Hawker Fare

Some cities are best explored serendipitously. Singapore, all orderly and efficient, is made to be explored determinedly - searching every nook and cranny for scraps of character and the authentic spirit of Singapore. Otherwise you're doomed to wander aimlessly through faceless chain stores and a maze of airconditioned little food courts, all alike.

Which is why in the past couple of weeks I've made pilgrimages to hawker spots around town - Newton Food Centre (delicious but overpriced and touristy), Maxwell Food Centre (filling) and a hawker centre on Victoria street beside Allson Hotel. This last place is refreshingly breezy, which is good because the mouthwatering smells wafting from the next table make my peanuty kway teow taste better than it is. Next time, more spice.

Directly in front of me, a weathered, tanned Chinese man sits alone with five dishes and four large ice-cold Heinekens. Surely he can't mean to consume that all himself? The frosty beers make me want to go get a drink.

I end up with one of those harsh artificial lime juices. Awful stuff, but it goes with the peanut taste and washes away the oil better than a gourmet lemon sorbet.

My mind begins making up stories to explain the spread at the other table. Could he have companions coming? Why just one mug for four bottles of beer? Is he a travelling gourmand and Heineken fan?

The man bites into something spicy. As he waves air out of his mouth, he catches me looking in his direction. Too busy to care, he stuffs a wad of tissue between his lips, and then takes it out and waves some more.

His cell phone rings. He talks, stands, and then gestures broadly, giving directions. Ah, part of the mystery is revealed. Someone is coming.

I continue eating my kway teow. Is kway teow even supposed to have peanuts? Maybe it's peanut oil.

After a while he pushes the half-eaten dishes to the other side of the table and lines up the beers in front of him like a firing squad. He's well on his way to finishing his second bottle.

Phone rings. He speaks into the phone again, now angrily. They aren't coming. They're late. They've already eaten. I can only guess. He hangs up, shakes his head in exasperation, and calls a cleaning lady to take away the food. Some of the dishes have barely been touched. That last plate heading for the trash bag looks like chilli prawn. Nooo!!!!

Every now and then he glances my way. I can see he's just as puzzled about what I'm doing there, writing away beside a heaping plate of kway teow. Am I a student? A spy? Hawker food stall reviewer? Private detective sent by his wife to tail him?

Phone rings again. My imagination translates both sides of the Chinese dialogue. "We're almost there, just 10 minutes away! So sorry we're late!" "Sorry, sorry, too late lah! Food all gone. Throw already." He gets up, gives directions again. Walks to the front of the food centre and, still on the phone, points to the signboard (no doubt his listener will know exactly which one he means).

I finish my meal and he's still here, waiting. I was right about one thing though - he drank all four Heinekens.

post this to del.icio.us

Body Rock

I tried out a new Body Rock dance class today - it's a mix of exotic-style hip hop dance moves mainly meant for clubbing. Bodytalks is launching two new classes, Body Rock and Exotic Cardio, so they're offering trial sessions this week.

Overall, the Body Rock class was fun. Not as fun as Exotic Dance, of course. ;) I found it intriguing - if I watched carefully I could tell the exotic dance girls apart from the clubbers.

The teacher was male (didn't catch his name - Jean? John?) but had some of Linna's same teaching style and humor. He explained each move and took us through it slowly before adding music. First he had us do the footwork, then add shoulder movements, hip movements, and finally a body wave. I never imagined I could move so many muscles in so many different directions at the same time.

I like the way Bodytalks teaches dance - they're much better than the instructors of the cookie-cutter classes at the big gyms. Those guys demonstrate a move once or twice, have their faithful regulars follow, and then you're left to sink or swim on your own! I guess the mass-market gym teachers get newcomers every week and need to do it that way so they don't bore their regular students.

The new 6-week Body Rock session starts next Tuesday, May 2 at Dancehub. They're also planning a class at Jitterbugs (3/F Millenia Walk) on Sunday afternoons.

