WHERE TO FIND THE BEST TOP 10 ALL-TIME FAVOURITE SINGAPORE HAWKER FOOD

As an entry point or travel hub centre, Singapore's food culture was vastly influenced by its geographical location and the various ethnicity that had since migrated to the country. And for most of you who have traveled in Singapore, you know that majority of the race is comprised of Chinese, Malay and Indians and knowing this fact alone you would know that the variety of dishes available could be aplenty.

Being a bustling trading pot, street peddling or hawking by different nationalities was a common sight during the early days. The proliferation, however, led to problems (mostly sanitary) that at the beginning of 1970, the first hawker centres were "created". This is of course through the effort of the Singapore government to resettle these street hawkers to more permanent locations.

Fast forward to now, many hawker centres are now part of many Singaporeans' lives. Hawker centres or cooked food centres are mostly open-air complexes that comprises many stalls selling a wide variety of local food that are affordable in price. These are mostly conveniently located in or near housing estates, usually some with nearby or adjourning wet and dry markets. These places are important part of the social culture where you will observe family gathering and social interaction as majority of the people have their three (3) meals a day in these places.
After living in Singapore for nearly eight (8) years now, we still do cook our food at home (sorry I am really for home-cooked meals) but these top 10 all time favourite Singapore hawker food will not escape my wandering palette for great food.
Source for identifying the best hawker places is through a published book entitled City Hawker Food Guide by City Gas Pte. Ltd. and Shin Min Daily News produced and published in Singapore.
Here are my top 10 all time favourite food (in no particular order).
Try and indulge!

1. CHICKEN RICE
Perhaps what could be called as the country's national dish, chicken rice originated from Hainan province in China (hence the name Hainanese chicken rice as it most popularly known for). It is very popular in Hainan and of course was introduced to Singapore by the immigrants from the same place.
I will let you in on some cooking tips, the secret ingredients to having a perfectly home cooked version of this dish is a blend of silky smooth white chicken, rice cooked in chicken broth and of course served with blended chili, garlic and dark soya sauce. Nowadays, you can also buy ready made mixes - not authentic but hey good enough if you are a newbie in cooking. 

Photo credit: www.thebestsingapore.com

You can get this in many places but best place to get this is at #02-16 Toa Payoh Lorong 1. Go to the nearest Toa Payoh MRT (red line) and head out for a bus and it could easily take you there.
2. LAKSA
There are two varieties, Curry Laksa and Asam Laksa, favoured by Singaporeans and Malaysians respectively. Curry Laksa uses fish cakes, shrimps, bean sprouts (or togue) cooked with coconut milk gravy base while Asam Laksa is a fish sour soup flavoured with cucumber, pineapple, shredded fish, lettuce, mint ginger buds served along with noodles. Finally added with sweet prawn paste.
Best place to get: #01-26 Upper Thomson Road (nearest MRT: Marymount - yellow or circle line)  

Laksa Curry

3. NASI LEMAK
A traditional Malay dish, this dish is usually fragrant and aromatic as the rice is cooked in coconut milk along with pandan leaves. Usually served with dried anchovies (or what is called ikan bilis)or fried fish or chicken, toasted or fried peanuts, sliced fresh cucumber and chili paste. As some eat it for breakfast, some dish comes with fried egg.

Best place to get: #02-15 Market Street Food Centre (nearest MRT: Raffles place - red line)

4. CHAR KWAY TIAO (or Fried Kway Tiao)
Literally stir fried cake strips, cooking styles are varied but those who are said to be the best usually have ingredients of fresh cockles, Chinese sausages, good quality soya sauce, Chinese chives and bean sprouts. Variations to the dish allows you to add more vegetables, hence, healthier.

Best place to get: #01-91 Beach Road, Golden Mile Food Centre (nearest MRTs - Nicoll Highway circle/yellow line; Lavender or Bugis both in green East West line)

5. HOKKIEN MEE
The story behind this ever Singapore favourite is that it was introduced by Hokkien-speaking immigrants from the province of Fujian China. It was said that after the Second World War, the Hokkien dock workers will gather around Rochor Road to cook this dish over kerosene stoves.
The noodles are usually a combination of two, thick yellow noodles and Beehoon (vermicelli or thin glass liked noodles) garnished with pork belly, egg, de-shelled prawns, bean sprouts and squid. The dish is basically stir fried over high heat in a typical Chinese wok covered with a lid so that the noodles soaked up the juices. Most interestingly served in dried nipa palm leaf. Best eaten with a serving of lime (or kalamansi) and shrimp chili paste (known as belachan to locals)...makes me crave for one by just writing...

