The Many Faces of Geylang

Published on April 1, 2015 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

Geylang’s Famous Shophouses

As a new expat, the first neighborhood in Singapore you learned about was likely Orchard. The second was probably Geylang. Although its reputation as the country’s red light district isn’t undeserved, there’s a lot more to it than simply being a city’s sordid underbelly. With its historic shophouses and delicious hawker food, it is also a callback to pre-1970s Singapore.

The name “Geylang” is theorized to be a corrupted spelling of the Malay word ‘gelang,’ which is a type of edible creeper that grew throughout the area. Like its namesake, the neighborhood isn’t a single trunk. All throughout its length, Geylang Road has offshoots of lanes called lorongs extending perpendicularly towards Sims Ave or Guillemard Rd. Both the main stretch and the lorongs are home to micro-businesses offering everything from bicycle repairs to bathroom fixtures to, of course, food. If you’re looking for piles of fresh durian or mangosteen, authentic dim sum, the best chili crab in the country or the trademark frog porridge, this is the neighborhood to explore.

But the bustling day trade probably wasn’t the reason you heard about Geylang so early into your tenure here. The district is home to dozens, if not hundreds, of brothels. Some are regulated by the Singapore government, while others pose as KTV (karaoke) lounges or operate behind the scenes illegally. In order to gain an insider’s view on one of Singapore’s more infamous neighborhoods, I interviewed my friend Dafydd Green, who has lived in Geylang for just over a year.

SAN: Why did you choose to live in Geylang? Did you know the reputation of the area before you moved there?

DG: Geylang is going through a big development push now with many buildings being knocked down and condos going up. Having lived in places like Beijing before, I like seeing this development take place so I thought it would be more exciting to live there… I knew about the area’s reputation beforehand but it didn’t really phase me.

SAN: What do like about living in that area?

DG: I like the diversity you see if you walk around. On most Lorongs there is a Buddhist building and there is a vast array of Buddhist schools. You get a very interesting perspective on the island’s history because much of the area is made up of Peranakan buildings with old trade shop names, historical ‘clan’ or area association buildings (e.g. the Tang Lim Association and Xu Clan Association building, which would have been used in the past to bring immigrants from a certain area and surname together).

I am a big fan of the people who hang out here – you need only say a couple words in Chinese and sometimes you can be invited to join a table and be fed or hydrated well. The 24-hour nature of Geylang is also something I have come to really appreciate because it works with any lifestyle. For example, there are many places open for breakfast at 7am, the whole street is open for lunch, and you can be guaranteed a great prata or char siew between 2am and 6am. There are also a lot of legitimate massage places that are open late, and there’s nothing better than KTV followed by a foot massage.

Mongkok Dim Sum at Lorong 8

Mongkok Dim Sum at Lorong 8

SAN: What do you dislike?

DG: Sometimes it gets under my skin when busloads of people turn up and don’t walk in straight lines. I think the sheer amount of people passing through makes the street a bit dirtier than most places in Singapore. The more liberal approach to spitting and urination adopted by some is displeasing to say the least. I also don’t appreciate being thought of as a potential customer by the many “male enhancement” pill sellers on the street!

SAN: What has your experience been like with the seedier sides of the neighborhood?

DG: I don’t think it’s possible to avoid some of the seedy elements of Geylang, but unless you visit certain areas then these are very scant. Vice and gambling are contained to a few lorongs. I don’t oppose legal prostitution, and ‘negotiation’ is very discreet so it’s not that Geylang is a vice-ridden cesspit that makes residents uncomfortable. You only come across the seedier aspects in certain places and at certain times (e.g. the occasional police raid), but in many ways Geylang is far less sketchy than Orchard Towers.

Prostitutes are in different places, such as the odd lorong, in brothels or in high concentrations on certain strips. As a lone male walking through some places, you will be approached and touched but it’s not a big deal to shrug off. Actual brothels aren’t obvious, and you only see prostitutes if you go inside. Depending on your disposition, you may find negotiations between prostitutes and customers a bit disturbing but the legality of prostitution is very matter of fact — you will sometimes see policemen checking ID cards, and there isn’t any aggressive or pushy behavior towards prostitutes.

