MILLIE: Karla and I spent one of our best and craziest bonding weekends together in Singapore just recently. We both allowed our cravings to lead us and we happily pigged out, burping with joy! Karla had a wild idea to watch Wicked, decided to treat me and bought the tickets online so I could not argue. We took a 7 a.m. PAL flight out, checked in at the Conrad, dropped our bags and rushed out to Boon Tong Kee on Balestier Road, our favorite Hainanese chicken place. We were craving for this moment ever since we decided on the trip and boy, our appetites were fully satiated! It was exactly how we remembered it. Now I fully understand balikbayans craving for Aristocrat chicken barbecue and coming home happy and delighted after enjoying one of life’s simple pleasures.
Topping Karla’s shopping list was a Canon S100 camera, a must-buy, she said, justifying it by saying that she takes all the food shots for our column so again, I could not argue. My brother Ray’s eldest son Anton lives in Singapore and suggested that we go to Funan mall, where one can buy all the electronic gadgets. He advised us to buy the camera from his friend Samuel’s camera shop John 3:16.
We stopped for coffee and dessert at TCC as we entered Funan mall and tried their cappuccino cheesecake. I had a cup of freshly brewed and very pricey Blue Mountain coffee, while Karla had a Choc-Nut milkshake.
While shopping, we were making arrangements to meet up with Ethel Timbol and her daughter Bebeth, who were also in town. We wanted to go to Jumbo for a crab dinner but could not get reservations so Samuel recommended Long Island Seafood in Dempsey Hills, home of the original Black Pepper Crab. We enjoyed the sunset dining al fresco while struggling with our finger-licking chili crabs, constantly dipping our fried buns into the chili sauce. We also had a side order of caramelized, crunchy baby squid, a clay pot of spinach and pine mushroom and yummy honey pork!
KARLA: When I was a kid, every time we would eat in Chinese restaurants, the kids always had a separate table from the parents. Naturally, I would hang around the adult table when the food came since they had better food. Ha ha! All our parents used to order for us kids was fried chicken, kropeck, Yang Chow fried rice and crispy noodles, while the adult table had all the good stuff: the cold-cut platter with seaweed and century egg, shark’s fin soup, sweet-sour pork, beef with broccoli, crab with sotanghon, Peking duck, etc. So as soon as the food came, I’d run to mom’s side and would start whispering what I wanted from the adult table and she would give me a portion of her share. I could choose anything I wanted, except for the crabs. So I guess crabs never used to interest me. I could never really understand how our parents used to be so engrossed with their crabs. I even remember that before mom would start eating crabs, she made it a point to ask me first if I needed to go to the restroom, just so I wouldn’t bother her while she was in crab mode. Even when she was pregnant, mom got so hooked on crabs and kept craving for them that my lola actually had to scare her, saying I might come out with claws instead of hands.
It was only around two years ago that I discovered that they were actually really good. Since I’m a newbie at this, I get the claws since it’s the only part I can manage to de-shell so far. Ha ha! Crabs were formally introduced to me by my lolo in Tao Yuan Restaurant. He would order their chili crabs with fried buns and would dip the fried buns in the sauce or in condensed milk. Sometimes, mom and I would crave for crabs so we would go all the way to Tao Yuan in Malate or Resorts World or to the paluto by the Home Depot in Ortigas.
MILLIE: Karla and I were both so crab-crazy that the next day, we decided to finally go to Jumbo Seafood restaurant in Clarke Quay for a lunch with my nephew Anton of chili crabs and fried sweet buns. We could have ordered a crab each as it was the only thing we both wanted to eat, but Anton insisted we try the mocha pork ribs, which was undeniably unforgettable.
KARLA: After the lunch, mom and I went to Robertson Walk because she kept bragging about this French pastry shop Canele she had been to on one of her previous trips. Mom just really wanted to try the desserts and to have coffee, but she ended up ordering a Wagyu burger. So, of course, by the time it was time for dessert, we were both full again. But okay, fine, that didn’t stop us from having dessert. It’s just that instead of ordering two kinds, we were only able to order one, which was their cake for the day.
After all that eating, we finally did what we came to Singapore to do: we watched Wicked at the Marina Bay Sands Theater.
MILLIE: The next day, we shared a late Sunday brunch with my Singaporean friend John Tan, who took us to Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House at the Ion Mall on Orchard Road. John insisted on a leisurely lunch with bits of food coming in one at a time so we could savor it better and enjoyed each other’s company as well.
The food was your everyday comfort food but it was very tasty and one of our most unforgettable meals. For starters we had roast duck with plum sauce, followed by a barbecue combination of yummy pork ribs. The three of us shared a bowl of light and delicious meat congee with bits of century egg and diced bicho-bicho. Next we had succulent prawns coated with salted egg yolk, my current favorite! John insisted we must try the glutinous rice with chicken, a specialty of the house. It was so superb that we had two servings! The next dish was beef brisket with tendons cooked in a clay pot and it reminded me so much of my Dad as it was one of his all-time favorites. Then came the turnip cake, which John calls the carrot cake, followed by steamed rice rolls with shrimp. By then Karla and I were getting full but the dishes kept coming. The xiao long bao was so juicy and tasty and one of the best we’ve tried. Last but not least was the fried bean curd skin, which was so full of flavor we enjoyed it tremendously to the last bite. For a sweet ending, we were delighted that our favorite almond cream soup with glutinous balls stuffed with lotus seeds was available and we finished off with a smile on our faces. We didn’t realize we had been eating for two hours!
Karla and I look forward to more bonding trips together, learning more about each other’s dreams and enjoying each other’s company. Somehow it nourishes us both and gives us strength in our life’s journey.
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Send e-mail to milliereyes.foodforthought@gmail.com and karla@swizzlemobilebar.com. Find us on Facebook and read articles you might have missed: Food for Thought by Millie & Karla Reyes.