Today for lunch, Amanda and I walked over to the Kopitam around the corner, which is a Singaporean term which originally stood for a coffee shop but has slowly evolved into a popular and convenient favorite for lunch breaks for the surrounding office workers. When we went in, the outdoor cafeteria was filled with wooden white tables lining the walls with plastic chairs filled with people in suits and formal work outfits slurping curry noodles without getting a single splash on them (quite an impressive feat!). When we seated ourselves amongst the local crowd, I ordered mee siam and Amanda decided on ordering the laksa. Mee siam is a type of noodle dish which is made of rice noodles in a curry broth with fried tofu and egg. Laksa is a noodle dish which is made of thicker noodles in a curry that mixes Malay, Indian, and Chinese spices. Both dishes were versions of “curry noodles” but looked and tasted completed different. As we sat there eating, I couldn’t help but wish that this too could be my lunchtime break food!
Next, we headed over to Sentosa Island to check out its beaches and visit the southernmost point of the Asian continent. We arrived at Sentosa via cable car and quickly found out that it was your typical tourist destination, complete with everything from a guy holding a large snake that I could pay $5 to take a picture with to Singapore’s miniature version of Universal Studios. We didn’t go to any of the main attractions there because they seemed to be places that could be easily accessed in the United States. All Singaporean beaches are artificial, so going farther than two feet into the ocean is at your own risk, as there is a sudden drop in depth with no real warning. We decided to just stick with going to the southern point, which had a beautiful view of the South China Sea.
We ended the day with dinner at a Thai restaurant located in Holland village with a number of dishes: Tom yum soup, prawn pad thai, green Thai curry, and cuttlefish curry. Although most of these dishes could be found on the menu in an American Thai restaurant, there was something so fresh and authentic about these dishes that I don’t think it will be able to be replicated back at home. On the way back after dinner, we stopped at a little coffee shop that we had passed every day since being here and got some dessert. I got a white chocolate cheesecake while Amanda got a cup of dark hot chocolate.
You might think that today’s food adventure was something that could be experienced back home in America, but I would beg to differ. The spices are used in their truest form. Also, where else in the world could you find authentic Indian, Chinese, Malay, Indonesian, European, Japanese, and Korean food restaurants one after another almost on every other street corner and find it completely normal? Nowhere that I can think of . . . well, maybe Epcot.
We only have two days left and I intend to make the most of this amazing culinary experience.
Cheers!
-Pallavi
We only have two days left and I intend to make the most of this amazing culinary experience.
Cheers!
-Pallavi