The seedier elements for me are the illegal sides of prostitution. It’s obvious I think who is there illegally because some are very nervous and clearly not Singaporean. A surprising aspect was how some of them come across – there are prostitutes who dress in a revealing way, but others wear something like a Sunday dress and carry a handbag. It’s kind of similar to visiting the red light district in Amsterdam, where people sitting in windows don’t wear as little as possible, but are just waiting for customers to come.

SAN: What are your favorite places to eat in Geylang?

DG: There are some great places for food. Beyond the many frog porridge and Jiangsu places, there’s the very famous L32 on Lorong 32 that sells ‘handmade noodles’ accompanied by dried fish, a meat of choice and fiery chilies. There’s a Penang seafood restaurant close to the Aljunied MRT station that serves up a great Penang Laksa. Both Ho Kee Pau (43 Geylang Lorong 27) and Wen Dao Shi (aka 126 Dim Sum) at 126 Sims Ave dish up great dim sum. My personal favorites are a ‘knife cut noodle’ stall on Lorong 27 and a Malay stall run by a charming couple that serves up some of the best Malay food in Singapore.

 

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So You Thought You Could Drive in… Singapore?

Published on March 12, 2014 in The Wall Street Journal: Expat:

WSJ ExpatThe Wall Street Journal‘s hub for expatriates and global nomads, recently published my piece on the appalling costs of owning a car in Singapore. Here’s a snippet:

It’s no secret that Singapore loves cars. The Formula One Grand Prix is a huge annual event drawing hundreds of thousands, and sleek sports cars often can be seen zinging down the city’s clean streets. But for a culture that celebrates cars, it’s shockingly expensive to own one here–both for locals and expats. For example, the price tag on a Kia Optima? About $147,000 Singapore dollars (or about US$107,700).

Read the rest HERE!

The Key to Staying Young

Published on March 1, 2015 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

It seems like ‘Act Your Age’ isn’t always good advice. For such a young country, Singapore appears to know exactly how to enjoy maturity. More than a quarter of the small country’s population is over the age of 50, which has sparked numerous discussions on the societal and health implications of ageing citizens. But a recent survey commissioned by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare found that plenty of Singaporean senior citizens are living life to the fullest.

150 Singaporeans over 50 from across the island were interviewed to create the “The Inner Age Index”, a survey that sought to discover their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors towards ageing. The results bring an optimistic voice into the national conversation, which is often more focused on the potential negative impacts of a mature population. 70% of those surveyed reported feeling five years younger than their age. And apparently that’s not all due to eating your vegetables. 9 in 10 declared that a positive attitude was the key to feeling younger and that laughing was the best anti-ageing medicine. In a country where anti-ageing skin creams dominate the shelves of every pharmacy, this study is a refreshing counterpoint.

Chairman of the Medical Board, Dr. Philip Koh believes the Inner Age Index could have a positive impact on not only how the government contemplates their elderly citizens but also on how society as a whole views them. He hopes this will allow people to realize that getting older can come with great opportunities.

“You know Singaporeans, we love to complain,” laughed Dr. Koh in a telephone interview. “We expected the respondents to be more stressed, but quite a number of people were surprisingly optimistic. It really is all about attitude at the end of the day. It’s important to figure out how to embrace ageing rather fight it.”

Gijs Sanders, General Manager of GSK Consumer Healthcare in Singapore, agrees, commenting that “our research shows that attitude plays a major factor when it comes to ageing well, on top of the obvious things like a healthy diet and staying physically active…Your age is just a number; what really matters is how old you feel.”

Cynics may wonder if this study was conducted to provide a balance to some of the controversy Singapore has faced concerning care for the elderly. While about 85% of the nation’s senior citizens live with their families, the remaining 15% either live alone or in nursing homes, which are often a costly option despite government subsidies. As Singapore’s population matures, questions arise about how to enable seniors to age comfortably, especially if their families aren’t able to fully support them. Despite being housed in the oft-disparaged HDB complexes, Dr. Koh remarked that the government does put energy into enabling independence for the elderly, coordinating activities and community groups so they can get “out of their cages.” Which is handy, because 64% of the survey’s respondents said that being over 50 means they finally have time to realize passions such as socializing with friends, travelling, playing sports, and exercising.

