Changi Village Hawker Center

It's been announced quite recently that Changi Village Hawker Center will be undergoing renovations for three months, starting August all the way to October.

Whilst this probably won't put a dampener on those of us who frequent the hawker center whenever we are there, it does make one wonder what else is available, and if there'll be enough space for us all. 

Make no mistake- Changi Village- whilst still retaining her strong rustic charm- is no longer the ulu out-of-town destination from earlier years. 

She's become lively, robust, and spirited, with a camaraderie amongst all those who visit her. 

There're those of us who come here for the first time (because we've heard so much about it), and there're those of us who come here every week because cycling on the TMCR- or the Pasir Ris-Loyang route is our weekly routine. 

I'm somewhere in between.

That is to say that I'm open to (new) foods even though I have my regular habits there.

One of the things we always get whenever we bike here are the coconuts.

You cannot not have fresh coconut water after a 20km ride from East Coast Park to here. 

We usually have one each- my friend and I- it's a bit difficult to share this hydrating beverage after all the pedaling.

Amongst some of our favorite dishes at the hawker center are the nasi lemak (I don't have a picture), the char kuay teow, the mutton soup and the chicken wings. 

I'd love to say that we also love the satay, the goreng pisang and the orh luak but apparently we can only choose between the chicken wings or the satay, goreng pisang and char kuay teow together in one meal would be too overwhelming, and the orh luak had a bit too much flour for my friend's liking. 

I'm gonna miss these dishes in the three months that the hawker won't be there.

But I'll make do. 

Just like everyone else will. 

After all my favorite chendol is still there. 

So what I'll do is to go across for nasi goreng, kuay teow goreng or murtabak, then bounce back for this amazing bowl of $1.70 chendol which is sold from this particular shop across the hawker center on this side of the road. 

Changi Beach at Dusk

On a Saturday evening couple of weeks ago, I took a bus from Bugis all the way down to Changi Village. 

It was one of those weekends where you didn't feel like staying at home but didn't feel like doing anything else either. 

Also, it was warm. 

In times like these, the best thing to do is to take a bus ride. 

So I did. 

Hopped onto Bus No 2 from Victoria Street with a friend and stoned all the way down to Changi Village. 

I wanted to see the sea. 

It was a bit of a challenge trying to decide whether we should have an early dinner or wait till the crowd had dispersed. 

But then we thought it might be too late after, so we went for the early dinner option instead. 

There're a couple of good eating places at Changi Village. 

There's a place offering mookata, there's a coffee shop offering zichar and dim sum, and then there's the famous supper place that's got nasi goreng, kuay teow goreng, murtabak, and a variety of Thai-Muslim food.

Their lychee soda, teh o air limau and smoothies are the best. 

Today, however, we didn't go there.

We went to the hawker center instead where we deliberated on what best to get. 

My friend went for the mutton soup. 

I went for the char kuay teow. 

I thought of getting the chicken wings or the nasi lemak or the goreng pisang but then I'd had the chicken wings last time and I didn't feel like having them today. 

Also, goreng pisang and char kuay teow together seemed too much on the fried-fried side, so I declined. 

Despite the crowd, I'm glad we didn't have to wait long for our food. 

We would have missed the sunset otherwise. 

Changi Beach is one of the few places in Singapore where you can get an excellent view of both the sunrise, and the sunset. 

I've watched the sun rise at a very specific spot on this beach before. 

I've also watched the sun set at a very specific spot on this beach as well. 

Night owl that I am, I don't get to see sunrises very much these days. 

But sunsets are more my thing. 

And to see Pulau Ubin silhouetted so beautifully against the twilight blue against the deep orange glow of the setting sun filled me with a sense of awe, and a feeling of peace. 

Eggs Suki-ya Style

We started dining at this place not too long ago. 

It's not a new place- it's been around for some time- but they're one of those places that don't do a lot of marketing nor advertising, and so it's either you know about it, or don't know about it at all. 

I'd seen this place before. 

I just didn't think of having a meal there. 

But then came one day in Suntec City we decided to look about for new places around dinner time. 

And this place came up. 

What used to deter me before was perhaps the queue. 

I have very little love for meal-time queues. 

But then again the idea of having eggs with rice seemed quite an intriguing meal to have (that day) and so we queued.

At first I didn't know what to expect. 

