Day 2 - Shellfish

Luckily, I went for a 4 mile jog around Toa Payoh Stadium this morning to burn off some of these stored up calories. There was an MOE Race (Ministry of Education) scheduled and a whole bevy of teachers were numbered up and ready to run. Someone should make breathable running wear for Muslim ladies. Anywho, after our run we sauntered over to Kaya Toast for, guess what, kaya toast (kaya is coconut jam,) "soft boiled" eggs and coffee. The soft boiled eggs were, in actuality, a soupy, runny half soft boiled bowl of eggs w/white pepper and dark soy sauce. My eyes screamed 'no' but my mouth said 'holy cow this is good.' Go figure. I have no photos but that coffee/kopi with condensed milk is so damn good.
Needless to say, we went back, showered, and got picked up for brunch at a local hawker center, Pek Kio. We ordered 2 versions of prawn noodles, and one was so much nicer than the other. It's all in the broth! Smooth yet rich. Also on the table was hokkien prawn pan fried noodles, my favorite, and BBQ pork wonton noodles and to end off. I washed it all down with a tall cold glass of fresh squeezed star fruit juice. Of course, 4 dishes isn't enough and we had to immediately take a drive to Whampoa hawker center for their famous rojak, which is a mixture of dark prawn paste, crushed peanuts, chilli, sugar and lime over pineapple, cucumber, turnip, jelly fish, mango, and fried donut like dough. Believe it or not, IT WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD. How can so many crazy bold flavors go so well together? How can a "donut salad" taste good? Singaporean magic, no doubt.

I've already forgotten what it is to be hungry before eating a meal, but at least we had a couple of hours to enjoy before being hauled off to our next meal in the evening. I love eating outdoors in the warm 80F degree weather. Crab Heaven was the place and the giant round table for 7 was jammed with just enough plates of food to leave enough room for our plates and drinks. My new favorite way to have crab? Salted egg crab! Wow, a simple sauce of creamy salted eggs with a giant local crab resting comfortably in its bath is probably like finding a diamond on the ground. You can't believe it, but there it is. Accompanying it was its cousin, spicy chili crab, crispy squid that crunched like chips in your mouth, shrimp coated in light cereal (first time I've ever eaten the shell,) and the ever so delish ngo hiang, which is a minced pork and shrimp roll that is deep fried with so many different and unfamiliar spices, I can only describe it as SUPER YUM.

In true form, once dinner ended we hopped in the car to go fetch dessert. Ending up at the Singapore Country Club, I indulged in a hot bowl of cheng tng (again with the air con!) Thanks for warming me with this dessert soup of longans, agar agar, lotus seeds and sweet syrup. While mostly non-descript, it was also a welcome comfort to my bloated tummy and cold air conned body.