Singapore

The Asian Food Capital


Basmati Bismi
Bismi brand basmati rice dispenser next to your truck box.
Red X-Plosive
Chillies are one of the essential ingredients in many Singaporean dishes.
change time
Malay women shop at a food market in Singapore's Tekka Mall.
men's task
Ethnic Tamil Singaporeans buy vegetables at a street stall in Little India.
lively night
Singapore's Chinatown street is lively and full of people savoring the small nation's specialties.
other flavors
Austrian cook sells Wiener sausages on the streets of Singapore's Chinatown, to date of photography, with huge success.
Decoration and signs
The astrological relationship has not been proven, but a scale lies next to an aquarium on a stand in the Tekka Mall food market.
flavor silver
Detail of one of the traditional dishes served at Hawker Centers in Singapore.
Tian Yuan
Owner of a Hawker Center stall stocked with ingredients and a bilingual menu posted.
jelly fruit
Detail of a dessert as colorful as it is simple that combines pudding with gelatin.
Durion-flavored architecture
A detail of the Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay, the most emblematic cultural building in Singapore, inspired by the national fruit, the durian.
Lunch break
Rickshaw driver recovers his energy by devouring a home-cooked meal.
Vegetable's Chias
Women at a vegetable stand in Little India
There were 4 ethnic groups in Singapore, each with its own culinary tradition. Added to this was the influence of thousands of immigrants and expatriates on an island with half the area of ​​London. It was the nation with the greatest gastronomic diversity in the Orient.

Os hawker centers they are a kind of Singaporean institution.

We felt officially desperate at the abundance of indoor stands twinned in several rows and with their specialties and menus arranged in a similar way.

We were hungry but we limited ourselves to going around that aromatic area of ​​the Teka Mall. With that, we only fueled the enormous indecision, made even more ridiculous by the simultaneous nods and appeals of the counter employees of the closest establishments:

“Come here, try my specialties! They'll love it!” or "It's my food they're looking for, I'm absolutely sure!"

Singapore is one of the most orderly nations on Earth, there is no doubt but these shopkeepers had to do for a living and the vision of two outsiders trying to decide was stronger than the most uncomplex.

Lost in the Menus and Flavors of the Teka Mall, at the Doors of Little India

We ended up giving in to the call of one of them, of Malay ethnicity. We approached his window and unleashed a list of questions about what consisted or contained this or that.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Chillies

Chillies are one of the essential ingredients in many Singaporean dishes.

Enlightened, we ended up asking for a fried rice (fried rice with pieces of meat and vegetables) and a large mommy (a soup of noodles rich and quite spicy).

When the food was ready, the lady served us without big smiles at the table where we had been seated.

It took us forever to share the two dishes, largely due to the potency of the soup that we weren't prepared for.

Then we tried a glass of chendol.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Jelly Fruit

Detail of a dessert as colorful as it is simple that combines pudding with gelatin.

We celebrated when we saw how similar it was to the halo halo desserts that we had devoured countless times in the Philippines, made from coconut milk, rice flour, gelatin, palm sugar and, as with the chendol ahead of us, often fortified with red beans.

More than satisfied, it occurred to us that this was a real food court. It's not that Singapore didn't have them in large numbers, too, in its countless shopping centers that are little or nothing different from what we have here.

Already a covered area, huge like that, with hundreds of mini-restaurants side and side, grouped by ethnic groups, to avoid as much as possible quarrels and confusion, serving a little of everything, that we were not used to seeing.

Hawker centers like Teka and dozens around the island are not just for lunchtime meals during the week. Even when Singaporeans dine out in groups, they prefer them to conventional restaurants.

Thus, they take advantage of its convenience, much lower prices and the endless diversity of offer that had left us so confused.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, banking market

Owner of a Hawker Center stall stocked with ingredients and a bilingual menu posted.

The Historical, Ethnic and Gastronomic Wealth of Singapore

Singapore has always been a key Asian port served by a population largely from elsewhere.

Over time, the cuisines of the Malay natives and that of the island's largest ethnic group, the Chinese, mingled with each other and with those of the Indian ethnic groups – especially Tamil -, the Peranakan of Chinese descendants for a long time. installed in Penang, Malacca, Indonesia and Singapore itself.

The ethnic spice did not stop there.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Chinatown

Singapore's Chinatown street is lively and full of people savoring the small nation's specialties.

