Healthy options

I used to say no to Halal food. Not because I don’t like it but because I don’t really get it. No offense to anybody, but for me, it’s either just delicious food versus vomit-inducing food. I don’t really focus on any other issues aside from that. Now that I’m getting older, I’m more into practicing a healthy lifestyle, meaning I am considering healthy options now. And I’m educating myself with what I into my mouth.

Halal food is actually a lifestyle. In Singapore, more and more restaurants are getting halal certified. If I refused to eat at any halal restaurant, then there might come a day that I should just do my own cooking. It’s not funny and I’m not here to create any animosity towards our muslim brothers, but it’s like me refusing to eat anything that says low-fat, because I really don’t believe that anything is low-fat.

But now, I’m more aware and I’m slowly realizing the importance of eating healthy in a society where fat is fatter and dying young is becoming a habit. I like eating Singapore local food, and yes, I do understand that halal food is not diet food. I get that. But now, I don’t shy away from halal restaurants.

Truth to that is the fact that I’ve been going to this stall for almost every day of the week now. I go there after work before I go home. I eat different sets of nasi Lemak each day I visit, then I still bring home a po piah for mid night snack. It’s becoming one of my local favorite foods.

Ever since my move to the Tampines area, I’m becoming more aware that the move here is beneficial for me. I thought I would be home sick from all the shopping and restaurants in the city, but Tampines definitely has so much to offer to me. Wait, I’m hungry, let me eat my Po piah first.

Sweet for my sweat

Walking around in the sun with loads of paper in my hand, then suddenly it started raining, I feel like shouting at the top of my lungs. Honestly, could the weather get any weirder than this? I’m so pissed at myself for picking this day, of all the days to move my papers from one office to the other. I should’ve waited with the rest of the group. Then we’ll have our service car with us. No, I have to be hard-headed and do everything on my own. I’m sweating buckets and buckets here, not to mention I didn’t bring my umbrella with me.

Good thing I stopped at a food stall. And I love this food stall. There are a lot of its branches scattered all over Singapore. Is anyone addicted to pearl milk teas? It’s so addicting. I try to have only 1 per day, but I usually end up having 2, it’s my after coffee drink and my mrt after work companion. I love those small tapioca balls. They’re sweet, chewy, and this stall gives generous amount.

I usually just order the milk tea. I don’t go for the fruity taste, because it ruins the taste of the pearls for me. And if I want fruit in my drink, I would’ve chosen a fruit shake instead. I’m beginning to like the Tampines area. I have to. I’m forced to be here every week because of work. And I dread the fact that I’ll be in a place where there’s limited source of food outlets.

It’s a good thing that Tampines is now booming with food courts, and stalls. While I was sipping my pearl milk tea, I started chatting with the auntie. I asked her why the drink is so delicious. She said that Singaporeans love their sweets. And because of the weather, people want to cool down. True on that.

I had to wait for the rain to stop and before I left, I ordered another 1 to take with me to my new office. I seriously should’ve just waited for the company car.

A buffet of some sort

When was I never hungry? I have a feeling that I’m always hungry these past few days. Don’t worry, the stork’s never visited me, it’s just that I’ve been doing a lot lately and I keep on missing my meals. It’s like lunch always falls around 3pm. So when I eat, it feels like it’s always buffet-style.

This restaurant has many branches all over Singapore. It’s well known for its heritage and I like their food. I want to order their set menu but it’s good for 2. I’m just by myself. People might think that I eat too much.

For starters, I ordered cold jelly fish heads. I like this stuff because it’s chewy and addicting. It’s light to the taste. Dipping it in chili soy sauce, wow! It already makes my mouth water. I wanted soup but I wanted to eat their deep fried pork trotters and seafood fried rice.

Yes. I love meat. I can never be vegetarian. Their pork trotters are deep fried with pepper and salt. It’s a piece per order, and if you have a big appetite just like me, you can order 2. You can always wrap whatever’s left anyways.

To achieve the crispiness, the pork trotters are boiled first then put into the freezer. That’s what restaurants usually do. Then they just deep fry them to achieve the crisp outside and tender on the inside. I don’t mind using my fingers when I’m eating pork trotters.

The seafood fried rice is as usual, very good. You can see actual seafood on the rice and not just flavorings. For dessert, I ordered the yum paste with nuts. I wanted it hotter though, I think they served it just warm because they thought I might burn my tongue. It wasn’t that sweet, and yeah. Maybe next time, they could add more sugar to it. I think it has to do with the yam, because yams do not taste the same. Maybe the yam they used this time is a little bit on the bland side.

I know I like this place, because it never disappoints me. I thought that food might not be as good as the main branch, but surprisingly, it’s the same quality, such a rarity nowadays.

Simple food tastes good too

I don’t mind eating vegetables as long as it’s tasty. I will go the extra mile if I know that it’ll be worth the trip. A trip to this vegetable restaurant was long been overdue. And since I’ve been frequenting this neighborhood, might as well give this simple food a try.

The place is just typical, only difference is that it serves vegetarian dishes. I wanted to try their puffs, but I can get that anywhere, so I decided to study their menu and look for something more interesting. The menu is still composed of Chinese, Italian and western cuisine.

They have a set menu for lunch. If it’s an ordinary restaurant, I would’ve ordered that, but instead I opted to order ala carte. The soup came, and sorry to say, it tasted like rice water. Maybe I just ordered the wrong soup, but it was really too bland. Clear soup would’ve been a better choice.