As expats, it’s easy to believe Singapore has always been the manicured city we know today. When you consider that the people surveyed for the Inner Age Index have been witness to the Republic of Singapore’s entire history, it’s evident that their bright perspective is the result of varied and extraordinary experiences. Nevertheless, Mr. Sanders reports that “what surprised us was the importance of the simple things in life – remember, [9 of out 10 of the people we surveyed declared that] laughing is the best anti-ageing medicine!”

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Listen Carefully to MOM

Published on February 5, 2015 in The Wall Street Journal: Expat:

The Wall Street Journal recently launched WSJ Expat, their hub for expatriates and global nomads, and recently published my piece on obtaining work passes as a foreigner in Singapore. Here’s a snippet:

If you don’t have the luxury of being a dependent, the easiest way to gain permission to work here is, unsurprisingly, to apply for jobs with firms willing and able to obtain a pass for you. Since a company’s quota for foreign workers depends on the nature of its industry, the overall size of its workforce, and the ratio of foreign to local hires, even if you manage to ace all of your interviews, you may still find yourself unable to actually get to work.

Read the rest HERE!

Singapore: ‘An Expat Life Starter-Kit, Tiny and Neatly Contained’

Published on February 4, 2014 in The Wall Street Journal: Expat:

Capitol Building

The Wall Street Journal recently launched WSJ Expat, their hub for expatriates and global nomads, and recently published my piece on expat culture in Singapore. Here’s a snippet:

Even lifelong expats like me don’t consider Singapore to be our final stop, partly because Singapore itself is still figuring out what type of country it wants to be. It’s hard to plant roots in a city you might not recognize by the end of a two-year contract. Construction projects are ubiquitous; familiar streets completely transform in mere weeks. Even the iconic Merlion statue (referred to as the “personification of Singapore”) was relocated in 2002 and renovated in 2012.

Read the rest HERE!

On Finicky Expats in Singapore, and their Double Standards

Published on December 3, 2014 in The Wall Street Journal: Expat:

So — a little excited — The Wall Street Journal recently launched WSJ Expat, their hub for expatriates and global nomads, and has featured my piece! Here’s a snippet:

Rather than accept these aspects of Singapore’s restaurant culture as simply foreign, we tend to throw up our hands and declare that Singapore isn’t nearly as modern as advertised, forgetting that this glitzy city was a tropical backwater not even 50 years ago. Sure, every last dim sum hole-in-the-wall has passed the city-state’s rigorous health inspections and food poisoning is rare. But the appetizers arrived after the main course! The bathroom has squat toilets! They’re charging us for napkins!

Read the rest HERE!

“A Single Man” & Baja Fish Tacos

Woo! Recently posted over at PAPER/PLATES is my review of Christopher Isherwood’s short novel A Single Man, which is 50 years old this year and still incredibly meaningful.

Here’s a snippet of my piece:

George not only faces the challenges of an expat but, due to his sexuality, he also has a much smaller pool of people he can trust with his true self. It’s akin to speaking a foreign language well enough for day-to-day interactions but not for communicating deep feelings or complex thoughts. You get along with the people around you but you are forever dogged by the knowledge that their impression of you is incomplete, that you have yet to find a way to say exactly what you’re thinking, and that you have no idea how they would respond even if you did.

You can read the rest of my article and discover why I paired A Single Man with a recipe for Baja Fish Tacos HERE.

PAPER/PLATES is an awesome blog run by my friend Amina Elahi and features insightful literary reviews, interviews with food bloggers, and (the best part) recipes inspired by books. So make sure to check out the rest of the blog while you’re at it!