The genetic fusion of the Portuguese who dominated the spice market for two centuries and continued to inhabit Malacca and Singapore with the natives, English, Dutch, Chinese and Indians gave rise to the Kristang group.

Its cuisine also enjoys great prestige.

As was to be expected, in addition to a countless number of ingredients and dishes from all those places as well as their variations, many other recipes today considered hybrid or multicultural have also appeared on the island.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Snack

Detail of one of the traditional dishes served at Hawker Centers in Singapore.

A Multi-Ethnic Nation with a Multi-Awarded Food

We only need to move from the localized but delicious and invigorating world of Hawker centers to the world of international prestige to see the popularity of Singaporean cuisine.

In 2011, CNN decided to conduct an online election of the “50 Most Delicious Foods in the World".

Four of the most popular dishes were idolized in Singapore: Hainan Chicken Rice, Crab Chili, Laksa (Perakanan noodle soup) and Roti Prata, usually served with meat or vegetable curry and which can be cooked with cheese, onion , banana, beans, chocolate, mushrooms, eggs or others.

Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay, Lunch Break

Rickshaw driver recovers his energy by devouring a home-cooked meal.

Ingredients like these are obtained in different markets conveniently adjacent to the hawker centers.

There are those of meat, fish, vegetables, etc, etc., in which several restaurant owners maintain other businesses and where everyone is supplied.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, banking market

Malay women shop at a food market in Singapore's Tekka Mall.

After that meal and others in similar places, we almost never resist wandering through its confusing corridors.

Among housewives wrapped in saris, under hijabs or in Western and modern dresses, attended by butchers, fishmongers, and other merchants, given body and soul to the trades.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Basmati Bismi

Bismi brand basmati rice dispenser next to your truck box.

Wandering through Singapore's Prolific Markets

A large part of their purchases are dedicated to almost secular homemade meals, sometimes shared by groups of different religions, in this case, paying attention to the restrictions of each one: the pork for the Muslims, the cow for the Hindus, preferably poultry or vegetarians if both are seated at the table.

On any other day, we were walking through the neighborhood of little india when we came across the strange scene of dozens of Indian Singaporeans on a terrace, almost all of them with lassis in hand, watching what looked like a Bollywood classic.

Outdoor Theater, Little India, Sari Singapore, Singapore

Spectators at an open-air cinema session in Little India.

Curious, we sat down, ordered two and watched the last moments of the noisy feature film. In the end, we found ourselves chattering away with a haughty Sikh and infectious speech.

We spoke to him about the phenomenon of lassis and ended up getting involved in a long three-way debate that involved the Singaporean political system and the true importance of Indian ethnicities in the country. But it also obviously went through the food.

“What are you guys, by the way? Catholics, Protestants? Are they nothing? Ah, OK, that's it, those are free thinkers no god or gods, I get it.

The Role of Gastronomy in Singaporean Complex Identity

Well, anyway, you have to understand that here in Singapore, things have been working like this for a long time”, sought to enlighten us, Singh, who was increasingly excited by the interest we showed and the depth that the conversation took on.

“We coexist with our ethnicities and religions but the rivalry between ethnic groups remains.

One of the ways to prevent our identity from being lost in that of others or, worse, simply in the West, is to respect traditions. Those weary and gastronomy in general plays an unavoidable role in Singapore.

It only takes some money for a family from here to cross the entire island to get to a restaurant with food they really like, whatever the time.

In fact, it's even common for Singaporeans to return home earlier than they thought from abroad just because they miss their favorite dishes.”

The dissertation continued. It left us convinced and more attentive to the matter.

In the last days of our visit, we explored the Marina Bay area, at the mouth of the Singapore River.

Singapore Asian Capital Food, Esplanade - Theaters on the Bay

A detail of the Esplanade – Theaters on the Bay, the most emblematic cultural building in Singapore, inspired by the national fruit, the durian.

We found that even the architecture of Esplanade – Theaters on The Bay, the main arts center in the country, is reportedly inspired by the durian, the malodorous national fruit that the authorities had to ban from the public transport network.