But my perspective changed right after the bowl came to my table and I took my first bite. 

Suki-ya, with their small square tables and neat-looking chairs, seems to give off a casual-diner vibe, but they don't scrimp on service. 

There're staff to bring you cups of warm hojicha once you're seated, they bring you your orders on a tray, and they clear them when you're done. 

It's all very friendly, efficient, and quick. 

The thing that charms me most is how they've turned simplicity into something so heartwarming, satisfying, and sincere. 

It doesn't seem much- soft boiled eggs with slices of beef or chicken karaage- but the sauce, the flavors, and the egg actually work well with each other, and you don't feel like you're having an nondescript meal at all.

I've found myself appreciating the way all these flavors come together. 

What makes it fun is that there're many different ways to enjoy the meal. 

Some diners break the egg straight into the bowl on top of the meat and te rice and all. 

Others, like my friend, break the egg into the small bowl (which they provide), then beat it with the chopsticks before dipping the beef from the gyudon shabu-shabu style inside. 

Me, I break the egg into the bowl, but then I don't beat it up. 

Instead I scoop out parts of the white bit by bit- to eat it with the rice- and then I dip my karaage into the yolk. 

Yes, it's a little more troublesome, but I like it this way.

I've since come to realize that rice with yolk and white actually do taste really good, and that meat goes better with egg yolk than with egg white. 

It's amazing; I didn't know that prior. 

That's the charm of eating here at Suki-ya, I guess. 

You get creative, you slow down, you try different ways to enjoy your meal, you try different meals. 

I've not really tried all of their dishes (even though some do look rather interesting)

My usual one thus far is the chicken karaage. 

Maybe one day I'll kick in my spicy tongue and go for the mapo eggplant. 

And one day for sure I'm going to order that earl grey tea drink with pudding. 

I want the pudding. :D

IKEA's Dinner

What do you do when you're in the Alexandra Road area and it's nearing dinner time? 

You take a bus (because you're on the other side of Alexandra near the Labrador side) and you stop at the bus stop nearest to Queensway Shopping Center and Anchorpoint. 

Because you want to go to IKEA. 

For a meatball and chicken wing dinner which you've been planning since you heard you were heading to the Alexandra Road area for a meeting.

I thought we would be heading straight up to the restaurant.

But my companion wanted to make a pit stop at the cafe downstairs. 

Turns out curry puffs were the reason.

I'd no idea that anyone could actually crave curry puffs for dinner. 

But there we were, armed with a bag of five (because that's how they make you buy them these days) at a table which, thankfully, we found immediately- there being no queue, and no crowd. 

Together we went to the counter, grabbing a trolley and a tray along the way. 

Friends who have been to IKEA will know the ordering system. It's like a canteen- you grab whatever you want from the shelves and the serving chillers, tell the lady at the counter what you'd like, and she'll place it on a plate for you. 

It's all very quick, very orderly, and not complicated at all. 

We settled back at our table with our plates, our cutlery, napkins and the waiting paper bag. 

One of the most charming meals to be had when you're at IKEA are their meatballs. 

No one knows how they did it, but meatballs (with lingonberry jam) have probably become one of the most recognized foods hailing from Scandinavia, besides salmon and herring.  

Probably it's cliche. 

Probably it's not. 

Us from this side of the world whose climate can't grow pears and lingonberries don't care. 

We just stick our meatballs into the gravy- and the jam- and dig in. 

Chicken wings are, of course, an international thing.

Anyone who isn't vegan, isn't allergic, doesn't hate meat, has access to chickens, and isn't averse to meat or poultry would likely have tried a chicken wing at some time. 

IKEA does theirs rather well, by the way.

Crisp, crunchy, deliciously seasoned and well fried, the chicken is tender, and bursting with flavors that make you feel like you're at an outdoor barbecue, surrounded by warmth. 

It's strange, but somehow this international dish has become a staple for me every time I come to IKEA. 

It's just one of the things I want to go straight for. 

I can hesitate over the salmon.

I can hesitate over the chop. 

I can hesitate even over the almond pie.

But I don't want to not have a plate of the chicken wings, even if they be but four.

This evening, we ate up our wings. 

We also ate up all the steamed carrots and the steamed broccoli that came with the meatballs.

And three of the curry puffs that we placed on the chicken wing plate and ate using our hands. 

