stomach and the taste).

At my first week to work, I made a-week portion of potato salad (so I could keep it inside the fridge before consumption). I had it for four days in a row, but later on, I realised that it was not a good choice to bring salad to work because the air-coonditioner in my office was super cold!!! I even had to wear a thick sweater every day hahaha...

Pumpkin soup :)

My brain thought hard and later on, I got a better idea. The next weeks onwards, I made soup to bring to work :) because I had the thermal pot that could keep my soup hot upon consumption time. I could eat it with bread too in case it was a thin soup. 

I loved soup, especially when eaten in cold environment. And I loved making and eating the Western soup, not the Chinese style. 

So I made different soup each week and got the recipes from Google. So far, I have made and brought the potato soup, tomato soup, pumpkin soup, mushroom soup, white bean plus vegetable and tomato soup. It really suited my taste bud hahahaha.... Sometimes I even wondered how good I was in making soup, although there was no experience in making one before :P

Only buy fresh ingredients :)

Every Saturday after finishing my walk, I would stop by at the supermarkets in the area and bought the ingredients. Either at the same day or the day before, I would prepare a week portion soup, divided it into 5 containers, and freezed it so that it could last longer. 

I moved the container out from freezer to normal fridge the day before and reheated it the next morning and kept it inside the thermal pot. I had it during lunch time at my desk, sometimes with bread, sometimes with fried rice, then had walk afterwards.

Tomato soup with bread or fried rice :)

Once a week I would buy the food from outside, so I would not get bored from eating the same food every day. So far, I chose vegetable soup over meat. But next time I might try making soup with seafood or chicken :)

It kept my body warm, full, and happy :) I felt grateful and happy with the arrangement. I was not sure about the health impact from it, but I always used natural ingredients and never used any MSG into it. So I would not feel thirsty after having it. 

I did not know how this habit would last but I hoped this could continue for a long long time :)

10-Day Silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat in Bali

Vipassana introduction (Source: dhamma.org)

Few months ago I stumbled upon a website for the 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat registration. It had been 5 years since my first time attendance in such meditation program.

I thought, maybe it was time to go for it again. And this time, the place was in Bali.  It would be great since it had been 7 years  since the last time I went there and I would have no problem and difficulties in the language. Therefore, without much thinking, I pressed the 'registration' button and applied for it. 

A day after I received the acceptance email from the registration team, and I started to look around for the flight ticket, think of how many days I need to go for the overall trip, where else to go, and so on. I decided to reach Bali 1 day before the meditation started and stay 3 more days after the meditation over. 

I had no idea what the meditation was about, who the teacher was, what the teaching would be like, and so on. Basically, I did not read in detail regarding it and let my self just went there to find it out myself what it would be like. That was why, I often felt lost when the teaching had begun. 

Vipassana introduction (Source: dhamma.org)

In this post, let me share some basic info regarding the place and the program. 

The building was called Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali, located at Jalan Aspal, Penglumbaran Susut, Bangli Regency, Bali.

Dining hall building (women left, men right) - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali

Upon email acceptance, you would receive important and necessary information regarding the retreat such as what you need (valid passport and visa, local contact number in case of emergency), that your cell phone would be handed in to the management for safe keeping during your 10 days there, when to arrive, when course ending, course finance (it was run solely on donation basis and only submit after the course ended), what to bring (loose-fitting clothes covering shoulders and knees, no tight and revealing clothes, jumper/ shawl/ socks for cold weather, towel, toiletteries, laundry soap/ detergent, water bottle, mosquitoes repellant - thank God mosquitoes did not attack inside the meditation hall!), no laundry service provided - could only hand wash, what not to bring (books, religious objects, writing materials, mp3 players and other electronic devices, food), and so on. 

One umbrella per room per person - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali 

It was raining season when I was there. However, umbrella was available, hung outside our room (one for each person), which you could use during your stay there. Flashlight was also provided - hung next to the umbrella so you did not have to bring. 

Towel rack/ dryer was given one outside the room for each person. There were 2 big clothes hanger available for women to share to dry their clothes. Or otherwise, just hung it at that towel rack.

Fyi, the weather there was quite humid with so many rain. Also the weather changed really fast. Like when you saw it sunny, just a while later, suddenly heavy rain poured down. So be alert when you hung your clothes to dry in open space!

View of Meditation Hall - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali 

There would be transport arrangement available from and to airport, Ubud and Canggu at a fee. There was ride share info as well but it did not work out when I tried to get it. The transport from Ngurah Rai international airport would cost IDR400,000, while from Ubud was IDR100,000. 

I decided to spend a night before and after meditation retreat in Ubud since the transport facility was available. Plus, I never stayed there before (I passed by the area last time and felt that it was such a nice place to stay). 