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A Mac’n’Cheese Tour of Singapore

Published on September 1, 2014 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

It’s no secret that you can tour Singapore on your stomach. New flavors and exciting spices can be found in almost every corner. But sometimes, no matter how delicious the nasi lemak or how tempting the char kway teow, you just want something unhealthy and American for dinner. And if you’re going to indulge in proper, gooey mac’n’cheese, then you may as well explore the city while you’re at it. Here’s my roadmap for discovering Singapore’s neighborhoods while feasting on this all-American comfort food.

OverEasy at One Fullerton. OverEasy might just be the perfect place for a person’s first night in Singapore. If you’re still woozy from the jetlag and your stomach isn’t up for chili crab yet, zip down to One Fullerton for American diner food. After making acquaintances with the famous Merlion, you can tuck into OverEasy’s Good Old-Fashioned Mac & Cheese while being dazzled by the Marina Bay Sands’ nightly laser show. However, I’m a sucker for their Truffled Mac & Cheese with Wild Mushrooms. You can also indulge in other American classics like homemade lemonade and beef sliders. Afterwards, wander along the bay front and enjoy the breeze.

Pique Nique Mac’n’Cheese

Pique Nique at Ngee Ann City, Orchard. Any introductory tour of Singapore would be remiss without a thorough exploration of Orchard, which is like a combination of Times Square and Fifth Avenue. It’s a shopper’s paradise during the day (if your wallet can stand it) and it’s a brightly-lit spectacle at night. Whenever you find your energy flagging, stop by Pique Nique for a hot serving of their Roasted Chicken and Mushroom Mac & Cheese. Located in the basement of the elegant Takashimaya department store, this underrated restaurant is a perfect rest stop for tired shoppers hungry for filling, perfectly-seasoned comfort food (including whoopie pies and five types of fries).

Brewerkz, Clarke Quay. Another touchstone in the expat nightlife of Singapore, this restaurant and microbrewery has been in business since 1997. And since nothing goes better with handcrafted beer than quality bar food, that’s just what Brewerkz delivers. Their mac’n’cheese is true to the soul of the dish (no vegetables here!) and has that perfect texture: crispy on top, chewy in the middle. Clarke Quay has a lot of Western restaurants but few have been created by Americans for Americans. Nevertheless, the riverside is a thriving hub of activity and once you’ve had your fill of mac’n’cheese, you can stroll down to both Boat Quay and Robertson Quay.

Latteria Mozzarella, Duxton Hill. One of the unfortunate truths for Westerners who have moved to Singapore is that quality cheese is sometimes hard-to-find, expensive, or both. But Latteria Mozzarella is a godsend to any cheese-lovers searching for a classy evening out. Even their mac’n’cheese has been elegantly upgraded by its being served in a hollowed pumpkin. The gourd isn’t just for show though. The rich lining of pumpkin adds an unexpected oomph to the mac’n’cheese without overwhelming those homey flavors you love so much. The Duxton Hill area is always bubbling with nightlife and is a picturesque neighborhood that features Singapore’s classic shophouses.

28 HongKong Street, Chinatown. One of the city’s hidden gems, 28HKS is a glamorous speakeasy known for its obscure location and exemplary cocktails. It’s been lauded in TimeOut Singapore and the Wall Street Journal but neither article mentioned one of the bar’s biggest attractions for me: the mac’n’cheese balls. Crispy on the outside, hot and gooey on the inside, these mac’n’cheese balls are the perfect intersection of luxury and familiarity. There’s no fancier way to eat this beloved dish in Singapore and as 28HKS is tucked right next to Chinatown, it’s a perfect beginning or end to a night of exploring one of the city’s most historical districts.

Whether you’re looking for classic mac’n’cheese or for a twist on this old favorite, Singapore obliges. Everyone has his or her own way of settling in to a new home, so who’s to say you can’t explore this dynamic Asian city via comfort food?

 

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Carmen Kot on Surviving Singapore

Published on August 1, 2014 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

Looking at Carmen Kot, you would conclude that she’s a very stylish girl. After speaking with her, you would conclude that she’s also a very pragmatic one. “I think one of the biggest pieces of advice for people starting a business is to just start, because the hardest part for me was just starting,” she admits. “Once you do that, it becomes easier just because you’ve got that groundwork in place. The hardest part is just biting the bullet.”