They made a very spicy, doughy addition to our otherwise (clean-tasting) meal. 

That Tang Dynasty Place @ Jurong

 I've never had a chance to visit this place before. 

But my grandparents have. 

I know- I've seen a photo of a flute-playing female performer dressed in Ancient Chinese (Tang Dynasty?) garb. I've also seen a photo pf them both standing under the giant arch of what I think is the main entrance. 

This replica of a fort entrance must have been rather popular with visitors to Tang Dynasty City during its heyday. 

Miss Brown's family has one taken by the same entrance too. 

I've not included the picture. 

Because it's impossible to edit both her son and husband out of the shot- and I don't want to put emojis on them. 

Not when they're looking straight at the camera.

There're lots of pictures of them at Tang Dynasty City in the collection. 

There's one of them posing outside the main gate. 

There's one of them sitting in a room. 

There's one of them at some garden which looks distinctly like part of a movie set. 

These two are the only ones that I've been able to comfortably crop and edit. 

It's a room that I think is meant to be a replica of a teahouse in China years and years ago. 

I'm not sure if the chairs or stools are meant to be arranged this way- I can only assume they are- but they do look remarkably heavy, and they certainly have the sort of feels one might need to have to get into the swing of time, character, plot, and set. 

You don't see it, but these pictures of Miss Brown and her family having such a great day at Tang Dynasty are beautiful. 

They're also meaningful. 

Especially when you consider that Miss Brown and her husband had met as schoolmates in the same school, and both of them had received a Chinese-based education up to the equivalent of A-Level certification.

Being able to see life-sized replicas of Chinese villages, Chinese architecture, music, dance, and interior fittings must have brought a great deal of familiarity and meant very much to her. 

This was, after all, literature from the books she had read brought to life.

This was, after all, stories that she had heard over the Rediffusion radio presented in visual art before her eyes.

If she couldn't travel to China, or ancient China, this, at least, granted her a hint of what it were like back in Dynasty times. 

It was experiential.

Even if she were not an actress nor her husband an actor. 

Scenes like these would be what she would be seeing on the free-to-air television channels. 

For a brief moment, she was  part of it all.

Tang Dynasty City today stands abandoned in Tuas far from the main road, far from civilization. 

No one knows what will be done of the place, whether it will be torn down, whether it will be revived. 

We don't have a clue. 

But at least we still have a reminder of how and what we (had) during those heyday years of TCS' television productions. 

Then again, even this reminder may one day be no more. 

Bus Ride Sights: Kovan-Tai Seng

I'm VERY upset with this set of pictures. 

These have to be some of the worst pictures I've ever taken during a bus ride.

Not that Chonkycam has seen that many pictures whilst her owner is on the bus, but these are simply terrible. 

A complete disgrace. 

Not having enough practice doesn't make it any better. 

Maybe I'm supposed to use the video function on the camera instead of taking stills. 

I don't know. 

But since I'm one of those sorts who will just put it out there- crappy looking or no- here these pictures are. 

The bus journey began from somewhere along Hougang Avenue 10. 

 

But the camera only came out on the stretch I call Tampines Road. 

To be honest, I don't know whether this stretch is (still) part of Tampines Road. 

I think it is. 

For the longest time I've referred to this stretch as 'Wing Tai opposite there'- because there used to be a Wing Tai factory on the opposite side- heading towards Defu and Tampines- but has now been converted to a condominium property with a stretch of light around its roof that at night is like a mysterious streak of light suspended in the dark sky.

The homes on this side of the road also have been here for a long time. 

They have long driveways but perhaps the road is noisier than what it used to be and so they have planted trees outside their driveways to help block out some of the traffic noise. 

Here the bus turned left into a street that I also don't know its name. 

It might be Hougang Street 21. 

It might not be.

I refer to this street as the stretch where Xinghua Primary School and Yuying Secondary School is. 

I also refer to this stretch as opposite the bowling alley- which is precisely what the building opposite this three-storeyed house once used to be. 

I don't know if it is still a bowling alley now. 

I doubt so. 

There's also a great Indian-Muslim food place opposite this house- I've come here before- for late night supper- and if my memory serves me well, they do a great nasi pattaya with a heck lot of powerful chili. 

Here I didn't manage to take pictures-- if I didn't they turned out so bad that they've vanished from the album. 

