Exploring the many sights to see in Singapore, you quickly discover that the heart and soul of this nation are the hawker markets: tiered, open-aired food centers where innumerable food stalls are clustered together, bringing an exotic panoply of Singaporean street food into one hygienic, food-court setting. At the Chinatown Complex, a popular food centre in Singapore’s Chinatown district, we sat down at a table by the railed edge of the open-air terrace as a variety of fried foods were kindly brought to us by our tour-guide Andrew Ong, who is as indefatigable as he is informative. Setting down the small baskets of fried snacks, he then called over a waitress, addressed as xiaojie (see-ow di-ehh), the Mandarin Chinese word for Miss, and ordered beers. The crispy vegetarian rolls I sampled were worlds apart from the oil-soaked cigarellos you find at Chinese restaurants at home. These had a non-greasy crunch and a sweet and savory cohesion of flavors that instantly befriended you. But, as with any fried food, the real magic happened when cold beer arrived, which in this case were large bottles of Tiger beer in a bucket filled with ice. We sipped our beer, drank-in our surroundings and soon felt the joyful pull of languor. Just like that, a busy morning transformed into a lazy afternoon. The next day we enjoyed similar downtime at the Geylang Serai Market and Food Centre, this time, sharing traditional Asian desserts like onde onde—shredded coconut-covered rice-gluten balls with a dark, caramelized coconut center and kuih lapis—rice flour and coconut water steamed into rainbow layers that are peeled off and eaten one-by-one. Along with this came a hot cup of Malaysian coffee that has a hearty, rich flavor and is sweetened with condensed milk.
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