Xin Lu Teochew Fish Ball Kway Teow Mee Soup @ Mei Ling Market & Food Centre

Not far from 164 Stirling Road Wanton Noodle is Mei Ling Market & Food Centre. It is a two-storey building where residents can do their marketing on the ground floor before going for their breakfast at the food centre upstairs.

As Stirling Road is a mature estate, my initial thoughts about the food centre is that it would be badly maintained, dirty and with bad air-circulation as well.

My first visit to the food centre last week, however, painted a very different picture. The food centre is extremely clean with no litter on the floor, illumination is bright, there is no buildup of dirty bowls on the tables, and the area is spacious and airy with the high ceiling. You will not leave the food centre smelling like char kway teow or fried carrot cake.

This is all thanks to a upgrading program which I just found out was completed about eight years ago. Even though it has been years since the upgrading, its condition is as good as new.

I must say this is by far the most well-maintained food centre I had ever seen.

164 Stirling Road Wanton Noodle @ Blk 164 Stirling Road

Update: 164 Stirling Road Wanton Noodle has permanently closed.

For years, a nameless wanton noodle stall has been dishing out delicious wanton noodle in a dingy-looking coffee shop at Stirling Road - one of Singapore's oldest estate - in Queenstown.

Fronted by an aged signboard with a generic "wanton noodle" written in both English and Chinese, the fading photos on it bear witness to the years they have toiled in the stall, faithfully serving the residents in this neighborhood.

According to my research, the stall used to be called Chun Ji (春记) however, the name is not on the signboard anymore. It is now more commonly known as "164 Stirling Road Wanton Noodle" with reference to its location under block 164.

I came to learn about this noodle stall while reading up on the must-eats at Meiling Market & Food Centre which is only a few minutes walk away. As photos of the wanton noodle looked so enticing, I decided that a visit to the stall is a must.

Long Kee Wanton Noodle @ Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre

Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre has no lack of wanton noodle stalls. Based on my memory, there are at least four of them but there could be more though as I did not really go and count.

Apart from Kok Kee Wanton Noodle, the other notable one with a perpetual queue is Long Kee Wanton Noodles.

I have tried their chicken feet noodle before which is not too bad. The chicken feet were well-braised and tender and I remember liking it very much then. This time, I tried their wanton noodle which comes in two different sizes at $3 and $4.

Kok Kee Wanton Noodle @ Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre

Update:  Kok Kee Wanton Noodle has rebranded as Wai Kee Wanton Noodle.

I have long heard of the notoriety of Kok Kee Wanton Noodle from the now-defunct Lavender Food Square that overcharges for its small portions however, I have heard even more regarding its grumpy elderly owners who had offended quite a bit of customers (go snoop around the food forums and you'll see what I mean).

Yet, despite the less than favorable reputation, the stall still attract quite a queue daily.

Meanwhile, over at Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre, there is a wanton noodle stall bearing the same name (also claiming to be from Bugis), charging the same higher-than-usual price, and does not serve green pickled chili just like the one at Lavender. 

There were rumors that the young couple running this stall were the nephew and niece of the older couple who had since retired.

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this information but, I am still very excited to try a plate of this "legendary" wanton noodle that I have heard so much about.

Soh Kee Cooked Food @ Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre

And so, Jurong West 505 Market & Food Centre has finally reopen after three grueling months of renovation works. The food centre section is now cleaner and brighter but contrary to expectations, there are no increase in seating capacity so finding a clean table is still as difficult.

Anyway, three months is too long a time to keep me away from having my favorite porridge at Soh Kee Cooked Food. 

This stall offer the usual chicken porridge ($2), fish porridge ($3), cuttlefish porridge ($3) and mixed porridge ($3) but what most people ordered here is actually their plain porridge with poached chicken.

RAWR! Dinosaurs Unearthed @ Plaza Singapura!

Great news for all you dinosaur fanatics out there! 

Dinosaurs have been sighted at Plaza Singapura and if you like these prehistoric creatures as much as I do, then do not give this exhibition a miss! 

In collaboration with Sceince Centre Singapore, Plaza Singapura has brought in five animatronic dinosaurs for this mid-year school holidays.

The animatronics were quite realistic with their movements and sounds. One kid started crying from far while another begged for mercy from her enthusiastic parents not to make her pose for photos with the big, scary monsters!

Hakka Lei Cha @ Volcano Coffee House, Kelapa Sawit, Kulai, Johor, Malaysia

In my previous post, I mentioned that we were at Kelapa Sawit checking out the wall murals. Before that, however, we had our breakfast at the local coffeeshop. 

There were a couple of very old coffeeshops offering the usual wanton noodle and porridge fare but, we were actually on the prowl for a very special dish associated with this Hakka neighborhood - the Hakka lei cha.

The word "Lei" （擂） refers to the action of grinding the tea but it sounds the same as the word "Thunder" （雷） so this dish is also known as the Thunder Tea.

My Mum is a Hakka so she got to have her bowl of lei cha which is actually a bowl of plain or brown rice topped with different vegetables and a bowl of soup made by grinding different types of herbs and tea leaves together.