www.Go To The Mountain - Musings of a Potential Guru

I read that they had wanted to revamp Little India so that the place becomes and looks neater and more orderly perhaps. Horrors! What is with these people and planners? Why are they obsessed with so much tidiness? Don't they know anything about soul? Why make everything the same? Our Chinatown has lost its colours, smell and noise. Please spare Little India. The in place during my youth was like Peninsula Shopping Centre where we got our cheaper jeans and other clothes such as Lee, Lea, Texwood and Wrangler. Even Giordano started from there. Now the Peninsula area is like Little Myanmar and Golden Mile is our Little Thailand. Meanwhile Singapore remains little Singapore as China confiscated little Singapore's toys. All the above being the case, Lucky Plaza at  Orchard Road is Pinoyland. I hardly go to Lucky Plaza and have never really seen or known what they have inside until recently. Few buildings in SG has such a name and actually there are people with this name. Bu...

Cari makan where cari means find and makan is to eat in the Malay language. Literally, finding food also means earning a living. If there's only one thing to love about Singapore, it must surely be the food. There are often times when we go "cari makan", we are not looking for lavish or expensive food. We just need something simple. If we have to nominate our best foods, those that are popular and everywhere and whom the people love must feature. Chicken rice, satay, bak kut teh, are favourites even for tourists and visitors. What about char kway teow, nasi lemak, mee goreng, rojak and popiah? There was a very good popiah stall at an old coffee shop at Martaban Road (next to Pegu Road) along Balestier Road. Then later a popiah restaurant was opened at Tanjong Pagar. You get a pot and make your own DIY popiah. Then we found a very good one at Whampoa where you can order and take home for your popiah party. What makes a good popiah? To begin with, the skin must no...

To whet your appetite means to hone or make more keen or to stimulate your appetite. It is different from wetting your bed. Everybody loves food but the question is whether you eat to live or live to eat. Those around my age will testify about the good old days where even hawkers do not hawk their fares or other businesses would peddle their wares if they were  not good at it. They took great pride in their work and they prepared every ingredient on their own. So when you can find good food today, it becomes like a birdie in golf. A rare gem. People kept asking me to write more on food. They like it because I do not talk about those famous ones but find unknown gems and polish them like a King-maker and boy oh boy I have had some very unexpected and pleasant experiences. I help put hawkers on and they got so excited and proud of themselves. To start you off healthy, also done previously I'll give you Yong Tau Fu. This one is at Bedok where you will find a good spa nearby and i...