I came to makan

I spent the entire flight to Singapore with a bad case of gas. Luckily the plane was not full; I had the last row to myself, the better to make frequent trips to the lavatory. It did not ease my traveler’s constipation, but at least I spared the cabin from suffocating on my noxious farts.

I had definite plans about what to do in the Lion City. Still, I spent day one obliging my companions on the usual touristy stuff — downright smug for a first-time guest to claim, but the hotel breakfast buffet was quite standard, and by the time we sat down to a quick dinner at a Hooters in Clarke Quay (we were booked on the 9 PM river cruise), I was feeling jaded (also, there was hair in the chicken wings). Even the laser show failed to move me — no pun intended — a waste of the S$13 we paid on top of the regular $25.

Day 2, Jenny and I left the others to their shopping. Not trusting ourselves to go by MRT without a guide, we took a taxi to Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown. We were early enough to avoid the lunchtime rush, and while waiting for our order of Hainanese chicken rice at Tian Tian, we munched on Fu Zhou’s deep-fried oyster cakes, which I would have preferred fresh off the fryer (it was cold), though still yummy. Our taxi driver had warned us not to consume too much of the stuff (“Too oily, lah”), so we each had one, though I had to go back for more of the hot sauce, the vendor was so stingy with it.

As for Tian Tian’s Hainanese chicken, we had to struggle to finish the half we ordered, the serving was that hefty (and, at $12, inexpensive). Served on a bed of cucumber sticks and ladled over with thickened broth, it was delicately but thoroughly seasoned, juicy yet not at all greasy or fatty, and perfectly complemented by the bracing hit of fresh coriander and mild kick of sambal.

The rice was in a class by itself, cooked with the chicken stock and redolent of lemongrass, each grain coated with a thin film of fat. No wonder Ramsay and Bourdain rave about this iconic dish (if you are wondering about Tian Tian’s legendary rival, Ah Tai, a few stalls down, no one was lining up there that morning). I have made Hainanese chicken before, and now Tian Tian’s has considerably upped my benchmark.

We did not know it then, but we were just a hop and a skip away from the Chinatown market. Instead we took another cab to Bugis for pasalubong shopping. The driver dropped us off at the more upscale section (we must have looked like we had money, ha-ha), across Liang Seah St., so we ambled over to check out the restaurants, also to walk off calories from our heavy brunch. We would return later for early dinner, if not at the place pictured below; sounded too much like a gimmick, though I must admit I don’t know the first thing about Thai names. Also, that elephant looks uncomfortable. Do I really have to spell it out?