But I took a picture of this junction. 

For good purpose. 

I don't know these flats very well. 

I'm not familiar with them. 

But several years ago we had a customer who lived in one of these blocks here. 

He had swung by our booth at a baby fair, put faith in a Bluetooth-enabled wearable which he gifted to his toddler son, and so we paid a client visit to guide him, and his wife, on the technology, and to test it. 

The customer told my colleague that it was just the three of them, and because he worked long hours as the sole breadwinner, very often it was just his wife and his son who was at home. His son had just reached the age where he could go about on his own, and the father worried that he would just toddle out of the flat when his wife was in the room, or the kitchen. 

So he wanted a piece of gear that would alert his wife's mobile should his little son wander out of the flat on his own. 

It's almost six years now since we paid a visit to the family but these are customers whom you don't forget, and stories which you remember. 

From this junction the bus made a right into Lorong Ah Soo. 

Here I tried taking pictures of significance. 

As you will see, they didn't turn out very well. 

I got one of the blocks along Lorong Ah Soo. 

I dont' know the significance of that block other than it's just behind the bus stop.

Then after that I wanted to get another more significant picture- that of my alma mater- my secondary school. 

Guess what? 

I failed.

I'd thought I'd be able to snap a decent picture of the school building from the bus stop, but no, didn't take place. 

All I managed to get was... this. 

The structure on the left just behind the bus stop is the section above the school canteen (I think), and right in front of that tree is the slope that leads up to the sister primary school. 

After Lorong Ah Soo, the bus turned into Upper Paya Lebar Road. 

By now I was feeling a tad disappointed with how my pictures were turning out, so I simply clicked the button at whatever I thought was interesting. 

Like a row of terrace houses that held zero meaning nor significance to me. 

Like the junction that leads to Bartley Road East and Bartley Road and Braddell Road and Braddell Heights and Lornie Road.

And the Luxasia Building that distributes all the beauty and luxury stuff from their headquarters in the industrial estate of Tai Seng Road.

Joy Luck Teahouse

I've had Joy Luck Teahouse before. 

But it's always been either just the tart, or the bo luo bao, nothing more, nothing less. 

Today, however, we had one of those appetites that were in-between. 

That is, we were neither too hungry nor were were too full. 

It was one of those days where we wanted to eat something but we didn't know what and we didn't know how much. 

What we did know was that we didn't want a full meal- so there would be no going to Itacho, Swensens, Ichiban or Pratunam chicken rice. Neither would there be Tim Ho Wan, McDonalds or Burger King. 

So, in between this and that, in between wondering whether we should just make do with two siew mais and a char siew bao, we came across Joy Luck Teahouse at B2 level (of Plaza Singapura) and realized we could have one of their sets after all. 

We ordered a cheong fun set. 

It came with an egg tart- the regular kind- of which I chose the cookie type- and a cup of iced milk tea.

Then we had an additional order of bo luo bao. 

I'm aware that there're differing opinions between the egg tart of Joy Luck Teahouse versus that of Tai Cheong Bakery and other bakeries from Hong Kong. 

Some people find this one moreish. 

Others, however, find this too sweet. 

There are those who feel the pastry of this one thicker than the Tai Cheong counterpart, 

But there are also those who say that the other one is more buttery.

Different people, different opinions. 

I have very little opinion between one and the other. 

Partially because it is more of a matter of convenience when it comes to egg tarts, and I am comfortable with whichever one is nearest to me. 

I like Tai Cheong's tarts when I'm at T3 in Changi Airport, Vivocity or Holland Village. 

But I like Joy Luck Teahouse's tarts if I'm at Bugis Junction, Parkway Parade or Plaza Singapura. 

Doesn't matter which one it is- I'm great with both. 

Of course, there are times when I want a pandan tart..

Then I'll go to Tai Cheong. 

But if there're times when I want an egg tart and Joy Luck is here- I'll come to Joy Luck instead.

Guess I'm not very particular when it comes to egg tarts. 

Both hold equal appeal to me. 

However, if you were to ask me, I'd say that, yes, Joy Luck's egg custard does seem a tad sweeter than that of Tai Cheong, and their cookie crust is a bit chonkier, but that doesn't influence my palate any more than if I were passing by a Tai Cheong and decided on one of their (more fragrant) egg tarts with the (flakier) pastry crust.