Singapore Cuisine

I was very blessed to have the opportunity to go to Singapore and visit my friends Kel and Mal for a little over a week. I have so many stories about what we did, saw and ate, so I will first talk about the food.
Oh, the food... the amazing, delicious, and even addictive, food. Where to begin! I promise I won't go meal by meal, but just hit up some of my favorites, but first there is something you need to know about Singapore dining. Singapore is very much a melting pot for many different cultures and backgrounds. So you could be walking down the street or into what could only be described as a food court and see a tone of different things. Some things I ate ranged from peanut buttered on thick toast, to gelatto, to ramen, to tai, seafood, sushi, Chinese (authentic though, not American and boy is there a difference) and so forth. I was so hungry after a nice morning at the beach at one point all I wanted was a burger and actually stopped at a Carl's Junior. Sometimes a girls just gotta have some meat!Anyway, let me highlight a few meals here and share a story or two.
On our first night, I fell in love with ramen! This wasn't your typical Cup O Noodle ramen (which I do very much enjoy on occasion..especially when sick) this was better! Sadly though we had a bit of a spill and a bunch of the broth went all over Kel's leg...Noooooooooo! (think of Darth Vader) But still, what was spared ( and it was a LOT) was very yummy and I think I will try to prepare something similar at home... seriously I will! Also, we had egg for dessert, I'm not kidding. So sweet and fluffy and we got them fresh. I wasn't sure what the sauce was, but I'm a big fan of this type of egg preperation.The following evening they took me to a nice little place called the Orange Elephant... well actually no, but it had this huge orange elephant for a sign and that's all I remember of it. I had a nice honey chicken, Kel some fried rice, and Mal a tasty looking soup. I was curious about the soup and was told it was spicy. I tried it and the initial taste was wonderful, almost a bit buttery with the herbs, but then as you swallowed the chili burned the back of your throat. It was so good I kept putting myself through the burning. If you are interested, a video was taken of me eating this soup, and then having a coughing fit. It's on my facebook if you are interested in watching me die.
Another meal I very much enjoyed was the wonderful little italian resteraunt they took me to in which the family was all from Italy and had opened this family business. The host was the father whom continually said "Prego!" as he seated us, the mom cooked and it seemed siblings and other hires ran around waiting tables. The food was very good and I loved the atmosphere! Sadly though I got a horrible case of the hiccups right before our main coarse and they hurt! I only got to eat a little bit of the meal cause otherwise I was afraid I might hiccup it right back up (yes they were that bad) but Mal got to try three different dishes and we got dessert to take home and enjoy later. Also, we looked up the cause for hiccups. Very interesting the different possible causes!Chinese is not the same at all as the Chinese we have in the states. For one, dumplings. Oh so squishy, chewy, soupy dumplings! Also more noodles, and fried, sweet bean paste... oh sooooo good. For this meal we wandered into a hole in the wall little place in Chinatown. It was so incredibly good and Mal said it was a very typical meal any chinese family would have. I loved the dumplings and also the way you ate them. As Kel describes, you put the dumpling on your spoon, take a small bite out it, drink the soup inside and then eat the rest of the dumpling. Yummy, but oh so filling!
Who knew how good Crab could be? I've had crab meat... and immitation crab, but never one staring me in the face as I sucked out the tender meat of it's claws and legs, helpless to it's demise! Then, as instructed by Mal, took the amazing friend rolls (which I would desribe as a bit heavier angelfood cake) and dip into the spicey sauce covering the crab. So amazing. And tofu... who knew how good tofu could be?? The last time I tried to prepare it it was a complete disaster, and those who kindly sat and ate it with forced smiles on your faces, I thank you for your kindness. This tofu though was so light and the just right amount of salty I could have licked my plate... but didn't.
So there is that. What's next? Stick around and see, I'll write more on Singapore as I consult my notes and finally get my luggage... which has a lot of my little notes and receipts as prompts to remember.
Also, Mal's goal was to have me gain 5 pounds on the trip. I did that and then some. Mission accomplished.