Best place to get: #01-11 Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Kensington Park (nearest MRT - Kovan and Serangoon both in purple/North East line)

As I've eaten the dish before I took a photo, here's a photo taken from the sg-city-asia website. Thanks!
 

6. FISH SOUP
One of my favorites, fish soup is usually served with rice or as I would prefer it with Beehoon (vermicelli) so that it is light and nutritious. There is also an option for other type of noodles like egg or flour noodles.
The original version is actually a fish head soup but most stalls will just serve with thin slices of white fish - some stalls would actually offer a replacement of deep fried fish or a combination of both.
Some diners can also opt for condensed milk to be added in their soup. Always best to garnish with fish chili sauce and white pepper for a more flavourful indulgence.

Best place to get: #02-15 Market Street Food Centre (nearest MRT - Raffles place red line)

7. ROTI PRATA
Perhaps my first introduction to Indian cuisine is the roti prata. Roti actually means bread and prata means flat. This particular snack loved by many is popularly known as Indian pancake. Texture varies from soft to crispy and best to eat when freshly cooked and therefore hot. Varieties to this simple bread comes from adding egg into the mix before heated in a large hot griddle which I would normally prefer. However, several variations to this wonderful dish are now available almost everywhere. When ordered, it usually comes with curry for dipping or if you want sweet stuff, you can ask for sugar.

Best place to get: Jamila Food Stall Bedok North Street 3 - an HDB estate

Egg prata

8. YONG TAU FOO
This rich Hakka tradition made its way to Singapore with the variation of pork and fish paste stuffed in the tofu, tau kwa, chili, bitter gourd and okra and is usually served steamed or boiled with noodles in soup or dry versions. You can either top it with a combination of sweet sauce and chili sauce. Nowadays, some stalls serves healthy variety and you can mix and match the items you want included in the dish. Best for those who are into healthy diets.

Best place to get: #02-112 Amoy Street Food Centre - close to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station

Photo credit: healthguru.sg

9. BAK KUT TEH

Photo credit: healthguru.sg

Reading through the history, this dish originated a century ago in the province of Fujian province in China. This dish was introduced into Singapore by then labelled as "coolies" (this was a term used for unskilled workers. These people were mainly impoverished Chinese immigrants who moved to Singapore to seek better fortune but serving instead as unskilled labourers. As the story goes, immediately everyday after work, these coolies would buy pork bones, add pepper and spices and Chinese herbs to form thick, tasty broth for breakfast the next day. It was believed that this particular breakfast tea makes them endure the hard day's work. This comes into 2 varieties - the dark brown broth from Fujian and the Teochew clear broth. It can be best eaten with rice or dough fritters and never forget some dipping sauce of dark soya mixed with red chillies.

Best place to get: #01-04 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 (nearest MRT - Ang Mo Kio red line)

10. WANTON NOODLES

Photo credit: enews.sg

It can be served either dry or with soup, this particular dish has its origin in the province of Guangzhou in China.  It usually comes with char siew (roasted pork), fresh chai sim (green vegetables) and tasty wanton (dumplings) on springy noodles.
The wantons that is served with the noodles basically comprises of minced pork, soya sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, and cornstarch. These are mixed and then wrapped in the wanton skin or wrapper and sealed with water. These wanton noodles can either be steamed or deep fried. The seasoning sauce is key to a good wanton noodles dish. Hawkers have their own versions to lure diners. Take your pick to the many varieties being offered.

Best place to get: #01-45 Tampines Street 11

Keep this list fellow travelers and the next time you are in Singapore you will be hungry no more.

Keep safe dears!

For any questions, comments - please write them down below. I will be happy to guide you.

TOP 10 PHOTO IMPRESSIONS FROM BATANES

Nature's wave show awaits those who brave the winding stairs down from the Chawa View Deck

Hi, my name is Che Francisco. I am a travel addict.

But, who is not? Or at least those people I've known who were bitten by a travel bug could attest that traveling is like opening a can of Pringles, "once you pop - you can't stop!" 

Anyhow, here's another confession. In as much as I am addicted to traveling, I am also a photography enthusiast. And so wherever I go, my guilty pleasure is to bring minimum 2 cameras with me, most of the time 3 (SLR, point & shoot and my trusty iPhone).

Allow me to indulge you with my photo impressions of the places I have been fortunate to set my feet into. My intention is to share my experience and inspire people to pack their bags and visit these places as well. There are far too many wonderful places in the world that will be a total waste to miss.

First stop is my most favorite place in the Philippines, BATANES. Enjoy the photos and in the near future seeing these for yourselves!

