The Lu Rou Fan of Fong Sheng Hao

You know, this is one of the foods that I don't mind writing about, yet at the same time, I am not sure if I want to write about it at all. 

It isn't because of the food itself but more so of the circumstances that surround the meal and the reason I'm eating it at this place at this time on this day. 

See, for the longest time the only Fong Sheng Hao I preferred to eat at was the one at PLQ's basement. Sometimes I rode a bike there. Sometimes I walked there. All through the years from Ceylon to Kembangan, it was the PLQ place that I preferred having a meal there.

But we haven't been back to PLQ in a while. 

And whilst I don't mind eating at the NEX outlet, I wish, in a way, I felt less tired, less drained, and less achy whenever I ate there. 

Coming here this evening was no different from the week before. 

It was one of those situations where I couldn't find myself really enjoying the food as much as I wished to, no less because all I wanted to do was go home, take a bath, cleanse off the work from chores, and sleep. 

But it wouldn't do justice to what is a very good bowl of Lu Rou Fan, or Braised Pork Belly Rice, so here we are. 

Fong Sheng Hao serves up their rice bowl in the typical Taiwanese HSR bento box style. The Taiwanese boxes are always packed to the brim- you can detect the fragrance of them braised meats a mile away- and although I can't be sure if they're the same size as the one here in Fong Sheng Hao, the ingredients, I'm guessing, will be more or less the same. 

Fong Sheng Hao does their bowl with rice (of course), braised pork belly (of course), plus an addition of a whole hard boiled egg, and pickled cucumbers. 

I like the pickled cucumbers. 

At one time I used to keep them to the end of the meal but ever since I restarted eating here, I've been going for them first. They refresh the palate, whet the appetite and give me a gentle crunch that I have in recent days begun to appreciate. 

Better yet, I've now realized that the cucumber actually does go very well with the braised pork belly where the tart, sourish, pickled taste of the cucumber balances out the savory rich of the braised sauce. Each bite now becomes a combination of sour and savory and fresh and earthy all at the same time. 

The egg, however, I still eat on its own, except for the white, which I have slightly mushed up with the rice.

Coming here we like to order more than one dish. 

At one time we would have had the toast sandwich or the crepe pancake, but we've since found we like their popcorn chicken better and so that be what we order. It isn't really huge, the portion, but each piece is quite substantial.

What's more, they do marinate it enough- a bit of pepper spice going on there- it is well fried enough (crisp outside, soft inside) and I like how the gentle crunch of the chicken goes down well whether eaten on its own or with a spoonful of rice. 

Chin Chin's Sam Lor

I'm so glad to have the opportunity to come here.

In my mind I think that has been far too long. 

You know, there was a time in my life when coming to Chin Chin was a near everyday decision. It was one of the options that always came up whenever we were trying to make a decision about lunch, and more often than not, we always came. 

These days however the calculator works different, and I don't come downtown as often as I would like to. 

Which then, makes dinner at this place a much treasured opportunity. 

One thing about Chin Chin that I appreciate very much is their consistency. 

How they do it, I don't know- it must take some effort- but whether it be a meal that I had seven years ago or whether it be a meal that I had just last week, my plate of Sam Lor Hor Fun is still the same. 

It might be a world with this war and that war, and this economic situation and that economic situation, but they haven't reduced the portion of the hor fun, nor the quality of the fish, nor the quantity of the tau gey. 

My plate of Sam Lor still, more or less, remains the same.

And it is precisely because of that which keeps me coming back time after time for this dish, and I don't (normally) order anything else. 

I have heard of places where the chef changes, the quality drops, and the food standards fall. 

Not here.

Everything remains the same. 

What has changed, however, is the crowd. 

When I first started coming to Chin Chin, the crowd was mostly local. Office workers, a random resident coming down to buy lunch, that sort. On occasion you might have had the rare ang mo coming in for a plate of chicken rice but that was usually either because he worked close by, or he was here with a bunch of colleagues all of whom were local. 

These days however there are tourists. 

Not the groups- Chin Chin doesn't seem to cater to them- but the indie tourists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and even South Korea. It's lovely seeing them pretty ladies all dolled up for the IG or the Xiaohongshu digging heartily into plates of chicken, cereal prawns, vegetables, or appetizer bites like hae zou the prawn rolls. 

