Night Imbalance

October 12, 2024

In the evening we had a night time street food tour with Bryan. This was not a free tour because there was food.

We took the MRT (subway) to Clarke Quay and emerged in front of a mall. There was some sort of promotion going on for an event featuring various cartoon characters. 

Obligatory photo!

Our guide, Bryan, met the group outside the MRT station, next to a bus stop. It was very noisy there and we asked if we could move to a quieter spot to conduct the orientation and introductions. Without going into the details, let’s just say Bryan was very insulting to both of us, gave us a lot of pushback, and sarcastically asked us where we thought we should all move to. Bryan used a bullying technique I didn’t like at all. He asked the rest of the group if they could hear. They all shrugged or nodded “yes.” No one else took our side our stood up for us. We almost walked away from the tour at that point. 

I am not an expert in group dynamics, but I do feel it is important that more of us 1) learn to recognize bullying when they see it, and 2) call it out. The person being bullied is not always able to respond. It’s like being slapped (what I imagine that is like). You are in shock. It would be nice to have some support. What makes a group act like this, where they will all ignore the bullying and pretend nothing happened?

We decided we would try to get along with Bryan and give him another chance, and the tour proceeded, though the rest of the group mostly gave us the cold shoulder. I was not intending to write about this incident, but it just bubbled up and landed on my page screen.

Our first stop was a place called Ng Ah Sio in the mall with the  cartoon characters. We ate a dish called bak kut teh that is a popular breakfast, and is the only thing this restaurant serves. It is pork ribs in a peppery broth, served with deep-fried dough sticks, braised eggs, and  a certain kind of tea called pu-er. The meat was supposedly cooked for many hours, but it was very tough and I could not chew it. I would give this dish a C. I just wasn’t impressed with it.

Bak kut teh

In the same mall we also stopped for assorted buns at Kaya & Butter. Kaya is a local favorite that is used the way we use jam. It is made with coconut cream, eggs, sugar, and pandan (screw-pine) leaves. It is believed to have originated in Hainan Province, in China. We also stopped at a place called Barcook Bakery to find out about curry chicken buns. We forgot to take pictures at these two stops,

Next we walked around the Clarke Quay area and learned about its history. All the nice restaurants along the waterfront started out as warehouses. The government has designated this area (and most of the harbor area) as an entertainment district.

Clarke Quay

Shah Alam Restaurant, at Boat Quay, specializes in South Indian food. We tried roti prata - a flat bread with fish curry and vegetable curry dips. After that we were served one tissue prata for every four people. It is a very thin roti with sugar and condensed milk poured on it. We were to eat it by tearing pieces off. In order to tear it, you really needed to grab it with one hand and break or tear with the other. The other two women were tearing and licking their fingers to get the sauce off, and then tearing some more. As soon as we saw that, we stopped eating.

At this point I will mention that many street food places in SIngapore don’t supply napkins, or they supply these tiny, thin, worthless pieces of quick-dissolve paper.

Tissue roti or tissue prata

By this time, it was dark and we had walked from Boat Quay to the Marina Bay area. It was busy and bright.

The Fullerton Hotel was lit with fuchsia-colored lights, and one of the bridges was orange and purple.

The Merlion, lit up in pink, sends a spout toward the purple-topped Durian Building.

The Marina Bay Sands dominated the skyline.

The Marina Bay Sands has a light show every night. We saw a bit of it from across the marina. Here is a 20-second video of the constantly changing lights.

Lau Pa Sat, a “hawker center,” or food court, was our final stop. It was extremely crowded and chaotic. Without a guide we never would have figured out how to find a seat or how to order.

We had chicken, beef, and mutton satay with peanut sauce, fried Hokkien prawn noodles, and sesame balls with peanut filling. 

Most people, myself included, thought the sesame balls were the best food of the night.

Today’s fabric was included in “Kampong Glam.” Here is a bonus fabric:

This is the fabric used on some of the throw pillows in the Executive Lounge at our hotel. It also comes in a charcoal gray color. I don’t know anything else about this fabric. I wish I had pillows like this in my house (in different colors).