Batanes is known for having narrow roads since some of the streets were carved out from rocky hills. A must-do traffic rule in order to avoid accidents is to honk the horn before driving past the blind spots

Fundacion Pacita

The famous 'elephant trunk' at the White Beach in Sabtang Island

One of the mainstays in Batanes

Breathtaking view in Chavayan at Sabtang Island

Just one of those mesmerizing views in Sabtang Island

Boats docked in Basco Port

Sunset shot at the Rolling Hills in Basco

View from my room in Fundacion Pacita

TOP TEN THINGS YOU MUST DO WHEN IN LONDON

                                       

If you have plans of visiting London and wants to get the most out of your trip, watch the photo video above and get to know the top ten things you must do when in London.

Enjoy!

P.S. Scroll down or click here for more posts with the details of the London trip that we took last summer. Yes, we did all of the top ten must-do's in London as seen in the photo video above.

Click here for tips on Getting Seat Tickets at London's West End at Half Price. There's also a link inside with a list of the latest shows in London's West End ; ). 

7 WONDERFUL PERKS OF TRAVELLING IN BUSINESS CLASS

Business class travel

Dreaming of travelling in business class? Here's a rundown of what you can get.

- Priority lane for checking in. Late for your flight? Fear not, one hour is all you need and you can still go in. At the airport, business class flyers will have a separate lane or row. These make checking-in a breeze. 

- Priority baggage. Don't you hate waiting for a couple of minutes (worst even hours) just to get your luggage? With business class, your bags are already in the conveyor belt way before you pass through immigration. Cool, isn't it? 

Business class airline lounge

- Access to airline lounges. Imagine these: wide selection of food and beverages, internet access, shower and nap rooms and even a wide array of reading materials. Everything for free.

- Seated sooner than the crowd of economy flight passengers. You will be boarded first which means you do not need to wait for the long queue before you haul that other big hand carry luggage you are carrying. 

- Comfortable seats and lots of leg space. This is perhaps what makes the big difference in travelling business class. You will have a bigger seat and at the maximum you will only be seated with another person and not squeezed in by two if you happen to fly economy. Seats recline or better yet a flat bed which would allow you to sleep pretty well or if you are not that sleep deprived, allows you to watch or read comfortably. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82365211@N00/8203545913

- Better selection of food and beverages. Food and beverages in business class is way much better than the ones served in economy class. Expect an actual menu with several choices, with your food served one by one (like eating in a gourmet restaurant) from actual porcelain plates and aluminum or even gold plated cutleries.

- In flight entertainment. Movies, TV shows, music and games are all available on demand and would usually feature the latest available entertainment. Bigger screens,  better headsets...

So next time you fly, think of business class...

TOP TEN OF THE WORLD'S BEST AIRLINES

Craig Sunter's photo

Okay...we had a post a few weeks back on the Top 10 world's dangerous airlines from Yahoo travel and the reason why I chose to post that first is because I care about you , our dear travel buddies, and I want to ensure that you know which ones to avoid so you can enjoy your travel, business or pleasure that is.  Isn't it sweet?

Again, coming from the same post from Yahoo travel under Travel+Leisure, here are the Top 10 World's best airlines (see also related link to where I got the post).  Photos courtesy where we got the same.

SOURCE COPIED FROM : http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/worlds-best-airlines-045945788.html 

World's Best Airlines

Tired fliers often think about how nice it would be to stretch out across a whole row of economy-class seats and take a nap. But let’s face it: airline seats were simply not designed for napping. That is, until Air New Zealand introduced its "Sky Couch," with flip-up seats created for just that purpose.

Comforts like these are just one reason ANZ was voted the No. 4 World’s Best Airline in our annual World’s Best Awards, where our readers ranked 76 airlines based on cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, value, and food.

So which airlines came out on top? International airlines virtually own the top 20 World’s Best Airlines; only two U.S. carriers made the list. Asian and Middle Eastern carriers dominate the top 10, with scores that are remarkably consistent from year to year, such as this year’s No. 3-ranked Etihad Airways, a United Arab Emirates-based carrier.

One thing is clear: the quest by the top-ranked airlines to become even better is raising the stakes. The leading carriers are vying to upgrade seating in every class—so-called thin seats in economy that allow everyone to recline without disturbing neighbors are all the rage among Asian carriers. For example, Korean Air, which ranks No. 9, earned points for its ergo-friendly “slim seats.”

But ultimately, it’s service that makes—or breaks—an airline’s ranking. Great on-the-ground customer service is vital to a high ranking. But even more important—and more highly weighted—is in-flight service. After all, you probably won’t remember a cramped coach seat, but you’ll definitely remember (and possibly complain about) a rude flight attendant.