Of course there're still the office workers, but they are a more diverse bunch now. In the last few times I've been there I've noticed Indians (or maybe Sri Lankans), then Filipinos, then Indonesians, and even a couple of Thais.

The ang mos still come. 

But they're not like the shirt and tie dude working at an office housed in a beautifully restored shophouse next door. 

They're visitors. 

Digging into a plate of roast chicken rice, a huge plate of fried rice, and two bottles of ice cold Tiger Beer. 

Zha Jiang Mian & Chili Dumplings

Over the course of last few months we have had meals from this stall about, shall I say, five or six times.  

Discovery of this stall came as quite a surprise. 

We had not known how the food of this stall here at Marine Parade Central was, if it be tasty, if it be good, if it be worth our dollar, so, imagine, how, to our surprise, the first time we tried the food, we found it to be incredibly tasty, appetizing, worth the palate, worth the dollar.

These days there aren't many places where one can have a sufficiently shiok meal at a reasonable single-digit price. 

Thankfully here at this stall, I can. 

When we first started coming here we ordered just the chili mala dumplings. 

Afterwards I realized that they had some dishes that I'd always been wanting to try, so I tried. 

One of the very first bowls I ordered for myself was the Black Bean Noodle, or the Zha Jiang Mian. It was something I had learnt from the Korean side a very long time ago but somehow had never had the opportunity to try. 

First time I had the noodle I didn't take the picture nice. 

So the second (or third or fourth) time I had the noodle, I made sure to sweep all them shredded cucumbers to the side, lay aside the noodles, and then shovel out the minced meat and sauce until it were all on the top. 

Much better. 

Actually it didn't matter how it looked. 

The taste all were as delicious the same. 

I'm not sure how to describe the taste. There's not much of the individual black beans, honestly, but the taste of it rests entirely in the sauce, and which, given the way they do it, gets mixed thoroughly with the minced meats. 

I got more of the sauce taste when eating the little balls of meat compared to when I was eating the noodles, but that being said, it didn't take me long to discover that the best way was really to mix everything up with chopsticks- cucumber, noodles, meat, all- and have them one mouthful together. 

That way you got the fermented taste of the sauce, the rough grainy texture of the meat, the fresh green of the shredded cucumber and the smooth of the noodle all at once same time.

You know, it has been a while since we've gone back there. 

Perhaps next time I decide to eat at this stall, I'll order the tomato egg noodles, and try, see if this time I can get the uncle to give me the flat noodles instead of them typical round ones. 

Thumbs Up Salted Egg Chicken

I may have written about this before- I can't remember- but this be one of my new favorite dishes from Mainland Chinese diner Thumbs Up on East Coast Road just downstairs.  

If there are two things that at Thumbs Up I can (quietly) say gave us new impressions, the first one be Lao Gan Ma, and then there's this- Chicken in Salted Egg Sauce.

Okay, I don't know the actual name of this dish but it probably will have a more elegant name than this blatant, bland description. 

Whatever it might be doesn't matter. 

What's important is that the dish alone makes for one of my favorites when I am at this place, and when dining here- despite the portion being pretty large for even two people- I find myself wishing that the plate had more.

The unique part about this dish is its simplicity.

I'm not sure if the preparation is simple, but from the looks of it, it doesn't look too difficult, not when the plate is reminiscent of crowd favorite spicy mala La Zi Ji- only the children's version. 

The one thing I like about this dish is how fun it is to eat. 

You know how life is like. 

A day ends, a week ends, and you're kinda pooped. A part of you wants to have something solid for the meal. A part of you also feels too tired to have one of those big solid meals. You want something fun, light, easy to eat. Same time too you want a meal that isn't fast food or instant noodles. 

That's where this dish comes in. 

If you're familiar with the mala version, well, the way you eat it is the same, piece by piece, picked up by the chopsticks. 

The only difference is that you don't have to hunt about for the pieces as you would for the mala version because here there's no chopped dried chili. There's just chicken all perfectly cut and perfectly fried, with no pieces of chili that you gotta sieve through to get to your chicken. 

Perhaps that be the very thing that make it fun.

No doubt there might be a bit of a mindless eating especially if it be after a long week, but that's not to say that it won't be enjoyable, especially since there is a good deal of taste. 

They do theirs rounded, by the way. 

At no time has it been that the chicken is salty on one side, tasteless on the other. At no time too has it been that some pieces have more seasoning than the others. 