After taking the plunge, it took about 8 months for Carmen to turn her idea for SurviveSG into the website’s soft launch, which went live last year. A chic and user-friendly online store, SurviveSG offers products specifically for expats struggling with tropical conditions. “The first few years were tough on me,” Carmen states in the About section of the site. “I suddenly had NO IDEA how to deal with such a humid climate — I was constantly battling my frizzy hair, ugly mosquito bites and I felt so hot and bothered all the time! And I’m Australian!”

Originally from Sydney, Carmen worked in finance in London and Hong Kong before relocating to Singapore in 2009. Not long after, she says she realized, “I was kind of over working for someone else.” As she had spent years testing out and hunting down the best hair-care, skin-care and cosmetic products for life in Singapore, Carmen felt that she had collected a great range of effective products that not only worked, but were often organic or environmentally friendly. Everything started from her love of that collection and Carmen won’t sell anything she hasn’t personally vetted herself, from shampoos to umbrellas to lip gloss. As such, visiting SurviveSG is like gaining access to the bathroom of a wise and fashionable older sister.

Carmen Kot - Photo by Melissa Bailey

Carmen Kot – Photo by Melissa Bailey

Though the idea for SurviveSG came to Carmen very quickly, she says it was important to her to do things right the first time, despite having no previous experience in entrepreneurship. Along with her husband and co-founder Geoff, she navigated Singapore’s business regulations in order to establish a company that was best suited for her needs and wants. Besides the legalities and the logistics, she admits that finding the right people to partner with was a trial and error affair (like when a courier company dropped out): “One of the things necessary for being an entrepreneur is knowing when you don’t know something and finding a person who can provide you that knowledge. You have to swallow your pride a lot because you don’t have money to throw at problems and you have to ask somebody for help.” To that end, Carmen has grown close to Singapore’s diverse network of expat and local entrepreneurs, whom she has found to be incredibly supportive, particularly Secret Women’s Business and Creative Mornings.

In addition to her vivacious networking, she attributes her success to her ability to view setbacks as opportunities. When her courier backed out and she had to make all deliveries in person, she used it as opportunity to meet her customers face-to-face. Currently, SurviveSG is still run out of their home, where Carmen packs all orders by hand into chic, minimalist paper bags tied with bright green ribbon. She’s hoping to hire her first employee in the near future so as to allow herself to take time to travel, a passion of hers that has recently been neglected in favor of her business.

The hard work is paying off though. Sales have doubled since last year and SurviveSG is poised to move into the next stage: SurviveAsia. While still actively sourcing her products, Carmen now also fields pitches from a number of companies who want her to carry their goods. But she is firm in not offering any item that doesn’t agree with her mantra of surviving in Singapore. “You have to stick by your brand strategy,” she declares.

Despite the challenges and the risks of entrepreneurship, Carmen’s energy and ambition seem endless. “It is a huge emotional roller coaster,” she says of the start-up journey. “You absolutely can’t coast and you can’t just blame someone else. But I think if you’re adaptable and are willing to try again, you do make it one day.”

 

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Living in Singapore: Lifestyles Chapter

The Living in Singapore Thirteenth Edition Reference Guide is finally out!

LIS

Written by expats for everyone, the guide gives essential information for a seamless move to and maximum enjoyment out of the Lion City. It’s published by the American Association of Singapore and each chapter is written by an experienced writer with many years of living in Singapore (like me!), giving readers the best possible insight into life here.

I had the opportunity to write Chapter Eight: Lifestyles, which covered everything from political activism to pornography laws to libraries to the LGBT scene to environmentalism to religion. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning of my chapter:

There’s no doubt about it: relocating to a new country is daunting. There are a great many crucial decisions that need to be made but we know it’s the little choices that make your life not only enjoyable but recognizable as your own. It’s what you do with yourself on the evenings and weekends. It’s your hobbies and beliefs. While it’s always difficult to leave behind the communities that matter to you, you don’t have to sacrifice your passions just because you find yourself living abroad. There’s no need to simply survive in a diverse, modern metropolis such as Singapore.

