So I was sorting through a collection of pictures on my phone and realized, to my surprise, that I in fact have a lot, a lot of pictures featuring all the pratas that I've eaten throughout the years.
I had not known that I'd taken so many.
But here we are, armed with at least ten pictures or more, and most of them seem to be taken at the same place, from the same stall, at different times.
I guess it has always been a habit of mine, actually, even during odd times, and yes, it is something to kick back in again (never mind how exactly I am feeling right now)
I've always been a fan of egg prata.
Not the prata with the fried egg on top but the prata with the egg all mixed inside.
It's something I've liked for a long time the same way I actually still do eat my prata with sugar instead of curry from time to time.
My first memory of egg prata was at the food canteen inside the now-defunct Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.
Mr Radioman had gotten it for me.
And I'd never forgotten the taste.
These days I strike a balance between the Egg Prata, the fried egg prata commonly called Prata Plaster, and Prata Kosong.
I also take more curry than sugar.
Most of the pratas in this collection come from renowned prata stall Mr. and Mrs. Mohgan, whom I believe is still at the coffee shop on the junction of Joo Chiat Road and Dunman Road.
Those who know their prata will know that Mr and Mrs Mohgan are one of the most popular prata stalls east side of town.
Those who frequent their prata will also know that they didn't use to be at the coffee shop where they are now.
We had discovered the prata place quite by accident.
At that time I had not known just how hot they were.
Only much later- like maybe a couple of months after frequenting their stall at Crane Road- that I found out they were in fact very popular.
So crispy and tasty was their prata that customers didn't mind waiting for over an hour whilst Mr. Mohgan hand made each piece by customers' orders.
They worked as a team, Mr. and Mrs Mohgan, and they continued to do so at their new location on Dunman Road until the year Mr. Mohgan passed.
Honestly, I much prefer their new location compared to the old one.
Yes, I might be a fan of their prata but I am not so huge a diehard that I will not mind the environment I wait for the delicious prata in.
Neither am I so huge a diehard that I will not mind the quality of the kopi.
The kopi at this new coffee shop is way, way better.
There's still a wait, yes, even now, but the wait's much more comfortable with whirling ceiling fans, cross-winds blowing into the coffee shop even on the hottest mid-year mornings, and hot kopi.
The fresh, hot, crispy prata makes for the berry on the cake.
Never mind if, based on the pictures, most of our pratas here seemed to be both the kosong, and the prata plaster with the fried egg on top, which, split between my friend and I, we both took half each, making it one prata per person on the whole.
It is here, I think, that I learnt to adapt, shifting the palate away gradually from the sugar to the curry.
Their mutton curry, after all, was just so good.
Wish I had eaten more of their egg pratas though.
It'd be wise to do that if I get a chance to drop into the coffee shop once again.
It has, after all, been a long time.
Thankfully I still go to Springleaf pretty much though.
What surprises me is that I had not thought I would become their fan.
Going to Jln Tua Kong, is, after all, a bit of walk whether coming from the Siglap side or the Opera Estate side, but their unusual selection of pratas make it worth the effort and time.
Not only do they have the regular pratas same as you'd find at any prata stall, they also have the special ones that have won competitions.
I love their Murtaburger.
It's one of those crepes that can't actually be called a crepe but is more like a bouncy square shaped pillow of a stuffed crepe filled with two perfectly grilled lamb patties, thick goeey mozzarella cheese and chili with black pepper.
I always think they have mayonnaise, I don't know why.
Maybe it's how the cheese stretches and mixes with the chili sauce that makes me feel like it has the texture as mayonnaise.
It's extremely filling, I tell you, and I love it.
A part of me wonders if I would one day order the dessert pratas when at Springleaf.
Maybe I should.
They do have quite a menu.
There's a red bean one, a banana one, a milky one, even a roti bomb and ice cream prata.
I'd like to try a banana chocolate prata or a strawberry prata.
They'd taste just as great, I'm sure.
I just hope that I'll have the chance to visit their outlets even more.