São Tomé and Principe

Cocoa Roças, Corallo and the Chocolate Factory

At the beginning of the century. In the XNUMXth century, São Tomé and Príncipe generated more cocoa than any other territory. Thanks to the dedication of some entrepreneurs, production survives and the two islands taste like the best chocolate.
Singapore

The Island of Success and Monotony

Accustomed to planning and winning, Singapore seduces and recruits ambitious people from all over the world. At the same time, it seems to bore to death some of its most creative inhabitants.
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Little India, Singapore

The Sari Singapore of Little India

There are thousands of inhabitants instead of the 1.3 billion of the mother country, but Little India, a neighborhood in tiny Singapore, does not lack soul. No soul, no smell of Bollywood curry and music.
Sentosa, Singapore

Singapore's Fun Island

It was a stronghold where the Japanese murdered Allied prisoners and welcomed troops who pursued Indonesian saboteurs. Today, the island of Sentosa fights the monotony that gripped the country.
Fergana Valley, Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan, The Nation That Does Not Lack Bread

Few countries employ cereals like Uzbekistan. In this republic of Central Asia, bread plays a vital and social role. The Uzbeks produce it and consume it with devotion and in abundance.
World Food

Gastronomy Without Borders or Prejudice

Each people, their recipes and delicacies. In certain cases, the same ones that delight entire nations repel many others. For those who travel the world, the most important ingredient is a very open mind.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
Host Wezi points out something in the distance
Beaches
Cobue; Nkwichi Lodge, Mozambique

The Hidden Mozambique of the Creaking Sands

During a tour from the bottom to the top of Lake Malawi, we find ourselves on the island of Likoma, an hour by boat from Nkwichi Lodge, the solitary base of this inland coast of Mozambique. On the Mozambican side, the lake is known as Niassa. Whatever its name, there we discover some of the most stunning and unspoilt scenery in south-east Africa.
A campfire lights up and warms the night, next to Reilly's Rock Hilltop Lodge,
safari
Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Eswatini

The Fire That Revived eSwatini's Wildlife

By the middle of the last century, overhunting was wiping out much of the kingdom of Swaziland’s wildlife. Ted Reilly, the son of the pioneer settler who owned Mlilwane, took action. In 1961, he created the first protected area of ​​the Big Game Parks he later founded. He also preserved the Swazi term for the small fires that lightning has long caused.
Prayer flags in Ghyaru, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 4th – Upper Banana to Ngawal, Nepal

From Nightmare to Dazzle

Unbeknownst to us, we are faced with an ascent that leads us to despair. We pulled our strength as far as possible and reached Ghyaru where we felt closer than ever to the Annapurnas. The rest of the way to Ngawal felt like a kind of extension of the reward.
Luderitz, Namibia
Architecture & Design
Lüderitz, Namibia

Wilkommen in Africa

Chancellor Bismarck has always disdained overseas possessions. Against his will and all odds, in the middle of the Race for Africa, merchant Adolf Lüderitz forced Germany to take over an inhospitable corner of the continent. The homonymous city prospered and preserves one of the most eccentric heritages of the Germanic empire.
Era Susi towed by dog, Oulanka, Finland
Aventura
PN Oulanka, Finland

A Slightly Lonesome Wolf

Jukka “Era-Susi” Nordman has created one of the largest packs of sled dogs in the world. He became one of Finland's most iconic characters but remains faithful to his nickname: Wilderness Wolf.
Moa on a beach in Rapa Nui/Easter Island
Ceremonies and Festivities
Easter Island, Chile

The Take-off and Fall of the Bird-Man Cult

Until the XNUMXth century, the natives of Easter Island they carved and worshiped great stone gods. All of a sudden, they started to drop their moai. The veneration of tanatu manu, a half-human, half-sacred leader, decreed after a dramatic competition for an egg.
Totem, Sitka, Alaska Travel Once Russia
Cities
sitka, Alaska

Sitka: Journey through a once Russian Alaska

In 1867, Tsar Alexander II had to sell Russian Alaska to the United States. In the small town of Sitka, we find the Russian legacy but also the Tlingit natives who fought them.
Fogón de Lola, great food, Costa Rica, Guápiles
Lunch time
Fogón de Lola Costa Rica

The Costa Rica Flavour of El Fogón de Lola

As the name suggests, the Fogón de Lola de Guapiles serves dishes prepared on the stove and in the oven, according to Costa Rican family tradition. In particular, Tia Lola's.
Parra Sea
Culture
Mendoza, Argentina