It's rounded, and equal, with the right taste and the right crisp, on all sides. 

Got to say, that's something I absolutely appreciate (for $15) and love. 

The Deconstructed Yakiniku MOS Burger

The dates show that we had this burger only two weeks ago. 

But it feels like a long time.

Guess there are seasons in life where reasoning and calculating and calibrating become such an every day thing that the days turn both long, and short at the same time. 

At first sight this may not be that big deal of a burger- I mean, it is not a burger that unusual, difficult to eat or difficult to find. It is, shall we say, a fairly ordinary rice burger that one can get from MOS Burger, which outlet we went to at Toa Payoh Central an evening a fortnight ago.

It actually has been a long time since I last had a meal at MOS Burger. 

There was a time when I'd go for the hamburger or the cheeseburger or the ebi rice burger and nothing more. 

But it wasn't what I wanted to have this evening- I wasn't in a mood for a cheeseburger- in that sense I wanted a little bit more. 

There so happened to be a sort of promotion, I think, or it might have been something else. 

In any case I got myself a Yakiniku burger, plus an additional serving of beef, and so the burger came beautifully wrapped up with a gorgeously large portion of beef slices inside. 

I'm not sure what sort of beef slices these are, but they were quite good. Nicely grilled, as if they had been sort of stir fried, there was a bit of char smoky burnt taste that gave this fast-food style beef that feel of warmth same as if you had had it on a hotplate served with rice. 

Only thing about the beef was that the texture was a little dry, but nothing more than that. 

I liked how the pieces were prepared in such a way that they were bite sized and easy to eat. 

I also liked how each piece had been carefully marinated in such a way that all of them tasted the same as each other. No surprise if they might have already been pre-prepared elsewhere and come ready to throw onto the grill. It didn't matter. That's fast food. I didn't care.

The funny thing was that such a large quantity of meat made it impossible for me to eat it as I would a regular burger, so I decided it best to open it up, separate the top and bottom of rice, and eat the lettuce, the beef, and the rice, all on its own. 

It turned out to be quite fun- a forkful of beef, a bit of rice, a bite of lettuce- all in a single bite. 

Never mind if it didn't feel like I was eating a burger. 

I liked the flavor. 

I liked better the fun. 

Saizeriya Style

We've begun eating at Saizeriya pretty often since the start of this year. 

For some reason it has become, shall we say, the go-to place whenever meal time pops up and we have no idea what we want to eat. 

It has also become the place to have a quick, and fulfilling meal, before heading out to, say, meetings, or appointments, or Zoom calls. 

When we first began coming here I had no idea whether we would grow to like this place, or head the opposite direction and grow tired of it. 

After all this while- four months half now- I've got my answer.

 I like it. 

Saizeriya is a dining place that many praise for its ambience, affordability, and quality of food. 

I call it an experience. 

What that means is that you don't come to Saizeriya expecting to have pizza and pasta and mains of Michelin-star gastronomical quality. 

Neither do you come to Saizeriya expecting to have the same kind of warm pizzeria, Mediterranean ambience you'd desire from a top notch Italian restaurant. 

You won't get any of that.

Instead, simply immerse yourself in a brightly-lit, cheerful, fun, family-friendly environment where next to you will be fellow diners of all ages happily relishing in the wallet-friendly meals they have ordered. 

The charm of this place has to be the presence of the drinks bar. 

For $2.90 you get to have a selection of soft drinks, coffee, tea and Milo. It's not just one type of coffee, nor one type of tea even. Their Nescafe machine brings out the espresso, the cappuccino, the latte and the black coffee. Their tea usually has the green and the earl grey. And the soft drinks include the rare ones like Mountain Dew and Root Beer. 

I like their desserts actually. 

They've recently changed the dessert menu, although the staple ones like Tiramisu, Oreo Cheesecake, Chocolate Lava Cake and Strawberry Mousse are still there. 

But since it is more of a tummy thing whenever I'm here, I tend to go for the pasta here. 

For some reason I have never quite considered other dishes, even though there be meals that appeal to me, like the Grilled Salmon, the Cheese Chicken & Sausage, and the Sirloin Steak. 

More often than not, I find myself going for the Spinach Chicken Gratin, or the Bacon & Mushroom Risotto. I like penne, I like the bits of spinach vegetable that I pick out and share with my friend, and I don't mind the presence of cream. 