It was not big - reachable on foot to nearby area, Grab/ local taxi/ Grab motor service available, you could also rent bike and bicycle to go around; many good and affordable massage service available in the area; Cafe/ pub/ restaurant were everywhere; shops selling local products and daily necessities like Guardian, Alfamart, etc. were accessible easily as well. 

Me and other 4 passengers took the transport from Ubud. Our meeting place was at Delta Dewata Supermarket at 3pm. It reached the Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali in around 45 minutes to one hour.

We went in to the dining room hall for registration and after that we would hand in our mobile phone, wallet/ money, books, journal, religious objects etc. to the management.

Small, simple, yet clean :) - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali room

Soonafter, we were given our room number and could start going there to put our luggage in and unpacking stuffs. We could take bath too to refresh ourselves before the long journey began :)

Bathroom cum toilet on the separate building - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali

 

There were 5 bathroom cum toilet for 22 of us to share (22 rooms available for each women and men - made a total of 44 pax allowed in each retreat).

It was enough as not everyone would take a bath at the same time. We could take bath at any of our rest time (morning, afternoon, and evening) and usually everyone had their own preference time to take bath. So, you did not have to worry about queuing and stuff. 

At 5pm we were gathered inside the dining hall for the introduction, and then had dinner.

Eating utensils

We were given one set of eating utensils with label of our name on the table - where our seat was located.

We used the same utensils until the rest of our stay. We washed it right after using it each and every time. 

View inside the dining hall (men side) - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali 

The food was buffet style. You could take a many as you wanted, but make sure you could finish them (and not waste it). But as you took your food, please be considerate of people who were queuing behind because they were hungry and not all food was available for topping up. 

They served vegetarian food throughout our stay. The menu was changed every day and they ensured we had enough nutrition for our half-day meal (we took only breakfast and lunch). At 5pm, for new students, we were given 2 types of fruits (banana/ salak/ orange), one piece each. For old students, they were given liquid drink.

Extra cushions and other stuffs available - Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali 

Basically they did not really allow us to bring our own personal cushion inside the meditation hall. You did not have to worry though because many extra cushions (medium and small sizes), wooden chairs, wooden leaning chairs, and shawls were available inside the meditation hall for us to use. 

Soon after our first introduction and briefing, the silent mode was started. We had to keep silent (no gestures towards each other and no body language) throughout the 10 days there as to ensure not to break the sila and not to affect our meditation process.

If you had any enquiry regarding the meditation, there were interview session with teacher available after lunch (11.45am to 1 pm), and also from 9 to 9.30pm at the meditation hall. Make sure you make full use of this session when you felt in doubt regarding your meditation learning. 

Following was the schedule that more or less we had for the 10 days there. 

Dhamma Geha Vipassana Bali Daily Schedule

There would be 1 teacher who would guide our meditation session. There would be audio guide recording by S.N. Goenka in English, followed with Russia translation (as majority of attendance were Russian). 

Some of us were lent the personal ipod with many different language translations based on each person's native language. Like for example, even though I was fluent in English, my native language was Indonesian. Therefore, I was given the Indonesian translation in case I wanted to understand it better in my own language. It was indeed helpful for me.

There were about 45 language translations so far, so you would not have to worry if you were not fluent or good in understanding English.

Do not worry. As long you made your mind into it, you would be able to go through it all. It was a step-by-step learning approach. 

We definitely had to work hard and treasure the opportunities of having such conditions and environment, because in real world, we were not given such privileges - quiet place, provision of healthy meal, teacher's guidance, fresh air, natural environment, and so on. 

After 10 days, we could talk again on the tenth day, and leave the place on the eleventh morning. 

We were advised to practise the meditation into our daily life (recommended twice a day - one in the morning and one in the evening), so that you could feel the benefits of it. 

You would find out its benefits after you experienced it yourself. Definitely, it gave you good benefits into your life.

Fyi, there were many meditation centers all over the world that organised such 10-day meditation courses. You could check it out here. They gave us the apps as well (dhamma.org) and log in access once we became the old student. We could use it for our meditation practise beach home. 

So, I hope this post would help you and give you a picture what you would encounter if you decided you go for it, and if you had any question, you could leave your comment below :)

First attempt making the Bhutanese Momo on my own

Delicious Bhutanese Momo and chilli made by KD :)

I was visiting my Bhutanese friend almost two weeks ago. When I reached, she and her husband had prepared the Bhutanese Momo (dumpling) for my arrival. 

It had been 5 years since my last visit to Bhutan, but on and off, I tasted the Bhutanese momo once in a while - during my travel to Sri Lanka and Kolkata. But after Covid-19, it had already been more than 3 years I did not taste it. 

I was seated and they served mountains of Momo right in front of me. I took a piece and ate it with the chilli she made. After the first bite, I was awed by it!!! It tasted like Bhutan only, and no where else. 