I then ordered their mushroom pizza. I love mushrooms, and for that price, I couldn’t complain anymore. It’s better than their soup though. And since it’s made to order, the dough’s surprisingly good. You can see the mushrooms, and the sauce is well-seasoned. It’s not too salty. You can still taste the mushrooms.

My friend ordered the fish chop. We all thought it was a baguette. Since it was breaded, and there was something on top of it. There’s a side of beans, and some veggies too. The fish is moist inside. It was crunchy, just like fish and chips.

Honestly, the food wasn’t that all great. I mean vegetarian dishes shouldn’t taste bland or simple just because they don’t have meat in them. Singaporeans cook well. There are so many local vegetables recipes that taste better than regular dishes.

To go vegetarian or not?

I’m getting older and I should watch what I eat. People in Singapore are very cautious with what they eat. I mean, they eat street food, but even their street food is considered healthy. They drink tea more often than coffee. They walk for miles without complaining, and most importantly, vegetable dishes are a staple in their diet.

I live alone. I’m usually out because of work and I barely have time to cook for myself. That’s why it’s become my lifestyle to eat where ever hunger strikes. I’m not picky, as long as the place is nice and the food looks and smells good, I’m fine. I like vegetables tempura. I don’t like how they serve them in hawker centers because they’re already saggy. I like them still hot and crispy.

After a day of hard work, I go to my nearest hawker center and get myself a Yong Tau fu soup. Sometimes if I’m hungry, I add some noodles on it, but I usually just eat it by itself. I like that the clear consume broth is so refreshing. There’s no oily after taste. You can have a choice of what you put on it. Mostly I put fish balls, mushrooms, bok choy, stuffed tofu and crab sticks and bean sprouts.

It’s almost the same as Laksa, but Laksa has coconut milk and other spices. This local recipe is so pure in taste that for some, they may even consider it as bland. In Singapore, there’s a wide range of condiments available. I like to put some chili flakes and a dash of soy sauce on mine. Or if I’m at home, I’ll splash on some fish sauce instead of the soy.

However I choose to eat it, I don’t feel heavy afterwards. There’s no guilty feeling of eating too much carbs or fat because it was all vegetables. That’s why I’m thinking that maybe I should try going vegetarian. Maybe, I’ll start 2x a week?

A Secret Food fine

My parents are here in vacation and they want to get something from Ikea, so yeah, I’m back in Tampines and I’m seriously worried that I won’t find a decent place for them to eat. Since I’m not familiar with the place, every time I’m here I tend to eat at the same restaurants always. Well, I sometimes try on new establishments but I don’t want to risk it this time. Good thing, they found something by themselves.

I’m really surprised that Tampines is becoming a food haven. Well, my parents didn’t know that where we’re eating is a halal place, but still, they seemed to be enjoying their food. The Tampines area’s been known for many halal restaurants. From western to Japanese, you can have a choice of your halal food.

It’s a fusion restaurant serving Indonesian and Thai food. I usually just order Tom Yam soup and Phad Thai. But my parents wanted something new. Since they’re paying, I let them order. It’s like buffet but ala carte. For something that cheap, I was intrigued.

True enough, food wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. It wasn’t bad, but I seriously was hoping for something more than that. The Tom Yam didn’t make a mark. I had better at hawker centers than this. My parents were laughing at me because I was making faces all throughout dinner.

My parents liked the fried fish with sweet thai sauce. I did like it too. The batter was crispy and the fish was well-cooked. The thai sauce isn’t too sweet and with a little punch. They scored big points on that dish.

When we got home I tried searching the internet for the restaurant, and it has bad rep when it comes to its service. I didn’t experience any of it, but then again, I wasn’t very particular with it. My focus was with the food and why I don’t think I’ll ever come back there.

Tampines has so many restaurants, and I would be doing a great disservice to them if I’ll come back to this average tasting restaurant.

Fusion in the midst of confusion

For the past few weeks, I’ve been going back and forth the Tampines area. And I’m seriously wondering every time I’m here on where to eat. I don’t like to bother my friends and ask them where since they’re also not familiar with the place. In all my confusion, I chanced upon this fusion restaurant.

It’s actually an interesting concept since they’re combining 2 asian cuisines. Usually fusion happens with western and eastern cuisines, but this time the menu consists of 2 Asian countries. I love both cuisines. Again, it’s located inside the mall, I guess by now you’ve figured it out that I’m such a mall rat.

They said it’s a certified Halal restaurant. Ok. It doesn’t really matter to me, as long as they serve good food, then I’m in. Every time I’m in a thai restaurant I always order Tom Yum soup. It took awhile for the order to arrive. I mean it’s just Tom Yum. Good thing that it was good. The sour spicy soup woke up every vein in my body. I like how the sourness was somehow having a tug of war with the spiciness in my mouth. It was overloaded with vegetables and seafood, it was bursting with flavors.

I liked how they served it in a clay pot. I wasn’t able to finish the whole thing so I just picked on the vegetables and seafood. The squid wasn’t hard to bite. It wasn’t chewy, and the shrimps are juicy.

I saw that they have phad thai in the menu. I can’t resist a phad thai but I can’t finish it by myself. I made a mental note that I’ll be going back to this place just to try their phad thai. I would’ve ordered it to-go but I wasn’t going home yet.