Same way too for the Risotto I pick out bits of bacon and leave it at the side of my plate whilst I mix all the mushrooms to have them with the rice. 

Other pasta dishes I have had include the Pesto Genovese. 

Not so much for the spaghetti, more for the pesto. 

My friend, on the other hand, prefers the pizza. 

At one time he took the Pineapple & Bacon, but in recent times, the cheese pizza with prosciutto ham has intrigued him and that's what he usually has now. 

They've since added arugula leaves to the top of the pizza, so I grab a couple of them and decorate my plate a little bit, like how I've done with my plate of Risotto. 

Saizeriya is known for its appetizers too. 

They seem really popular, in particular the Oven Grilled Escargots, the Calamari and the Chicken Wings. 

One day if I do kick in an appetite, I might just go ballistic and order all three of them, plus a mushroom soup and a main, but for the moment  it is the chicken wings that we have had, and may I say that, yes, they of the original recipe are really good.

In recent times we have had a couple of lunches at the nearest Saizeriya, and since the lunch deal comes with a bowl of salad, I've since figured out how to zhng up my meal with the vegetables. 

I've tried most of the lunchtime offerings, whether it be the Creamy Garlic Chicken, the Cheese Milano Gratin, or the Teriyaki Chicken & Mushroom Doria but I have since settled for the Creamy Garlic Crispy Chicken Baked Rice. 

It is the one dish that appealed the most to me, not just because it had turmeric flavored rice, but also because they had three battered chicken tenders that made the meal enjoyable to eat and easy to share. 

So that's the one I always order now. 

We were at Saizeriya a couple of days ago. 

It being a weekend, we didn't get to take the lunch set, so I had the Spinach Chicken Gratin, and because on my friend's pizza there were some of them arugula leaves he didn't wish to eat, onto my bowl they went, making a pretty addition to the meal. 

ChaletHouse Vibes

Okay, I'm going to have to be honest here.

Out of all three places I have stayed, this one- ChaletHouse- has been the most difficult to write so far.

It's not because the place itself isn't good.

Neither is it because there's nothing good about the place.

It's just that there've been things going on and which- worrier that I am- find it hard to just push through and push on. 

That's always been a problem of mine, by the way- I thought I had it settled late last year- but the first few months of this year have taught me another lesson. 

Manna. 

Daily Manna.

The days of Wilderness have ended, thank God, and it should not be too long before the Promised Land is beneath my feet.

But still, I haven't had the best of moods to write about ChaletHouse as much as I wish to. 

We're four months into our stay here now. 

Very soon another four months will swing by and it will be almost time to leave. 

So now, I suppose, is a good time to write about our stint thus far here. 

To be honest, I have no idea where to begin. 

But let's just say it was a great idea that we worked out how our living arrangements would be. 

Given how the house is designed, whilst some might have felt it best to stick to the norm- where the bedroom, living room and dining areas be appropriately placed, we had thought it wiser to put the bed in the hall together with the desks, the fridge and the dining table. 

Originally in early days we had had the MUJI table placed horizontally alongside the bed, which, as you can see, takes centerstage in the large hall, finally facing the television that in the previous place never saw as much usage as this place now. 

But four months in and the the MUJI table plus bench is sold, gone, and in place we have a sort of movable desk for him, plus a chair that makes one stiff to an extent that I've thrown a cushion on it for the back.

I haven't had a picture of that new desk yet though. 

If you're wondering about such and such an arrangement, no, it doesn't feel awkward- not when the whole setting reminds one of a serviced apartment- just without the modern furnishings, the partitions, the nicety curtains, or cabinets of the kitchenette against the wall. 

One of the greatest charms about this place has to be the balcony. 

We have two- one in the hall, one in the room. 

I don't go to the room balcony much- it holds some foam left behind by the previous tenant- but the hall balcony I go much more.

I comb my hair there.

It's easier to have it fly out than to have the strands flying around.

What I love very much about the balcony is how from one angle it looks towards East Coast Park, and from where I stand I get to see one side of Parkway Center, and the line of trees beyond it. 

Also, the planes.

The planes were one of the things I liked very much about our previous place, and now that I get to see them little red blinking lights at night as they make their descent to Changi Airport, I am thankful.  

There's not very much to see the other side of the balcony, but I think I get to see parts of this condo at Eunos somewhere in the distance. 