I had eaten various Chinese dumplings throughout my life, but none tasted like this, especially this was vegetarian. The chilli too, was special. Waaaahhhhhh..... you could not imagine how happy I was!!!

Me and my two hosts :)

I asked her what ingredients she used inside the Momo and the chilli. She explained to me. But after more than one bottle of wine, my memory was just more or less. Hahahaha....

There was one special ingredient inside the chilli she made, which was Szechuan pepper. I saw it at Chinese supermarket 2 days ago and it intrigued me of buying it, as I really wanted to try to make the chilli like she made. So I bought it.

As I went to supermarket looking for red chilli powder, I thought, why not made the Momo as well??? So I picked ingredients for making Momo as well. But before that, I consulted her again regarding the ingredients, to ensure I did not miss anything. 

And today, I spent my whole afternoon making it, all by myself. 

Bhutanese chilli for Momo

Chilli ingredients:

- 1.5 pcs red onion

- 2 pcs tomato

- Oil

- Salt

- Szechuan pepper (or tinge)

- Red chilli powder

How to make:

- Cut both red onion and tomato into pieces

- Put oil into the pan

- Put both ingredients in it and stir

- Add salt

- Add pepper, and fry for a while

- Grind it using machine the above mixture and pour the red chilli powder as much as you want (you can add chilli padi if you want it spicier)

- Then it is ready

Momo skin:

- Maida or all purpose flour (I bought 1kg but I only used around 700g and the rest was to shape the skin)

- Water (no idea the quantity, as long until the skin was moisture enough)

How to make:

1- Mix both flour and water into mixing bowl

- Mix it using hands, knead it until it mixes well and moisture enough (not too dry)

- Cover with wet napkin so it will not dry 

Vegetarian Bhutanese Momo Ingredients

Momo ingredients:

- Cabbage (I used around 3/4 piece)

- 3 big red onions 

- 1 bunch of coriander

- 8 pcs of cheese slices (I put more since I like it :D)

How to make:

- Peel and cut red onion into small pieces

- Wash and cut the Cabbage into small pieces

- Wash and cut the Coriander into small pieces

- Cut the slice cheese into small piece

- Add all ingredients together into the bowl

- Add oil and salt into it and mix all together

Preparation of Momo ingredients

Once the above ready, now it was time to shape the skin and wrap. I spread the flour on the table. I removed the dough from the bowl, cut into half. Put another half portion back to the bowl and cover.

Cut the dough and made it into small balls. With the help of roller, flatten the ball into round piece, put the ingredients inside, and shaped it one by one. 

Tbh, I was really bad at shaping the skin. As I did not often make it, in beginning part I made such a giant piece. Hahaha..... It took me some time until I made it smaller pieces. That too, I made ugly shapes ^^"

Wrap the Momo

Remember to put some flour on the tray before putting the Momo, otherwise it would stick and break the Momo skin. Keep repeating the process until both skin and fillings finished. 

I started making at 1pm and finished preparing at 4.30pm. It was quite slow as I had to prepare it alone. 

Time to steam the Momo!!!

I used the electrical steamer to steam the Momo. It was easy and fast. Just plugged the cable, filled water at bottom part, put Momo in each tray, stacked them all, covered and let it steam around 25 minutes. 

Once ready, took it out and transferred it to plates or bowls and continued the steam process as required. 

Homemade Bhutanese Momo

And tadaaaaa....... that was the result!!! 

As first timer, let me rate the taste and overall making process. Hahaha.... 

First the chilli. I felt I put too much tomatoes (3 small pcs) as the tomato taste was quite strong. The pepper that I bought did not smell strong and too powdery. Next time, will try not powder type, so can get better and stronger flavour. The red chilli powder was not spicy. I just anyhow picked any brand from supermarket, so that was why the taste was different from the one I had at KD place. But overall, it was still good and still fit the Momo very well :)

Second the dough for Momo skin. I am not the expert in making and shaping dumpling dough. Just do whatever I can, so I did not expect very good result as well. Since I made it for own (family) consumption, it did not matter hahahaha.... but definitely not confident enough to make it for guests. 

Third, the fillings. It was good but I think I should have put more oil. It was a little bit dry. I thought salt would produce water into my vegetable ingredients, but it did not. So KD mentioned to put little bit more so it would not dry. 

Happy Eater :D

And so far, my hubby and son had tasted it. With hungry stomach, of course it was good for my hubby, while my son preferred dumpling with meat ingredients ^^"

Will I make it again next time? Hmm.... perhaps, but not so soon. The time and effort spent was too much but it still made me happy. I posted my experience here so I would not forget it and make the better one next time :)

Have you yourself tried making it on your own? If yes, I guess you are quite pro with it and if you have better suggestion, please do not hesitate to comment or pm me. Thank you for reading and have a lovely day! :)