It's not every day that I get to have a meal at Bedok Interchange Hawker Center.
It's also not every day that I get to have a meal of zichar at the very same hawker center.
Mine usually come from either the coffee shops, or the eating houses, like this one along the street that's right near to the junction of Beach Road.
But today we were here at the hawker center, we wanted to use the vouchers, and we had come upon this particular stall after having wandered about a few circles trying to make up our minds between the option of Singaporean go-to roast chicken rice, char siew roast pork rice, and Teochew-style fish soup bee hoon.
My friend was looking for something large enough we could both share.
And the dishes offered at the zichar stall seemed to hit the right spot.
At first I'd thought we would have something (unusual) like sweet sour pork, fried pea sprouts or even hotplate tofu.
But I was genuinely glad when these dishes came.
Because, I tell you, there's nothing more delicious than an omelet filled with prawns, shredded onions, chopped red peppers and spring onions all fried soft and fluffy.
I had a fun time tugging at the egg with my chopsticks and stuffing it into my mouth.
The taste made me not mind the burst of oil over my tongue.
Same thing too with the plate of salted egg chicken.
Sure, there was a fair bit of oil- you saw it glistening as you worked through the palte- but the taste of salted egg yolk was so satisfying, and so good.
I was actually surprised by the portion.
For the standard price of $10 (thereabouts), the plate was quite full.
Best part about it, however, were how small and cute the little chicken pieces were.
Never mind if some of them made me think of popcorn chicken, or were a little hard, the size and style made eating them fun, and I had a great time picking up each deep-fried crisp of chicken with my chopsticks and slathering them in the thick sauce.
One thing about this meal I made sure I did was to eat it slow.
Super slow.
I wanted to.
Because zichar is, and has been, one of my favorites when it comes to local cuisine.
It is something that speaks very much to me, whether it be a serving of hotplate beef, a serving of hotplate tofu, a plate of Moonlight hor fun, a plate of sam lor hor fun, or seafood hor fun with gravy.
It doesn't matter what I (or we) order.
There's hardly been a time where I've said no to zichar in favor of something else, regardless how appetizing that alternative may be.
The only time I've said is when I'm too full to enjoy the meal and I don't want to waste tummy space, or money.
Perhaps I've got lovely memories attached to zichar.
Or perhaps I simply love any opportunity for the kuay teow, hor fun type of noodle, and I always seem to salivate at the thought of a plate of seafood hor fun dry, beef hor fun dry, or (as I newly discovered) fried mee sua.