Once you’ve sorted out the basics, you’ll probably want to find out how you can tailor your life as an expat to your preferences. Perhaps you’re a devoted Catholic seeking a church to attend. Perhaps you’re gay and wondering how to find a new circle. Perhaps you’re a compulsive environmentalist or a computer gamer or a bookworm. Perhaps you’re all of the above. This chapter covers a few ways to transplant your old habits, hobbies and lifestyles into this fresh setting. You might even be inspired to try something new.

You can purchase Living in Singapore as an eBook through Amazon, Apple iBookstore, or Google Play.

Internet Safety for the Casual User: Q & A with Nicholas Schwartz

Published on February 1, 2014 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

As expats, how can we not adore the Internet? We can stay in touch with our distant loved ones via an array of seemingly cost-free tools and platforms. The convenience offered by these services is tempting—it’s quicker if your browser saves your passwords, it’s handy to back up files online, it’s useful if social media sites know your home address—but what’s easier for you to access is easier for hackers to get to as well. It can be tough to balance the addictive joys of social media with the dangers that come with sharing your personal information online. I sat down with Nicholas Schwartz, an Information Security Technical Consultant at the Bank of New York Mellon, to get some tips on how to stay safe. Note that these suggestions are primarily for Windows users as viruses are generally not targeted at Apple computers.

SAN: How much personal information is a safe amount to put out there?

NS: It’s better to operate with the mentality that your information is already out there, since many people besides you can disclose data about you. For example, if you list your email address in a corporate presentation and your company uploads it to the Internet, your email is now out there for anyone to find.

SAN: So then how can we keep ourselves safe on sites like Facebook?

NS: On all social media sites, the most important things to watch out for are malicious links. They seem so straightforward but can send you to websites that can infect your machine with malware. This also goes for any links in emails, even those from trusted sources. If a link looks suspicious, take five seconds to right click on the link, select Copy Hyperlink, Copy Shortcut or Copy Link Location, and paste the result into Google. If there are no identical matches or if there is mention of it being related to spam or malware, do not click through.

SAN: For the casual internet user, what would your number one tip be?

NS: Download the Adblock Plus plugin for Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer. Even secure websites, such as The New York Times, lease areas of each page to advertising providers, who are in turn responsible for selecting the ads which are displayed. If an advertising provider is compromised, malware can be sent in an advertisement’s place and infect you on an otherwise secure website. By forbidding advertisements, Adblock Plus blocks a significant attack vector.

SAN: Do you have any suggestions specifically for expats?

NS: If you have ever made a scan of your passport or a copy of your signature and emailed it, remember that if anyone gets access to your email, they will be able to get ahold of that as well. So delete the message from your Sent folder. This is pertinent not only to expats but to any frequent travelers. Tempting as it is, it’s a bad idea to retain copies of important documents in any repository that can be accessed from the web (like Google Drive or Dropbox).

SAN: So if my email or social media accounts are hacked, what should I do?

NS: If any of your major accounts have been compromised, the first and most important thing to do is to secure your personal email account by changing the password from a computer other than one you normally use. The worst-case scenario is if someone has direct access to your machine via a Trojan Horse; it doesn’t matter how strong your security measures are if a virus is recording every key you press. If this has happened, you will need to bring your computer to an IT specialist as very few — if any — anti-virus products will detect or remove this type of malware. The hard drive will need to be completely wiped and the operating system reinstalled. It’s exhausting, to be sure, but that type of malware is too grave a danger to do anything short of that.