In this home here we each have our own spaces.

The desk where I sit doubles up as a dressing table where I spritz the face mist, the body mist, do the lotion and the contact lens. 

It is also where I do a bit of necessary writing and sort through the diary organizer. 

On the shelves above are three fiction books (that I don't dare throw away), two little bags that hold random stuff and my camera equipment, and a couple of boxes that hold my jewelry, makeup stuff, more random girly stuff, and barang barang that I don't use but also don't know why I still have. 

What's changed here is that I've got the diary propped up under the desk lamp where previously I had had it kept slightly out of sight until necessary. 

There is another desk here. 

But it's not mine. 

The (supposed) writing table- so reminiscent of Gonggong's own writing table at Realty Park- holds the printer and the scanner, with my clothes in the box underneath it. 

Yes, I still don't put my clothes in a cupboard. I don't think I have ever hung up my clothes- I can't remember- but for the longest time now they have remained folded- first in a trolley bag that I brought around a lot of places, then afterwards in a box- and since 2023 has been in the very same dark plastic box that holds most of my clothes now. 

Much of our life takes place in the hall. 

Why not, when the dining table is in the hall, when the fridge is in the hall, when the TV and most of what we use is also in the hall?

We sleep in the hall, we eat in the hall, we watch TV in the hall, we work in the hall, and recent times we have begun cooking in the hall as well.

Don't laugh.

That's how we made it to be.

But it wasn't always like this. 

We had actually begun our stint here cooking in the kitchen- induction stove, frying pan, all- but after a few tries the chef said he felt uncomfortable standing over the stove in the kitchen (so close to the bathroom) so we decided we'd shift the cooking out to the hall instead.

Why not?

It's 2026.

We don't have to stick our a** in the kitchen if we don't want to. 

We don't have to stand over a stove in a single place if we're uncomfortable.

Especially since now we've got all the tools to help us along.

I have always believed in the strength of portable, easy to use, plug and play style of cooking utensils. 

Now, more than ever.

So we've brought out Little Black Grill and Little Blue Pot from their boxes, kept the induction stove back into its box, and put aside the pan. Now whenever we want to cook we simply bring either one from its place next to the sink out to the hall. 

So far we've used only Little Black Grill for the shallow fried minced beef and rice.

But I intend to bring out Little Blue Pot for the instant noodles, and the yet to buy char siew paus and siew mais. 

I'd like to try ramen with siew mais and cuttlefish balls again. 

It's been far too long. 

Of course, not being able to cook in the kitchen doesn't mean the kitchen is bad. 

It just means that instead of standing there too long, it is a lot of popping in and out. We stay in there long enough to prep the food, stir in a bit of stuff, throw plates into the microwave or the oven, leave, then come back again. 

Also, it makes for not too bad a storage space- dim and cool- even if the air be a bit too still sometimes. 

On our own shelves we have all our herbs and powders and whatnot. 

We have our minimal bowls and plates and cutlery, as well as a bit of canned stuff that I keep in the drawers but hardly take out. 

Some of the things we hardly use, and hardly see.

Like the food containers and aluminum foils on top of other people's fridge (which, by the way, I never open).

I think I'll pause here today. 

The vibes of Chalethouse ain't finished yet however- there's still the bathroom and the bedroom but I think I'll keep them for another day. 

There may be more to write about, and my brain doesn't have the capacity right now.

The Blk 80 Coffee Shop

We started trying out the food at this place a couple of weeks ago. 

It wasn't quite on the radar all this while, but I guess it's true when they said a combination of convenience and laziness leads to new discoveries. 

There're only two coffee shops within walking distance of Marine Parade Central. 

One coffee shop is close to the newly opened T-Mall. 

The other one is here, in between a bicycle shop, the Finest NTUC and the mega Baptist church. 

We had had a couple of meals at the other coffee shop but now, this one, we wanted to try. 

So we did. 

One of the first few meals we had here were the steamed egg, and the steamed pork with salted fish. I can't say if there was anything spectacular, but they were comforting, familiar, and heartening in the homecooked style. 

It might not have meant much if you didn't grow up eating them around the family dinner table, but I did, and so at once fell for the flavor and the warmth. 

Some people might describe them as simple. 

I find them comforting. 

So much so that one dish isn't quite enough for one, and actually, two will be better. 

