Chomp Chomp Food Court

We had dinner at one of the local food courts in Singapore (忠忠 food court) and it resembled to the night markets in Taiwan where tables were set up in the court and you can buy an assortment of local food from the different merchants there. Many local families frequent the food court because of the unique dishes they provide there.  Unfortunately, air conditioning was not available, only fans. As you can imagine, in 34 degrees, with full blown heat from many cooks of each vendor and crowded patrons, we truly sampled the life style of the local Singaporeans. There were many unique dishes we tried:  sting ray fish - a local specialty, popish (簿餅), lala (shell fish), hum (clams), radish with fried eggs, satay beef, stir-fried potato leaves and of course chili crabs. Very tasty. The cane juice was also very good but a bit on the sweet side - had to add lots of ice cubes to dilute the sugar taste. Sandra and William gave Richard another durian for dessert and it was so yummy. 

Leaving Singapore first thing in the morning to Brunei. Despite the short stay, we were very appreciative of the hospitality of our friends who provided a wonderful local experience for us. The contrast of well-to-do and the poor is much greater than anticipated. I was surprised to learn that it has zero unemployment rate here and the government is still hiring many professionals and enticing them to take up permanent residence here by offering scholarship and living expenses to under grat students, particularly those from China. However, despite the prosperity, the underlying racial tension is definitely there. Melting pot is definitely not in Singapore.