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Top Eight Places to “Work from Home”

Published on December 1, 2013 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

In this modern day and age, “working from home” can mean working from almost anywhere if you play your cards right. Plus, a change of scenery can do wonders for your creativity and motivation, whether it’s writing an article, putting together a lesson plan or organizing leads on Salesforce. When I get bored of my apartment’s four walls, here are my top eight places to work from home (in no particular order):

7-8

3-4

5-6

1-2

As a final note, I want to say that while there are reliable hubs of strong WiFi to be found throughout the city, it is far more convenient to transform your smartphone into a WiFi Hotspot. Not only is it safer than connecting your laptop to a public network, a Hotspot relies on Singapore’s ubiquitous 3G signal (meaning it can be employed just about anywhere). There are plenty of YouTube videos and how-to guides on the internet to walk you through setting a Hotspot up and, trust me, you will be thrilled you did. Now get back to work.

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Alternative Expat Hotspots

Published on October 1, 2013 in the Singapore American Newspaper:

For a Friday or Saturday night out, the lure of Singapore’s expat hubs is hard to deny. The glitter of the clubs and the ambience of the pubs, the platters of bar food and the heavy steins of beer, the loud music and the reflection of the lights on the river’s surface… Unfortunately, it is equally hard to deny the dent these hubs can make in your wallet. Luckily this city has a seemingly endless amount of hidden gastronomic gems just waiting for you to explore. Whether you are looking to impress your visitors with your local know-how or are just in the mood for a less-touristy but still centrally located spot for dinner, the following suggestions are sure to make for a great night out.

Instead of Boat Quay…

When my in-laws visited a year ago, my husband took them along the glitzy strip of Boat Quay and then through the back to an open-air hawker center called BK Eating House, which sits behind the bars at 21 South Bridge Road. Though the plastic tables and fluorescent lighting didn’t impress my in-laws much, the specialty dry mee sua from the Yan Kee stall sure did. Not only do they claim to this day that it was the best meal they had during their time in Singapore, at $3.50 a bowl it was also the cheapest. And since the cost of one beer at a bar on the river will get you three beers at BK Eating House, it’s easy to forgive its artless appearance.

BK Eating House

Instead of Chijmes…

Instead of paying for expensive cocktails within the walls of Chijmes, stroll two blocks over to Standing Sushi Bar at 8 Queen Street. There are a plethora of good Japanese restaurants but I have yet to find one that rivals this lively restaurant. A stone’s throw from the Singapore Art Museum, Standing Sushi offers exceptionally fresh sashimi as well as an enormous selection of sake. Every weeknight features a different promotion (50% off sushi, sashimi, and alcohol, anyone?) but the prices are reasonable even without them. However, you will want to get there either before or after the peak dinner time as the restaurant doesn’t take reservations and the line outside can get pretty long.

Instead of Clarke Quay…

Across the river from the theme park-esque Clarke Quay, the Central Mall houses a barely marked bistro you won’t want to miss. You may have heard of No Signboard, dubbed as such because when it was a single stand in a hawker center in the 1970s, the founders simply couldn’t afford a signboard. Back then seafood wasn’t commonly sold in hawker centers but their unique crab recipes attracted much attention and today No Signboard has six branches, one of which is hidden in a corner on the fourth floor of the Central. A far cry from the original stall, this particular outlet is elegantly decorated and sports large windows that look out at Clarke Quay over the river. While you’ll have to try the famous chili crab or white pepper crab (which you buy by the kilogram), I also highly recommend the sliced mushrooms with abalone sauce over rice.

Instead of Robertson Quay…

For inexpensive wine and tasty food, it is hard to beat Wine Connection at Robertson Quay but if you’re looking for a real contender, check out the triple threat of The Foundry, Baan Khun Nai, and The Burger Office. All can be found sharing the same space at 18 Mohamed Sultan Road, the atmosphere of which can only be described as beach-like, eclectic, and relaxed. The Foundry prides itself on its choice selection of Belgian craft beers (I suggest a pint of the Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc). Baan Khun Nai serves up classic and succulent Thai food. And The Burger Office, as expected, specializes in straightforwardly delicious beef burgers. Mix and match as you please!

It’s easy for smaller restaurants to get overshadowed by the bright lights of the Quays but these homegrown alternatives make for a more authentic (and generally less costly) meal than what the tourist hubs tend to offer. However, they are also close enough to the parties that you can wander over after you’ve eaten, if you’re still in the mood.

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