I don't have a picture of the steamed dishes. 

But I do have a picture of the roasted meat rice we ate a while after. 

The rice from this stall needs a bit of assistance from the soup, but the meat from this stall is quite good. 

Well, it's not exactly how some would define as really good, but it's not too bad. 

We've had those combination plates where one plate is a mix of roast duck and char siew whilst the other is a mix of roast duck and roast pork. 

My friend thought the roast pork quite good. 

I, on the other hand, felt the char siew a bit better. The meat was thick enough and then there was that distinctive layer of fat which makes char siew way more appealing than they usually are. 

The other stall which we've patronized over here is the zichar stall. 

As usual, me and my pattern, when we first came, I hadn't been sure- I mean, the quality of zichar can be such a questionable thing and no one knows whether or not a plate is good until you eat it and judge for yourself.

At that point I didn't have the capacity to play trial and error. 

It had to be good at first shot, or, minimally, safe. 

So I took the safe dishes- basically, the best money for value ones. 

After several times, I still can't be sure if this is my new favorite stall for zichar- I haven't tried as many dishes as I would like and I think there might be some better foods from this stall- but so far, price wise, value wise, I'm pretty good. 

The Fried Mee Sua Dry was nicer than I thought it would be. 

Mee Sua is one of those dishes that is either a do or die. 

What it means is that you will either like it, or not like it. There's no in between. 

On regular days I would have taken the hor fun over the mee sua- I mean, no secret that I am hor fun/kuay teow queen- but it being my first time I wasn't sure if their Fried Hor Fun Dry would be the very oily, salty type, or the good wok hei type. 

What's more, I wasn't in the mood to do trial and error, so I stayed safe and decided to go for the mee sua instead. 

It was a good choice. 

Smooth enough, with sufficient taste, and sufficient ingredients to make the dish feel happy enough for a dinner meal. For this price one cannot expect a lot, so I was more than happy with the shredded cabbage, the little prawns and the randomly sliced pieces of fish cake. 

The Hor Fun with Gravy which I tried a couple of days later wasn't any lousier either. 

I chose it because it was $4.80- a good enough price for one to try without feeling like you're throwing money away should it not be up to par. 

Portion wise I felt it enough for a single person.

The picture might show a plate swimming with gravy, but under all this sea, there was actually a fair bit of hor fun noodles on the plate. 

There were also a good number pieces of fish cake, there were enough vegetables, some bits of pork (albeit a bit dry) here and there and then, of course, the gravy, even whilst a wee bit starchy, appealed to me, and I found it good. 

This probably be the dish that I'll continue to have whenever I come for zichar here. 

Only thing was that it didn't have much wok hei feeling but I'm not complaining- not when this is a dish I used to look forward to for weekend dinners, and which, only after coming here, I remembered what I had for a long time forgotten. 

ChaletYums of Killiney's Pad Thai

So, one of my recently discovered new favorites dishes has to be this box of Pad Thai dabaoed up from Killiney. 

What's cool about this Pad Thai is that not only does it have gorgeous price, it is prepared the way I like- light, dry, easy to eat, with a taste sufficient to make it a new favorite of mine. 

The first time I had this I had not thought I would like it as much as I do now. 

But this dish grows upon you. 

At least that's what it has done for me.

Of course, it might be that I have always loved Pad Thai.

That, since a time which I don't remember now, I have always had an inkling for the dish, and- despite me having had the OG of Pad Thai in Bangkok at Thipsamai- I still love whatever varieties of it I get here in Singapore. 

One thing to note is that different places have different standards where not all be the same, and in any case I usually eat whatever is on the plate, but there come times when I discover variations that I really like- and this be one.

To be able to eat it at Chalethouse's table out from the box is something I am very thankful for. 

Not every place grants me the privilege, not every place grants me the quality, and better yet, the price where I can happily dabao, bring it upstairs, and eat. 

This place does.

What I appreciate most about this Pad Thai is just how dry the texture is, how light the taste is. 

Killiney's standard is not of the wet, sweet, dark, oily kind. 

Neither is it of a quantity so huge that it becomes difficult to eat, or jerlak when trying to finish. 

I'm always delighted when my friend comes back with the box of noodles in his hand. There is never a concern that the noodles will not be fragrant or warm. There is also never a concern that the warmth of wok hei will dissipate the moment I open the box. 

