Tom's Kitchen

Pork Cutlet ($5.50)

Taman Jurong Market Food Centre might be the most unlikely place for a weekend meal because of its secluded location, while it is noteworthy for its many little stalls of good cze char. But tonight we wanted something new. We hopped around and saw the hustling at Tom's.

Youngsters were ordering up spaghettis, baked rice and the usual cutlets and chips. We called it the KFC-sauced chicken - gravy that goes with our cutlet and chop tastes like the whip potato sauce from the KFC! 

Your average salad, crumbly cutlet and a well-grilled chicken that is crispy on the outside, and juicy on the inside. Pretty mediocre fare, you may say. But it was decadent and characterizes by the KFC sauce! Not bad for a weekend.

Grilled Chicken Chop ($5.50)

Warung Nenek

#01-73

Heartwarming name of 'Warung Nenek' at the Changi Village Food Centre actually means 'Little stall of Grandma' in Malay. Sweet.

Their main stay is some well-toasted fritter (Chinese 'you tiao') and beancurd puff (Taupok), stuffed with raw cucumber strips and blanched beansprouts, done rojak style. Great for those who prefer their rojak without the pineapples and turnips. Seems familiar with what we usually have from Chinese rojak stall? But the shrimp paste used in the sauce here is much lighter, yet very palatable. We like it.

Next we followed others in buying up their little banana fritters, lightly coated with thin, savory batter. Served dipping hot. Surely, this is the best pisang goreng we had, from a Malay stall.

Rojak Bakar ($3)

Pisang Goreng ($2 for 8)

Changi Village Satay

Beef, Mutton Satay ($0.70 per stick), Lontong ($0.70 x2)

It doesn't go unnoticed that the most popular satay stall among the Chinese patrons, in the Changi Village Food Centre is Jason's, while our Muslim friends went for Changi Village Satay. We first caught sight of them on a Chinese table - fat chunky sticks of grilled meat! And i told Ric, i want those!

And we had. Sweet, juicy sticks of grilled mutton, with very little too tough to chew. This is good. The beef was understandably tougher, but equally aromatic. No regret for my whimsicality.

THAI Food @ Woodlands

Pokémon-ing brought us to the 'ulu' north of Singapore which we were not familiar with. A friend recommends this little Thai stall which packs a good crowd during the lunch hours; head chef by a capable Thai lady at 186, Woodlands Industrial Park E5, right behind the Singapore Safety Driving Centre.

We were told that their stir-fried rice and noodles are the sell out here, and so we had.

Green Curry Fried Rice ($4.50)

Fried Drunken Noodle ($4.50)

Serving is large! Never a pinchpenny. Aromatic food fragrance is the first thing to strike our senses, albeit the missing wok-hei. Next, we found ourselves sobbing from the spicy green curry, and seeking respite from the sweetness of the fried kway teow. Feeling upbeat, we added a Thai beef salad to our meal, which only means another nose-blowing episode. It was spicy, but very satisfying. 

Surely, i wouldn't hesitate to return for more of their rustic Thai fare - the seafood Tom Yam, Thai omelette minced pork, lemon grass beef or the classic pineapple rice. A good meal, when we weren't rushing after Pokémons.

Beef Salad ($5)

Oleh Oleh Bandung

Chicken and Mutton Satay ($0.70 per stick), Lontong ($0.50 x 2)

Another satay night at the East Coast Lagoon Food Village; there are so many Malay satay stalls here, we vowed to try them all!

Compared to Haron, stall 55 which we tried earlier, Oleh Oleh, stall 50 is lighter on the taste buds - less coating of spices on the mutton, and lesser salt in the peanut sauce. We welcome the lesser salt part, but were missing the spices. It was good, nonetheless.

Then we chanced upon our best Mee Goreng (on the background of the photo)! More on that here.

Yourself to Blame

If things go bad for you --
And make you a bit ashamed,
Often you will find out that
You have yourself to blame ...

Swiftly we ran to mischief
And then bad luck came.
Why do we fault others?

Whatever happens to us,
Here are the words to say,
"Had it not been for so-and-so
Things wouldn't have gone that way."

And if you are short of friends,
I'll tell you what to do --
Make an examination,
You'll find that fault's in you ...

You're the captain of your ship,
So agree with the same --
If you travel downward,
You have yourself to blame.

~ Mayme White Miller

Pikachu Cup Noodles

Sapporo Ichiban Shoyu Ramen ($3.50)

This price tag is definitely hefty, for the little cup that doesn't fill you.

There was no seasoning pack to open, as it was already peppered within the noodles. You just need to pour in hot water and wait for that 3 minutes. And voila...

Cute Pikachu faces on the tiny fish cakes greet you when you tossed over your noodles; I counted 4-5 of them. The instant noodles are of the standard texture, having no difference from the average. The soup tastes not bad at all, none overly salted, smelling delicious also.

A real treat for that little Pokémon fans.