Journey through Mendoza, the Great Argentine Winemaking Province

In the XNUMXth century, Spanish missionaries realized that the area was designed for the production of the “Blood of Christ”. Today, the province of Mendoza is at the center of the largest winemaking region in Latin America.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Young people walk the main street in Chame, Nepal
Traveling
Annapurna Circuit: 1th - Pokhara a ChameNepal

Finally, on the way

After several days of preparation in Pokhara, we left towards the Himalayas. The walking route only starts in Chame, at 2670 meters of altitude, with the snowy peaks of the Annapurna mountain range already in sight. Until then, we complete a painful but necessary road preamble to its subtropical base.
Jean Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, New Caledonia, Greater Calhau, South Pacific
Ethnic
Grande Terre, New Caledonia

South Pacific Great Boulder

James Cook thus named distant New Caledonia because it reminded him of his father's Scotland, whereas the French settlers were less romantic. Endowed with one of the largest nickel reserves in the world, they named Le Caillou the mother island of the archipelago. Not even its mining prevents it from being one of the most dazzling patches of Earth in Oceania.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

Bathers in the middle of the End of the World-Cenote de Cuzamá, Mérida, Mexico
History
Yucatan, Mexico

The End of the End of the World

The announced day passed but the End of the World insisted on not arriving. In Central America, today's Mayans watched and put up with incredulity all the hysteria surrounding their calendar.
Peasant woman, Majuli, Assam, India
Islands
Majuli Island, India

An Island in Countdown

Majuli is the largest river island in India and would still be one of the largest on Earth were it not for the erosion of the river Bramaputra that has been making it diminish for centuries. If, as feared, it is submerged within twenty years, more than an island, a truly mystical cultural and landscape stronghold of the Subcontinent will disappear.
Correspondence verification
Winter White
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Couple visiting Mikhaylovskoe, village where writer Alexander Pushkin had a home
Literature
Saint Petersburg e Mikhaylovkoe, Russia

The Writer Who Succumbed to His Own Plot

Alexander Pushkin is hailed by many as the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature. But Pushkin also dictated an almost tragicomic epilogue to his prolific life.
Howler Monkey, PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Nature
Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica

Tortuguero: From the Flooded Jungle to the Caribbean Sea

After two days of impasse due to torrential rain, we set out to discover the Tortuguero National Park. Channel after channel, we marvel at the natural richness and exuberance of this Costa Rican fluvial marine ecosystem.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Natural Parks
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Willemstad, Curacao, Punda, Handelskade
UNESCO World Heritage
Willemstad, Curaçao

The Multicultural Heart of Curaçao

A Dutch colony in the Caribbean became a major slave hub. It welcomed Sephardic Jews who had taken refuge from the Iberia Inquisition in Amsterdam and Recife. And it assimilated influences from the Portuguese and Spanish villages with which it traded. At the heart of this secular cultural fusion has always been its old capital: Willemstad.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Magnificent Atlantic Days
Beaches
Morro de São Paulo, Brazil

A Divine Seaside of Bahia

Three decades ago, it was just a remote and humble fishing village. Until some post-hippie communities revealed the Morro's retreat to the world and promoted it to a kind of bathing sanctuary.
Maksim, Sami people, Inari, Finland-2
Religion
Inari, Finland

The Guardians of Boreal Europe

Long discriminated against by Scandinavian, Finnish and Russian settlers, the Sami people regain their autonomy and pride themselves on their nationality.
Train Kuranda train, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
On Rails
Cairns-Kuranda, Australia

Train to the Middle of the Jungle

Built out of Cairns to save miners isolated in the rainforest from starvation by flooding, the Kuranda Railway eventually became the livelihood of hundreds of alternative Aussies.
4th of July Fireworks-Seward, Alaska, United States
Society
Seward, Alaska

The Longest 4th of July

The independence of the United States is celebrated, in Seward, Alaska, in a modest way. Even so, the 4th of July and its celebration seem to have no end.
Ditching, Alaska Fashion Life, Talkeetna
Daily life
Talkeetna, Alaska

Talkeetna's Alaska-Style Life

Once a mere mining outpost, Talkeetna rejuvenated in 1950 to serve Mt. McKinley climbers. The town is by far the most alternative and most captivating town between Anchorage and Fairbanks.
Etosha National Park Namibia, rain
Wildlife
PN Etosha, Namíbia

The Lush Life of White Namibia

A vast salt flat rips through the north of Namibia. The Etosha National Park that surrounds it proves to be an arid but providential habitat for countless African wild species.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.