The Killiney's version comes with two medium sized prawns, semi-shredded egg omelets and a serving of lime. 

It is a simple dish, nothing too elaborate, nothing too fanciful, and it is kinda hard to explain just why my senses get so comforted just by the sight, scent, and taste of this dish. 

Maybe I just like kuay teow in any form however it's fried. 

Taste does make a fair bit of difference though. 

There's a bit of crushed peanut at the bottom of the box that I often find but don't think much of.

Sometimes I mix the peanuts into the noodles and squeeze the lime.

Sometimes I leave the lime out.

But in between the strands of noodles that I pick up with my chopsticks, I always have the prawns, and I always give my friend the egg. 

That's the kind he likes. 

Mr and Mrs Mohgan's Prata

The decision to go out for prata was really one of those impulsive ones that come upon you when it's the weekend. 

We had not planned to. 

And because it hadn't been in the plan I had (initially) said no. 

But then I thought about it again and agreed with my friend that, yes, we ought to go. 

It would be silly not to. 

I have, after all, moved meself here to the East Coast Road side of the East Coast- a mere 20 minute walk away from Tin Yeang Coffee House where the stall of Mr. and Mrs Mohgan's stands. 

Why should I not go? 

Mr. and Mrs. Mohgan's prata entered my life since the time when they were down the road at Crane Road. The coffee shop back there was brighter, hotter, more crowded. I loved the prata, I didn't quite appreciate the discomfort from the glare and the heat. I also thought the kopi a bit more diluted than I would have preferred.

Fortunately it wasn't too long- a couple of years after- that they shifted to this coffee house at the junction of Dunman Road and Joo Chiat Road, and- fans of their prata that we were- we followed them here.

But as life goes, we weren't able to come back here for three years, so, yes, I had that bit of excitement walking down Joo Chiat from the East Coast Road side this time. 

One thing I am very glad for is that the atmosphere of Tin Yeang Coffee House has not changed. 

You still need to fight for a table.

And in best of situations, you will still need to share a table. 

It is a bit of a pity that the wanton noodle stall run by two ladies has since closed. 

But Mr. and Mrs. Mohgan is still there. 

She's busy as ever, Mrs. Mohgan, but definitely no less coordinated as she was all those years before. From the table right outside her stall, she took our orders, writing them down inside the big ledger book, communicated them to the person working the grill behind her, and proceeded to call out the numbers whose orders were ready.

There were twenty people in front of us. 

But it didn't matter.

I had the phone. 

I had the videos on the phone.

There was a cup of teh o kosong in front of me. 

So we waited. 

The wait seemed shorter than expected, actually. 

I had thought we'd have to wait an hour and a half, but no, our plates arrived just under an hour, and the warm, crispy pratas there were completely worth the wait. 

Seeing this on my plate brought back a couple of memories. They are a bit vague now but it is difficult for me to forget how life was when I used to eat this week after week. 

The prata kosong tastes just as light and crispy as it has always been. There's still that hint of salty flavor (from the ghee, I presume) that comes with every bite of the crepe, and which taste only gets enhanced when you dip it in the small dish of delicious mutton curry. 

Same goes too for the egg plaster prata. 

Different people eat it differently. Some eat through the prata from one side all the way to the end, choosing to cut through the egg and eat as they go. Others, however, like me, eat all around the egg and then work on both the egg and the prata together at the same time. 

My favorite part of this egg plaster prata has to be the yolk.

I love how the yolk slides its way smoothly out onto the prata itself, so much so that the crepe alone becomes just that little bit extra without being overwhelmed with taste. It is always a joy to taste the flour of the crepe together with the distinctive taste of yolk, just as it is, actually, with the white as well.

The one thing that always stands out to me whenever I have Mr. and Mrs Mohgan's is the curry. 

People have previously told me that her curry is not to be missed. 

And it's true.

I don't know how she does it, but there is a certain thickness in the curry that makes it neither too sweet nor too salty, not even oily, and best of all, it can literally be drunk (or sipped) on its own without the need to dip the crepe in. 

I sometimes do that.

Especially when on the day I decide to ask Mrs. Mohgan for sugar and she very generously gives me a heap. 

You know, I really think I ought to be go back there again. 

After all I have been in this area for four months plus and it makes no sense that I have only gone there for the grand total of... one time. 

Tutu Kuehs!

