Taste of Thailand (泰国小食) @ Yishun Industrial Park (used to be at Sembawang Shopping Centre)

In the past, there was only one air-conditioned shopping complex in the far northern side of Singapore; Sembawang Shopping Centre (SSC).

And when the Northerners (residents of Yishun, Woodlands, Sembawang) talked about food in SSC, there is no escaping this popular outlet called Taste of Thailand (泰国小食).

Alas, the change of times cannot be stopped and the old Sembawang Shopping Centre was eventually demolished.

Fortunately for its loyal customers, the owners of Taste of Thailand decided to move its operation to a coffee shop in Yishun Industrial Park, a five-minute drive from the old premise.

It was a long delayed trip for the Gang of Three but late is always better than never. :)

Tom Yam Soup

This could have been a classic tom yam soup; the optimal balance of spiciness and sourness with an endearing seafood flavour. "Could have been" as the squid meat had a damn fishy taste.

Kang Kong with Cuttlefish

Sambal belachan (fried shrimp chilli) was not spared in making this dish and although i found this to be a bit too spicy for my tongue, i totally enjoyed the crunchy cuttlefish.

Pineapple Fried Rice

A far cry from its glory days, this plate of pineapple fried rice was a great disappointment.

It was no longer served in a half sliced pineapple husk and the rice lacked the essential pineapple infusion which was not surprising given the little amount of pineapple meat i picked out.

Deep Fried Cuttlefish

Hot and fresh from the boiling oil, the cuttlefish was naturally flavoured and had a solid bite that made eating its parts so damn addictive! If only the chef can fry it with salted egg and butter....

Sweet and Sour Pork

The right word to describe the sweet and sour pork here is traditional and it was like a walk down memory lane for me as my teeth slowly bit through the still crispy crust despite the layer of savoury sauce.

Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight

Besides the pineapple fried rice, this is another customer-favourite order.

And the main protagonist is not the fish; the small bowl of chilli sauce plays an equally important role as a dressing and flavour enhancer.

The taste was still as good as i remember over ten years ago! Amusingly, my threshold for chilli products has actually increased over the years and i thought the spiciness of this three-flavour fried fish was a tad too mild now.

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Location

Block 1001, #01-1001,

Yishun Industrial Park A

(Huat Li Eating House)

Contact

6758-9121

Map

Look above.

Price

Tom Yam Soup - S$4

Kang Kong with Cuttlefish - S$6

Pineapple Fried Rice - S$5

Deep Fried Cuttlefish - S$6

Sweet and Sour Pork - S$6

Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight - S$13

No GST, No Service Charge.

Additional Information

For their extensive menu, please click the above picture.

Pain on the Wrist Bone

For the past two weeks, i kept experiencing a sharp pain on my left wrist whenever i moved the thumb. Thinking it was a minor sprain, i didn't think too much of it except to put a temporary stop to my daily push-ups and dumb-bell liftings.

To alleviate the pain, this pack of menthol plaster came in handy on a nightly basis.

There's a problem though; not only did the pain get worse, i started losing strength in that particular hand and there are moments when i have no holding control over the item i am carrying.

Visiting a reputable Chinese sinseh is the next step for such ailment!

He managed to identify the problematic area, assure me that it is minor at this stage, and after massaging the wrist with some medicated oil, dress up the area and advise me to come back if the pain persists after four days.

At this moment, the pain has not subsided and typical of Chinese ancient tuina (推拿), redness of the affected area is common and it's unwise to give an outright conclusion within a day or two. 

Let's give the herbal medication a few more days although the lack of exercise has been contributing to a steady increase of weight gain over the festive holidays!

There goes my target to attain an optimal weight for the upcoming Chinese New Year....

Understanding the Nonya and Baba @ Peranakan Museum (Singapore)

The popularity of Little Nonya (小娘惹), a Singapore-made drama, has generated a lot of interest in the Peranakan culture that has its origins from Southeast Asia.

To be honest, before the drama was screened on TV, i knew almost nothing about this non-official ethnic group except for its appetising desserts that have influences from the Chinese and Malay/Indonesian.

Thankfully, we have in Singapore a museum specially dedicated to this unique culture and in view of the museums (under National Heritage Board) open house during the festive holiday, the Gang of Three (Alex was again busy with his work) happily made their way down to Peranakan Museum.

Housed within the Old Tao Nan School building built between 1910 and 1912, the museum has ten permanent galleries that are comprehensive enough for any Little Nonya fans to indulge themselves in the culture that is similar yet different from official ethnic groups.

Gallery One

Origins

For some Singaporeans, they have no idea what differentiate a Peranakan from (for example) any Singaporean Chinese as they look the same, talk the same and eat the same kind of food in school.

Basically, the term "Peranakan" means a person of mixed ethnic groups (need not necessarily be Chinese and Malay) and according to what i understand, anybody with the Chinese surname "Ooi" or "Wee" is usually Chinese Peranakan.

Gallery Two to Five

Wedding

All this while, i thought Chinese wedding is the most cumbersome ceremony in the world as it involves too much preparation and meticulous planning.

It turns out that Peranakan wedding is worse and last for twelve long days! I suspect this practice may not be so common in this contemporary age when time never seems to be enough and convenience is preferred.

Giving a raw leg of pork to the bridegroom implies that his family is receiving a virgin bride (purity is highly regarded decades ago).

Only a small portion was kept by the bridegroom. Reasons? Visit the museum for the answers! :P

Golden headdress and jewellery for the bride.

Wedding trays with elaborate carvings and tiny statues.