So check out the World’s Best Airlines:

No. 1 Singapore Airlines

In every category of our awards, Singapore Airlines consistently outpaces the pack. Even though its scores went down—slightly—since 2010, it still beats the competition, thanks to innovations such as in-flight Wi-Fi, entertainment systems that allow you to play your own video and audio through your iPod, and USB ports for all passengers. But it’s the famous in-flight service—credit the legendary Singapore Girl in her sarong designed by Parisian couturier Pierre Balmain—that still keeps the rest of the pack at bay.

No. 2 Emirates

Ranked No. 2 as it was in 2010, the airline has improved its scores and even taken on a better reputation for value and food, while steadfastly maintaining its reliability for both in-flight service and customer service. Its reputation as an innovator—it pioneered laptop Wi-Fi in 2004 and mobile phones back in 2008—is another reason it remains one of our readers’ favorites.

No. 3 Etihad Airways

High marks all around, but the second-highest scores for in-flight service are the hallmarks of this flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates. On-board comforts include Cradle Recline seats in economy class, for a seat pitch of 32 to 34 inches. Apart from 600 hours of in-flight entertainment, you can charge and play your iPod and other devices through its E-BOX System.

No. 4 Air New Zealand

Improved cabin comfort and an increase in value helped Air New Zealand climb up the ranks from seventh position in last year’s poll. Food, in-flight service, and customer service also went up, just enough to nudge the carrier into our top five category. The airline’s Skycouch—three economy seats that convert to a bed—must have helped the cabin comfort ranking.

No. 5 Virgin America

The highest-ranking domestic airline in our poll—and the only one in the top five—Virgin America scores impressively high marks with incremental improvements in every category. In other words, the airline founded on Virgin Atlantic’s formula for service, innovation, and attitude just keeps on getting better. The combination of low fares and tech improvements—it’s installing Lufthansa Systems’ BoardConnect to radically upgrade its Red entertainment system to enable you to use your own devices—keep it at the forefront.

No. 6 Virgin Atlantic Airways

Close on the heels of its American offspring comes Sir Richard Branson’s flagship carrier, which pioneered cheek and style (not to mention seat-back video and amenity kits in every class) and gave the customers what they wanted (including pioneering economy plus). Fliers seem to like it, judging by the scores that have edged up in every category since last year. But since the other airlines did even better, it slipped from last year’s No. 4 position.

No. 7 Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay has always played second fiddle to Singapore when it comes to Asia-based airlines, and despite incremental improvements in every category except food—down just a tad—it slipped down from last year’s No. 5 ranking. But a flight on Cathay remains a singular pleasure. The “fixed shell” economy seat means that no one can recline into your space (your seat reclines within your space).

No. 8 All Nippon Airways

The carrier that used to exist in the shadow of Japan Air Lines continues to move up the ranks from last year’s 11th position—and way ahead of JAL. Marked improvements in cabin comfort, in-flight service, customer service, and value helped. And that’s even before it introduced such innovations as women’s-only bathrooms with Japanese-style bidet-toilets on the new Dreamliner 787.

No. 9 Korean Air

Korean Air edged up from tenth place last year, with readers giving it slightly better scores in every category. Noteworthy are the ergonomically designed “slim seats” in economy with 34-inch pitch, not to mention the USB ports and chargers at every seat. The menus—Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Western are standard on every flight—have also improved.

No. 10 Thai International Airways

While Thai Airways improved in every category, other airlines did more. Hence the fall from last year’s No. 8 position. But it did rank higher with customer and in-flight service, as well as food. After all, this carrier takes care of kids, with free toys, games, and books, and offers private Premium Economy cabins with 42-inch pitch seats with 122 degrees of recline. It’s just that the other guys pushed the envelope a bit further.

So you are probably wondering why both Korean Air who was ranked # 5 and Thai Airways (ranked 8) in our "Top 10 Worst Airlines" is also in this list, "World's Best Airlines"? You are not being fooled my friend.  Our Top 10 worst airlines were based on figures and numbers in terms of how many hulls and losses while our World's Best was based on consumers like you who ranked them in terms of the more highly weighted, in-flight service. This ranking was also based on year-on-year ranking.

TEN OF THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS AIRLINES

Sebastian Fuss' photo

REPOSTING BELOW POST FROM YAHOO NEWS! 

Out of the ten (10) airlines below, I often used to fly via Thai airways when going to Thailand. And likewise have tried flying China airlines on domestic flights within China. So lucky me!


