A Foodie Finds Himself in Foodie Heaven

I’m a self-proclaimed foodie. I would eat anything from three-star Michelin to third-world street food. I think that the national pastime in Singapore is eating and majority of them congregate in hawker stalls (food courts) to enjoy this "national pastime". I think the hawker stall culture has a lot to do with the fact that majority of Singaporeans live in high-rise flats (apartments), where living space is a premium and kitchen size suffer as a result, so they just eat out instead, where often at the ground level of many of these high-rises you will find hawker stalls.

So as we were finalizing our itinerary, I was getting more and more excited about the prospect of savoring food from Singaporean hawker stalls again. In the USA, food courts have such a bad connotation and deservedly so, pre-cooked, lamp-heated, artery busting fast food, but in Singapore, these hawker stalls offer fresh ingredients, cooked-to-order meals and a diversity of cuisine from the many cultures (Chinese, Malay, Indian, British) that make up this tiny city-state. Every time I come to Singapore and savor hawker stall dishes as well as traditional Singaporean fare of Haianese chicken and Chili Crabs, I feel I’ve gone to foodie heaven, especially when you wash it down with cold Tiger brand beer. YUM!!!!