Yet another wedding item; silver teapot set (looks golden to me). Gold and silver, as with Chinese, signify status and prosperity for which Peranakans are well known for in the past due to their elite standing during the colonial period.

Peranakan beadwork embroidery is a damn beautiful artwork (no doubt painstakingly hard to make as well); this tablecloth is made up of a million glass beads that sparkle brightly under the spotlight.

Another picture of a beadwork wallet with birds and flowers. 

To make things interesting, the two portraits will start talking to each other every hour. I didn't manage to catch their conversation this time although i remember it to be quite entertaining and informative the first time i was at the museum.

An enactment of the wedding procession. Some people might find this to be a bit eerie but this is seriously nothing compared to the gallery on religion.

Traditional bed for the newlyweds. 

Gallery Six

Nonya

Like many Chinese women before the modern age, nonyas were required to learn the basics on cooking, sewing andembroideryto prepare them for married life.

Nonya dressing, even till now, is commonly worn on the streets and i am not surprised even if it manages to gain the same level of foothold as cheongsam in the future. 

Amazingly, these batik sarongs and laced kebayas have a relatively short history and were adopted by the Peranakan Chinese only in the 1920s.

Peranakan clothings are on hand if you want to dress like a Baba or Nonya for a short while. A self-service photo taking machine (with options on backgrounds etc) is available close by.

Gallery Seven

Religion

Ethnic Peranakans are not known for their grasp of the Chinese language. However, they adopt almost the same traditional religious practices like the Chinese.

Due to their close relationships with the colonial masters, some Peranakans started switching to Christianity and as taken from the information plaque, this Victorian bell jar probably celebrated such a religious conversion.

Ancestral altar - yet another traditional Chinese practice displayed in a different way. The two big Chinese characters were also prominently featured in Little Nonya.

Funerals for Peranakans are also mentioned in this gallery. Death is almost a taboo subject in Asian museums due to its inauspicious inference and i am glad this museum features this.

There's even a mock up coffin located behind the main altar and a tape recording with wailing voices of the family members! It would be interesting to find out from the night keeper if there's any weird happening after dusk. 

Gallery Eight

Public Life

For native Singaporeans who have gone through Singapore history in Secondary one and two, you might be able to identify some of these prominent Peranakans.  

Gallery Nine

Food and Feasting

Warning: There's no food here so don't expect sampling of authentic Nonya cuisine when there are ample restaurants and eateries located in Katong to serve the purpose.

Instead, visitors are educated on the dining customs and tableware. Kam Cheng, the picture above, is a porcelain serving container for food, desserts and water. I used to think its purpose is to contain ashes of the dead.. Choy!

An elaborate set up of dinner ware of a wealthy Peranakan family.

This set of dinner ware, with motifs of butterflies and flowers, was specially made for Yap Ah Loy, founder of Kuala Lumpur, the current capital of Malaysia. 

Gallery Ten

Conversations

The picture above is not related to the gallery (just the staircases leading to the different levels)! In a nutshell, gallery ten touches on the evolution of Peranakan culture over the years and its future. 

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Location

39, Armenian Street

Opening Hours

As above.

Additional Information

For admission charges and other information, please visit

http://www.peranakanmuseum.sg/

Ruam Jai Thai Food @ MS136 Food House (Marsiling Road)

If not for the Great Kon, i doubt i would ever venture into this neighbourhood in Marsiling. There are way too many such neighbourhoods in Singapore and just in Yishun (where i live); i can count no less than four.

The above is the purpose of our visit - food; in particular affordable yet authentic Thai food that left a memorable impression on the Kon. In his opinion, the Thai fried glass noodles at ABC market is still a notch below the one served by Ruam Jai Thai Food!

We are seldom satisfied with just one type of food in a coffee shop or hawker centre and it is almost customary that extra dishes be ordered either from a stall that has a longer than average queue or dishes that appear on most tables.

Thai Fish Cake

Question: disregarding the appearance, what's the difference between the common fish cake and a Thai fish cake?

Answer: as far as taste is concerned, Thai fish cake is like a blend between a spicy Otah and a common fish cake. I have to say i like this more than the common fish cake and would have gladly popped a few more!

Phad Thai

This Thai style fried noodles is a must-order in any Thai eatery as this national dish is synonymous with Thailand.

Sadly, the noodles were too soggy for my liking and it didn't help that the taste was too watered down despite the generous servings of eggs and prawns.

Tom Yam Seafood Soup

Ask any Tom Yam guru and they will tell you that a delicious bowl of tom yam must have a balance of spiciness and sourness with a numbing effect at the end.

This bowl failed the balance check but i enjoyed it because the savoury broth was rich in ocean's flavour and the intense spiciness had a rather shiok after effect.

Fried Tang Hoon

I love it when chefs are not stingy with their ingredients! Having said that, the glass noodles tasted relatively light and was in fact, a disappointment.

Kon did comment that the taste was not in its usual robustness - likely one of those rare occasions when consistency fails.

Pineapple Fried Rice

Fried rice in a pineapple husk would have made this pleasing to the eyes but my eyes were hooked on the layer of golden pork floss.

Each spoonful into my mouth was simply a trip to heaven and i could not imagine that it has been so long since i last had such delicious pineapple rice!

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Location

136, Marsiling Road

#01-2188, MS136 Food House

Price

Thai Fish Cake - S$2 for 5 pieces

Phad Thai - S$3.50

Tom Yam Seafood Soup - S$4.00

Fried Tang Hoon - S$3.50

Pineapple Fried Rice - S$3.50