"Flying was less deadly in 2012 than in any year since 1945, but that does not mean all airlines are equally safe.
The Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC), which collects information about aviation accidents and safety, has published its annual Airline Safety Ranking.
The ratings take into account the number and deadliness of hull loss accidents and serious incidents in the last 30 years of operation in relation to passenger miles flown. The ratings also take into account international safety benchmarks such as the IOSA Audit and the USOAP country factor, along with a time factor which increases the effect of recent accidents.
The results do not account for the cause of hull losses or whether the airline is at fault, so they are an imperfect measure of safety.

Of 60 ranked airlines, here are the ten with the worst safety records, including the number of hull losses and passenger deaths in these accidents since 1983:"

#10 SkyWest Airlines: 3 hull losses; 22 dead
#9 South African Airways: 1 hull loss; 159 dead
#8 Thai Airways International: 5 hull losses; 309 dead
#7 Turkish Airlines: 6 hull losses, 188 dead
#6 Saudia: 4 hull losses; 310 dead
#5 Korean Air: 9 hull losses; 687 dead
#4 GOL Transportes Aéreos: 1 hull loss; 154 dead
#3 Air India: 3 hull losses; 329 dead
#2 TAM Airlines: 6 hull losses; 336 dead
#1 China Airlines: 8 hull losses; 755 dead

Click below link to read the full article:
10 Most Dangerous Airline from Yahoo News

10 MOST ANNOYING HABITS OF AIRLINE PASSENGERS

Rubbish stuffed in aircraft's seat pocket; Photo courtesy of Joy Lim-Lui

Are you guilty of any of these annoying habits?

Sharing with you an article I read entitled, "Survey reveals 10 most annoying habits of airline passengers," in the lifestyle section of The Philippine Star dated January 7, 2013.

The survey was conducted by global travel search site Skyscanner and the survey was collected by the email database of Cabincrew.com. They asked 700 international cabin crew members in 85 countries their real thoughts about the passengers they service year after year.

Survey says...

The 10 regular habits or requests cabin crew members find annoying are:

1. Clicking fingers to get your attention (26%)
2. Leaving seat at the end before the light goes off (13%)
3. Stuffing too many bags into overhead locker (11%)
4. Complaining there's no space for their bag in the locker (10%)
5. Talking through the safety demo (9%)
6. Asking for more blankets/pillows (8%)
7. Stuffing rubbish in the seat pocket (7%)
8. Asking for a different meal (6%)
9. Ringing the attendant bell to complain about temperature (6%)
10. Asking for a specific brand of drink (4%)

I am guilty of No. 7, stuffing rubbish in the seat pocket. How about you? Are you also guilty of some of these habits? Or are you the perfect passenger who they say is male, traveling alone, age 31-40, sitting in economy and the reason to travel is leisure?

Click this link to read the full article: 10 Most Annoying Habits of Airline Passengers

For more information visit: www.skyscanner.com.ph

INTERESTING IN-FLIGHT SAFETY BRIEFINGS

If you have boarded a plane several times already, the in- flight safety briefings may have become boring to pay attention to. Here are two videos wherein they have made in-flight safety briefings more interesting and more fun to watch.

1. Air New Zealand's "Hobbit" inspired in-flight safety video 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGrCm2U3UXc

2. Cebu Pacific's Dancing Flight Attendants 

                                            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqh8e2KYIrU

In case the in-flight safety briefings in your flights are still the traditional and "boring" kinds, it is still advisable to pay attention to them. Who knows when you are going to need them?

WHY YOU OUGHT TO TRY GLAMPING!

Sumilon Bluewater Island Water Resort; Image from www.matudnila.com

I remember my first camping adventure. It wasn't fun and I do not have the desire to do it again. Why? We had to sleep on a bumpy floor, there was no running water and no bathroom and we had to subsist by eating canned foods. It's pretty much living "The Survivor" style. 

Sumilon Bluewater Island Water Resort; Image from www.matudnila.com

But, just very recently, I came across the word, "glamping," in a magazine. So, there was another way of enjoying the great outdoors without roughing it. "GLAMPING" means glamorous camping. One gets to enjoy nature, look at the stars while you lull yourself to sleep, breath fresh air, have a bonfire, but at the same time sleep on a real bed, use a bathroom and eat good food. Talk about camping in style!

I thought this only existed in other countries for now. But, I found out that there are already a few glampsites here in the Philippines. There is Sumilon Bluewater Island Resort in Cebu, Nurture Spa Village in Tagaytay and Asia Kayak Tours luxury campsite in El Nido, Palawan.

GLAMPING is definitely a new adventure to try. Put it in your bucket list as I did! 

Has anyone of you tried any of these glampsites? Tell us about your experience in the comments.