So it happened that couple of weeks ago my friend and I found ourselves in the Geylang Serai area during weekend lunch time.
We are familiar with this place.
It is a place that we have passed by many a time before.
It is also a place that we've visited, crossed through, and kept in sight many, many times before.
Geylang Serai is a literal enclave, really.
At first glance it seems small, but mistake not, this entire rectangular shaped piece of land somehow manages to squish in tents of all sizes during Ramadan season when they jazz up for the annual Raya bazaar.
To be honest I don't really know from where the enclave starts.
To me it begins from Eunos MRT (with her distinctive roof) and the Eunos housing estate. Down the road it then goes, towards the direction of Geylang Road and Guillemard Road but which we often call Paya Lebar.
Left side of the road you first pass by a row of shop houses, then some random buildings, then a Chinese temple, then another row of shop houses before you come onto Joo Chiat Complex, the junction of Joo Chiat Road, the building that houses the Al-Azhar coffee shop, the Haig Road Market and Hawker Center, KINEX and then City Plaza.
On the right side of the road, well, it's hard to tell, but you first begin with the big field in front of Eunos MRT, then there's the housing estate that I think is Sims Avenue, after which there's several structures that are community organizations (if I'm not wrong), then the Geylang Serai Market and Food Center, the Wisma Geylang Serai, the car park and what finally is the now-renovating Tanjong Katong Complex.
I've written a bit about Geylang Serai.
Most of the pictures I have are of the left side of the road.
What I don't have are those of the right side.
What I also haven't had- until now- are the food of Geylang Serai.
It isn't that I've never eaten in the vicinity before.
Just that when we ate at Al-Azhar, or at the prata shop close to the bus stop on previous times, I didn't take the picture.
Today, at Mr. Teh Tarik, I did.
And goodness gracious me, I wish I had come earlier!
Life really boggles me sometimes.
How is it that I've hung out at this area so long, how is it that I've walked past here for so many a time, and yet, not one time have I ever come in here to dine?
It feels kinda... silly.
Especially since the food court was totally reminiscent of the food courts I'd been to in Malaysia.
It was just that vibe, I tell you.
Straightaway I felt myself in one of the mall's food courts, or at the Larkin Bus Terminal, or at one of the other bus terminals that I'd been to, but have since forgotten.
But, well, nothing too late, thankfully, and today I had a lovely meal of pide, kofta, and putu piring.
There are no favorites to this meal, not when I have a love for pide, when the soft, mushy (minced?) meat of kofta speaks to me, and when I finally get to have this little snack that I'd thought about for a long time but didn't get to have.
You'd be surprised at how flavorful and fulfilling a dish like pide can be.
It's cute to see it in the shape of a boat, but better it is when the bread's a solid baked crust with sesame seeds, when there's plenty of cheese on top, and when it comes mixed with spinach that I absolutely love.
Not just that, there were plenty of grilled vegetables with the kofta too.
I think the one we got was lamb (I can't quite remember...) and along with this roll of meat there were deeply grilled onions, deeply grilled tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, and the best sauce ever.
Rare is it that kofta gets served with a sauce that reminds me of tahini.
But there you go.
I had a lovely time mixing the bread crust with the grilled vegetables and the tahini-like sauce.
There was a warmth to the dish that made me feel full differently from how others did.
What I was looking forward to, however, was the putu piring.
It is a snack that I've always known as tutu kueh and which is often sold at pasar malams. The first time I had it was years ago at the now-demolished Hill Street Hawker Center. I've had fond memories of it ever since, especially when I have both the coconut and peanut filling.
What's a little funny (and sad) is that until I came to the Haig Road Market and Hawker Center, I had not known of it being called putu piring.
Would've been better had I known.
But glad I am to say that the kueh is the same.
A small flower-shaped steamed rice flour kueh with fillings of peanut, or palm sugar topped with salty shredded coconut.
Haig Road's versions have chocolate and durian and brown coconut, but today we stuck to the traditional- two peanut, two gula melaka.
Eating it warm, and with lots and lots of shredded coconut really made a lot of difference.
I had no idea it tasted so good!