To register, send an e-mail to info@thebodytalks.com.sg

Getting There

Dancehub is at 14A Murray Terrace, 2nd floor, Murray Street S079530. Murray Terrace is just across Maxwell Food Center... I mean, Food Centre. It's also near Tanjong Pagar MRT.

post this to del.icio.us

Classical Stand-Up

It's not every day you see an international artist traipsing through a theater lobby in shorts, snapping pictures of the usherettes.

We did, last Saturday. John and I were hanging out in front of Jubilee Hall spending a lazy afternoon, trying to decide whether to watch Rainer Hersch that evening. He was billed as a classical music stand-up comedian doing a one-act play about a Danish pianist, and we weren't quite sure what that really meant. The usherette set up a table outside the theater but wasn't selling tickets yet. If this was Manila I would have given up hope of getting in, but we've learned that in Singapore shows never sell out. My theory is, too many shows, too small a population.

Rainer popped out the theater's double doors, chit-chatted with the staff, and started taking souvenir pictures of the usherette and the theater manager. That did it for me - I figured any international comedian who is down to earth enough to do that is bound to be funny.

I wasn't disappointed. Rainer started the show with an impression of Victor Borge, the Danish musical comic. Don't worry, I hadn't heard of him either. The impressions soon had us rocking with laughter, and so did his twists on famous classical pieces. It's amazing how well a piano can deliver punch lines.

Rainer's humor has a distinctly European flavor. Self-deprecating (he's half-English) and delivered deadpan (he's half-German), Rainer poked fun at everyone from the Welsh ("Never play Scrabble with a Welshman. He'll look at a rack of seven consonants and think, 'Oh, I've won.'") to the Danes and the Germans, noting that Americans have no clue where Denmark is until you tell them it's two days by Panzer from Berlin.

I had a couple of slow moments along the way - at least one musical piece I didn't get, a joke that flew over my head, and a weak encore having to do with opera - but overall it was an enjoyable show.

This was his second visit to Singapore, he explained, adding, "My agent says you play Singapore twice in your career, once on the way up and once... never mind." Who knows where we'll see him next time.

post this to del.icio.us

A Leisurely Afternoon

Some hotels are both historical and culinary landmarks. In Singapore, the grandest of them all is Raffles Hotel.

We celebrated John’s birthday by going for traditional English high tea at the Bar and Billiard Room. Graceful chandeliers hung from high ceilings, giving the room an airy feel. We sat back on our cushioned chairs and tried to catch a glimpse of each other through the three tiers of loaded tea trays.

Raffles has an extensive tea selection. John picked a good one, the ginger and herb tea. The fragrance and taste both evoked our favorite spas – don’t ask us how we can imagine how a spa would taste. I had the peach blossom tea which was very, well, peachy.

Every so often a pair of tourists would wander in, happy to be out of the heat and the humidity.

We analyzed each piece of pastry, trying to figure out what was what. John accidentally picked a scone with raisins (he dislikes raisins) so he swapped it for my orange scone. I took his slice of fruit cake (I actually like fruit cake, and this one was good). Now I know why high tea service runs for two hours... that's how long it takes to finish off all the sweets you're served.

We got tons of amusement value out of the silver teapots. John accidentally popped his tea strainer open while investigating his teapot, spilling tea leaves into his tea. Good thing we were done by then!

The Tiffin Room around the corner also serves high tea. The buffet there is popular with tourists, and we felt the long lines didn’t quite fit with our plan of a relaxing afternoon tea.

One day I'll come back and try the Writers Bar in the lobby. We strolled through and paused to listen to the pianist; next time we'll stay longer.

Reservations

The restaurant wasn't full the day we went. If you're the type who likes calling ahead (we did), you can make reservations by calling 6331-1612.

High tea is served from 3:30 to 5:30 pm Mondays to Saturdays, and 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on Sundays. Dress code is smart casual, although we did spot a tourist or two in walking shorts.

Prices

The Raffles Set is priced at S$32 per person, plus tax and service charge (an additional 16%). The Sarkies Set is slightly less. You can order champagne with either set for a few more dollars.

Getting There

Take the MRT to City Hall and then walk through Raffles City mall, past the Swissotel Stamford.

post this to del.icio.us