Chicken Rice: Singapore's National Dish

Chili crab, sting ray, oyster omlettes, beef noodles, spice, spice, spice! But Singapore's national dish comes down to simple chicken rice.

The chicken is steamed whole, then chopped and doused in a thin garlic, ginger gravy. Hot sauce optional.

The original Sprinkles in Beverly Hills

...Sprinkles is apparently the first ever cupcakes-only store. I sampled its chai tea latte cupcake and it was fabulous. Fluffy, moist cake; smooth tea-flavored frosting.

Whoever thought of the combination is a genius.

Mexicali L.A. taco truck!

...right across the street from my girlfriend's condo. They come out after 9 p.m. in a virtually empty parking lot and if you know, you know.

We had two corn tacos, one steak, one chicken; Cachetada, melted cheese and ground chorizo on a tostada; and the Zuperman, triple meat cheese quesadilla. Plus four kinds of homemade salsa and guacamole, and grilled onions and hot peppers.

This was the real Mexican deal... All costing US$10.50.

L.A. you have my heart.

La-La-Land: Arda's Cafe

... Woke up early and found a random family-run downtown breakfast eatery called Arda's Cafe, and had this delicious monstrosity -- candied bacon eggs Benedict (US$7.99). Perfectly soft poached egg, crispy sweet and salty bacon that wasn't too much of either, toasty chewy cheese bagel, and fried potatoes.

Great stumble-upon on Day 2 of random L.A. vacation.

Beef ball noodle soup, and sting ray!

My cousin Agus took me to another hawker food centre that is well-known/famous for its simple noodle soup of beef balls and minced pork.

My photos may not be the most appealing but it was dark and this is all I have. I liked this dish a lot but the minced pork in the bottom was a bit too soft for my tastes.

Agus also had me try stingray for the first time. The stingray tasted like a white fish, which I didn't mind, but the sauce on top of it wasn't very appealing.

Travelling in Singapore and trying different species that rarely show up on North American menus was challenging for my eco-mindedness. I normally use Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood WATCH to choose sustainable options but stingray doesn't even come up on the list.

Singaporean Mickey Dee's

I am strongly against supporting fast food companies, especially McDonald's (forget watching Food Inc. or Fast Food Nation documentary; read the Fast Food Nation book by Eric Schlosser).

BUT I have a weak spot for McDonald's ice cream cones -- especially when it's only S$1 and has cool add-on flavours such as green apple (above), raspberry and beloved chocolate.

I tried all three eventually, but plain vanilla is probably still my favourite. :)

Elevated Tea

 

Once in awhile, I like to create my own cherished moments where I can sit, indulge and enjoy my own company. Every person is different—what they love to indulge in—is it a surprise that mine is food?

My parents received this fine China set for their wedding more than 30 years ago and I never knew of its existence till my sister discovered it in old boxes about a year before they were divorced (about six years ago). We took it to the new house but my father never used it.

I grew to love the fine gold trim and petite delicate pink flowers with soft ridges.

I've been drinking this wonderful loose leaf Moroccan green tea infused with peppermint that I received at my friend Chantal's engagement party a few weeks ago. Then tonight, my sister gave me a lemon tart from Southbrook Farms. So I decided a perfect cap to the weekend, and start to a new week, would be to have both with the fine China.

I thought about reading or watching TV while drinking and eating, but realized quickly, sitting in the quiet peace of my house, and tasting every sip and bite carefully would be the most pleasurable. The tart had a perfectly tender, slightly crumbly crust, and the lemon filling was smooth and silky. It was a timeless 10 minutes.

It's so refreshing and soothing when you take the time to treat yourself.

The Cleanest Chinatown I Ever Saw

On the first Sunday I was in Singapore, my Uncle Edward let me loose to explore Chinatown on my own. It was a great sight to see, as the city was gearing up for Chinese New Year 2010.

It doesn't look like much at first, but when you walk a little farther down, the streets are suddenly lined with lots of stalls and shops selling all sorts of Chinese-y things.

Like teapots...

And chili ornaments (yum!) ...

And chopsticks...

And elegant paper fans...

And high-end chopstick sets...

And wooden abacuses and chess sets.

Plus food!

Kites...

Lanterns...

Fake flowers...

And knick-knacks and toys galore! For some reason, these fat little buddhas and Chinamen reminded me of my cousins in Florida even though they're the fittest little Tae-kwon-do black belt masters ever.

I thought this was a rather beautiful building in Chinatown.

Singapore has all these positive signs for random things.

I randomly found some pretty yummy cream puffs at a Chinese pastry shop for less than a CDN$1. (Canadian dollar to Singapore dollar is about 1 to 1.30.)

I was craving an egg tart too but this one was so disappointing. It tasted gross actually. Maybe the worst egg tart in recent memory.

Dried Chinese sausages and chicken right on the street!! Kind of gross, actually... considering the heat and humidity.

Asian candy. (I didn't try any. I don't have fond memories of Asian candy as a child.)

I saw these little dresses and thought of the New Baby my sister was going to have in a few months. Turned out to be a girl. :)

I visited this Buddhist temple. And decided afterward, the story of Buddha means nothing to me. (Though I still have faith in Buddhist principles and concepts of compassion.)

I still prayed for strength. (To whom, I wasn't sure...) And I love the smell of incense.

Inside where the monks were chanting and praying.

Riding the elevator to the upstairs museums. I had to cover myself with a shawl and sarong (lent out at the temple entrances for free) because I was wearing shorts, a sleeveless top and sandals.

There was a rooftop orchid garden but I didn't see the orchids that I'm used to.

The most memorable Chinatown experience to date.

Love is not a thought, it is an action. And each loving action that we take infuses us with more energy for loving action in the future.

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat

A woman of great taste

It would be too easy if I were talking about myself.

I'm talking about my friend Yasmin (@yasminATlesauce) who runs an amazing food blog at lesauce.typepad.com. She's a true lover of food -- someone who if feeling lazy about dinner would braise leeks as the easy way out. Her blog consists mostly of her vegetarian recipe creations, and she believes in eating well from tomato on toast for lunch to day-long cooking feast for friends and family.

This past summer, she recently resigned from over eight years at St. Joseph's Media working in various marketing roles in the consumer magazine industry to embark on a career that intersects her love for food, photography, writing and publishing. I love when people reach that point where they're ready to leap into the unknown. I strongly have faith in the idea that when you have nothing, everything is possible. (Not to say she has nothing but you get the idea, I hope!)

In any case, after a year of being one of her religious blog followers, I finally pushed my own lazy butt to cook one of her drool-over-the-computer-screen-worthy recipes.

I was poking around my fridge and noticed some parsley that I just knew was going to go bad any day now. Then it clicked in my head -- I remembered I read a post by Yasmin about how herbs never go bad in her house because she uses it in all sorts of creative ways. So a quick search and I found the fried almond and olive pasta with fresh cilantro and parsley recipe.

I was amazed at how simple it was to make yet so, so delicious. I shared the meal with a friend who came over last minute and doesn't even like olives but he was so impressed at how good it was. Below is the photo he took on his Blackberry but it doesn't really give the dish justice, so you have to check her photos out. (P.S. I just used rotini instead of linguine because it's all I had.)

If you're looking for food inspiration, I highly recommend you check out lesauce.typepad.com.