Took this picture a couple of weeks ago.

Actually... it has been almost a month.

A bit unbelievable, but, oy, life. 

That's how it is. 

If there be one thing that this year has taught me, it is that we sometimes don't focus on the (so-called) small little things in life but instead choose to speak only of the big ones.

Which, now that I think about it, doesn't need to be. 

Who said that life had to sound like a breaking story or a news scandal the entire time? 

Who said that life's events had to be shocking or stunning or mind boggling? 

No doubt, people are generally not so keen on day to day, ordinary content, but life's story is what you write of it, what you share of it, and it can be curated.

It's true; audiences generally prefer adventure, but we have come to a phase where anything of life can be curated and shaped without the creation of extra, dangerous or unnecessary drama.

Like two pieces of steamed flour cakes. 

At another time in my life I might not have thought of tutu kuehs as worthwhile content, but if this be my life these days, why should I not let it be?

What's more, in this day and age a tutu kueh has become more than just an object of food. 

Gone are the days when this existed as just a tutu kueh of steamed flour with filling. 

Now this tiny little steamed flat cake has become a part of us growing up.

A part of heritage history. 

The first time I had tutu kueh I was probably five. 

I remember the scene. 

Mr. Radioman had brought me to the now-demolished hawker center on Hill Street for a late evening dinner. The details of why we were there and how we got there, now I can't remember- it's been 40 years- but I can see still the slightly harsh white fluorescent light over our heads. I also remember the plate of dark Hill Street Char Kuay Teow that he had ordered for us to share. 

Near where we sat the tutu kueh stall was still open, so he asked if I wanted some. 

I don't remember what I told him. 

But I remember what he said to me. "You never eat tutu kueh before ar? Aiyaaa.."

Then off he went and got us some. 

It was that night that he taught me how to eat tutu kueh off the small little pandan leaf. 

Somehow life became that we didn't get to go back to that Hill Street hawker center again. 

But that didn't mean we missed out on this little snack.

We just had it from other places. 

Like the pasar malams at the 'hood down below our house. It wasn't very frequent- those night markets- but there have been times when after dinner we went down as a family and, amongst other snacks, bought these tutu kuehs back home to have. 

Between the three of us, I've always wished I could have more than two. 

What's funny is that, after all this while, I still seem to be having only two.

Perhaps it might be that they're still sold in a bag of five, and so when you're sharing with someone, you get two each, and the third one gets split into two, half each. 

This weekend afternoon my friend and I happened to be at the pasar malam outside Marine Parade MRT Station. 

A lively place with lively atmosphere, it seemed a bit of a waste if we walked away without buying anything, so we decided on a snack. 

There was a lot to choose from, but us being us, we didn't want anything fried, so amongst all the deep fried stuff from the different stalls, choices got narrowed down to the colorful steamed cakes, steamed buttered corn, sweet desserts, or tutu kueh.

We decided on the latter. 

It was one of the foods we missed. 

Actually, now that I think about it, buying it took a bit of a gamble- we don't know how standards are these days- but tradition marks tradition and the aunty at the stall looked like she had been making and selling tutu kuehs for a long time. 

It wasn't merely in the way she made the kueh but more in the fluid, practiced way she handled customers, customers' requests, sieved the flour, lifted the mold, put in the filling, laid the cloth on top of the mold, put the mold back onto the steamer and then placing it all into the plastic bag. 

Our three peanut and two gula melaka were in good hands. 

$4 for 5 pieces, we carried the little plastic bag by its string over to the hawker center where slowly, carefully, we brought the tutu kuehs out one by one. 

They were so good. 

It's not a bombastic, whoosh kind of taste, but there is something comforting and assuring about eating hot steamed kuehs like this. 

I don't know if it is the warm, clean taste of the soft, yet firm flour cake that breaks off easily when you take the first bite, or if it is the combination of sweet and savory when you eat the filling mushed together with the flour. 

I liked how the finely chopped peanuts (with a bit of sugar) rolled around with the flour. 

I also liked how the sweet of palm sugar gula melaka brought out the pure clean taste of the flour enveloping it. 

It's pretty fun having a small little snack like this. 

My friend likes the peanut.

I like the gula melaka. 

And then, because you can't really see what's inside, it becomes a bit of a game trying to figure out which is which, picking out the right one, and then balancing it carefully on the neat, tiny little square of pandan leaf.