Guess what I ate?

I've kept this blog entry HIDDEN for way too long & now, I've the pleasure of launching it before the whole world. It has not a jot to to with the telly (some call it the idiot box; I wonder ...)

As you would know, I studied in Perth at one of the universities there (won't say which one). I STILL KEEP IN TOUCH now & then, with some of the people back there. Recently, ONE OF THEM came down to Singapore for work & I've had the good fortune to meet up with her.

How did I know? It is via one of mankind's good friends, EMAIL (short for electronic mail/letter).

K (not KENNY SIA) wrote back in reply to my email that she would be in Singapore sometime in October 2005. So, I emailed, asking to meet up if possible. OK on my side & OK on her side, the date/time/place was set.

The countdown began.

On the eventual day, I met her after my work at the MRT station (we call them train stations Mass Rapid Transit - MRT stations, for short). It has been over 2 long years since we last me & it got me a wee bit worried that K might not recognize me. I do have a photograph of me & her taken whilst I was at school, thus I would not worry not recognizing K.

K DID RECOGNIZE ME ... even after 2 long years!! Amazing, ain't it so? Well, at least I think so.

We sat down for a bit of a chat. Basically, I filled her in on what had happened to me since I left the uni. Yabba dabba do ... yak yak ... blah blah blah blah ...

Did my bit on being a good host, I had asked K prior to dinner what sort of food she takes/likes. Since she told me "spicy", I cheekily added, "no worries" & I brought her to our very famous outdoor dining area in the CBD, ... LAU PA SAT (meaning: Old Market).

Lau Pa Sat is situated in the middle of Singapore's Central Business District (CBD). It is like an open-air food court, where there are seats inside with shelter from the rain & wind, or you could choose to sit "outside", where from 7pm to about 1am, there is no shelter from the Old Man Up In The Sky. For non-Singaporean readers, it is best you ask your Singapore friends what I mean. I'm not so sure if one can get this style of eating in non-Asian countries.

For TWO PERSONS (K & me), the following is what we ate & drank - try beating the record:

1. 30 sticks of satay (beef, chicken & mutton)
2. 2 longtongs (actually, it should have been ketupat but the stallowners did say that longtong better & I'm OK with it)
3. 1 stingray, small
4. 1 small plate of kai lan cooked in oyster sauce
5. 1 small plate of sotong yu tiao
6. 4 bottles of drinking water, with ice
7. 1 piece otak-otak (for K only)

When K asked me "what's longtong/ketupat?", in short, I told her, "think of it as rice, cooked & compacted into a tiny container". Much later on, after dinner (which I paid for & turned down K's offer to pay, telling her to take it as my treat to her. Seriously, I was only too happy to pay), I asked the satay stall owner to explain it to K further.

I did warn K that the stingray would come BBQ, with a healthy dose of chilli & spices on it. GUESS WHAT? For an Ang Moh (Caucasian), she is considered to be very good at holding her chilli, if you know what I mean. However, she didn't like the "mushi-ness" of the stingray; that is the best word I can use to describe what she told me.

Both of us did look at the seafood menu when we came across this non-chilli & non-spicy seafood item, sotong yu tiao. When K asked me, I grinned & told her with a straight face, only to see her squirm in her seat there & then, "Sotong Yu Tiao is best described as putting some chopped up squid & putting it through the food processor, then spreading it over a cut-into-2 doughnut. Finally, one takes that concoction to fry till cooked".

The look on K's face was priceless. I was nearly doubled over with laughter.

Later that night, I was thinking," Hey, mebbie I should have described sotong yu tiao this way: squid pate in doughnut". Don't ask me why the fascination with doughnuts.

The one piece of Otak that she took also had about the same effect as the stingray: mushi-ness. Otak (or as some would call it Otak-Otak) is basically fish paste mixed with spices & chili (God knows how much chilli there is) wrapped in what-kind-of-leaf-I-can't-recall, then grilled over an open fire. Otak is best taken hot for the maximum effect, a kind of tingling sensation all over yourself.

Of course, there is non-spicy otak, for those who do not take spicy food. To me & others who love Singapore chilli, there is not much "kick" in eating that. (it is just my opinion)

Are you, my dear reader, drooling from all that I've described yet? Hahahaaa!!