On the recommendation of the owner of a coffeehouse in Chinatown, we traveled outside of the city center to a suburban HDB (Housing and Develpment Board) housing complex and neighborhood called Toa Payoh. We wandered around this area for awhile eating and looking into the shops when we came across an elaborately decorated tent and stage area. One of the gentlemen sitting there approached us and explained that they were preparing for a religious festival including an auction to benefit the elderly. The main reason for this festival was to honor and appease the spirits of dead ancestors who return to earth every seven months (according to the Chinese calendar) to check up on the living. So we decided to return later in the evening to witness this Chinese tradition. What we thought at the time was just another interesting way to spend our evening turned out to be one of the best experiences of our trip.
We were introduced to the eight people already seated at the table and introduced to Mr. Jonnie Walker. Our glasses were never empty. As soon as we would take the smallest sip, a beautiful, young volunteer immediately topped it off with more whiskey, cognac or beer (Tiger Beer, of course, Singapore's finest). As we were to experience on our journey, Chinese people love to drink and drink loudly. There is no other way to describe it; we had a blast.
One of the people at the table, Roland, described to us the nine course meal we were about to consume. Not knowing that we would be invited to join the festivities, we had just finished eating dinner. This, however, did not deter us from tasting each of the delictable and exotic courses set before us. Somehow we just continue to fight on through these tough times.
Here is a list of the courses to the best of our recollection:
- the innards of frog soup (we forgot the proper Chinese name, probably due to the proper Chinese beer)
- lobster with duck eggs and vegetables
- shark's fin soup
- whole steamed fish with vegetables
- sea cucumber
- abalone with meat dish
- giant prawns
- sweet and salty desserts
- red bean ice crean
After exchanging contact numbers with our new friends, Roland and his uncle generously provided transport to our guesthouse in his uncle's beautiful Mercedes Benz. As we laid down to sleep, our minds raced with the surreal, dreamlike events of the evening. Although the food, drink and atmosphere were amazing, it was the people and the conversation that made the evening so unique and memorable. We thank Roland, his uncle, the Big Boss and everyone there from the bottom of our hearts and stomachs.
Tekka Market is not only one of the largest wet markets in Singapore but it is one of the cleanest markets we have ever seen in our lives. Singapore is known for its cleanliness and high sanitary standards. We met a young woman from Singapore in Cambodia and she told us about having problems with her stomach. She explained that she was not used to the unsanitary food of Cambodia because in Singapore, the food, even street stalls, are monitored for cleanliness. We think she was exaggerating a bit but her reasons give you an insight into how clean it really is in Singapore.
