Singapore (Thread 19)

[Grayce]

^i dont recommend eating at hawker centres pag may kasamang bata or mahina ang tyan. di rin kasi sila ganun kalinis dito. better to eat at food court nalang.

sa bugis area rin wala masyadong matinong hawker na okay. it's nice to eat at the restos around kampong glam tho (likod ng mosque)

[pinkpotato]

^ me too. no to bugis hawkers especially.

[MIGSmom]

^thanks  snowyice, pinkpotato and grayce!

[meimei]

^talaga?? dun kami kumain sa Bugis (Albert Centre hawker center), nasarapan kami sa food at hindi naman nasira ang tiyan namin.. marumi pala pagkain dun?

[nataliaesperon2000]

ok ba pumunta sa japanese garden and chinese garden dito thanks

[DV]

Ang style ko in eating in new places or sampling local cuisine (kahit dito sa Manila) mapa-food court o food bazaar o small restaurant, ang pinipili kong food yung lulutuin pa, hindi yung nakahanda na tapos ilalagay na lang sa plate/container. Ideally yung lulutuin sa harap mo. Sa restaurants, maganda kung open kitchen (usually they're more careful in food preparation 'pag ganyan). I have a friend naman who takes activated charcoal tablets before eating every time he gets invited sa mga handaan. And always pray for the food. 

[xtine]

^The tip in eating in hawker is to looking at the stalls' health sanitation rating.  Merong grade "A" until "D" na nakapaskil sa mga hawker stands.  Kahit mga food courts, restaurants and fast food chains merong nakapaskil na grading.

Sample:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1bj4QT5iUGY/TbI-IPq83DI/AAAAAAAAEi8/nzf2Qc17BZI/s1600/0422ElRahmanGrade.jpg

http://www.myhawkers.sg/index.php?m=discover&c=view&id=3

[fallen_@ngeL]

just got back from SG last sunday! bitin ang 5 days! grabehhh! pero ang ganda ng orchard daming christmas lights and decors!

[yapeegurl]

Ang mga in-laws ko nandito last week. They brought USD. Pinapalit dito sa SG. Lugi daw sila. They should've changed their money daw sa black market sa pinas. Mas marami daw sana silang SG na nadala.

On roti prata, favorite ko ang mushroom and cheese!

On Gardens by the bay, we went to both the Cloud Forest and Flower Garden. Mas sulit ang cloud forest. Ang iksi ng iikutan sa flower garden.

From Fullerton (where merlion is), nag boat kami going to Marina Bay Sands. $4 lang. Kaysa lalakarin namin.

[meimei]

@xtine, grabe di ko alam na may nakapaskil pala na rating.. mukhang ngayon lang yan nabanggit dito sa thread (salamat, sis!) kasi nag-backread naman ako ng bongga before we left for SG last April, wala akong nabasang ganyan. kaloka! meron sa Chinatown na parang may na-order akong icky-yucky, baka "D" rating pala yun! eeeewww!! oh well, buhay pa naman ako. hahaha!

[DV]

xtine, thanks for the tip! Wala rin akong napansin na ganyan sa stalls last punta namin (5 years ago) o baka dahil hindi lang ako aware.

meimei, hahaha, OK lang yun, part ng adventure when traveling. Minsan pag may pagkain akong sinusubukan na hindi ko gusto ang amoy o lasa, iniisip ko na lang nasa Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern ako. 

[Grayce]

xtine, C ata ang lowest sa NEA rating. but then kahit na A or B ang rating if you observe some hawker centres here, madumi parin or mishandled ang pagkain  i have 3 colleagues na naging victim na ng food poisoning here, yung isa 3x na na-food poison.

speaking of, food republic rin sa vivo city careful rin kayo dyan, our family friend's parents had an upset stomach after eating there tapos my inlaws naman saw a baby cockroach in their food during their last visit here.

^talaga?? dun kami kumain sa Bugis (Albert Centre hawker center), nasarapan kami sa food at hindi naman nasira ang tiyan namin.. marumi pala pagkain dun?

sa bugis area wala pa ako nakikitang well maintained na hawker sa area na yan. yung albert centre is that the one near OG and gitna ng sim lim and bugis market?

re: NEA ratings, they started implementing yung rating around 2009 ata nung nagkaroon ng bird flu virus epidemic according to a local friend.

[yapeegurl]

^Waaaah! Palagi pa man din kami kumakain sa Food Republic sa Vivo!!! Huhu

Ako naman na food poison sa isa sa mga kainan sa Bugis back in 2005. Diyan kasi ang office ko noon. First time ko mahospital dahil dun. Hindi ko nga ineexpect kasi sa pinas naman kahit saan kumakain ako (like isaw, bbq, samalamig etc).

[cutiemiel]

Yesterday sa Makansutra Glutton Bay kami kumain, kami ni hubby nagustuhan namin but mga kiddos ko, mukhang di sila na satisfied sabi nga nila sa mall na lang kami kumain next time. (choosy mga bagets) , considered ba na hawker ang Makasuntra? puro mga Filipino kasabay namin kumain don.
inulan kami kahapon matagal tagal din, kaya nasira ang City tour namin, na skip ang Garden by the bay at MBS . Merlion,Esplanade, Singapore Flyer lang kami at walang atang Wonder Full show kagabi baka dahil sa ulan, pero ok super enjoy naman kami nga mga kids ko..

Hopefully ok na weather today USS /Sentosa kami today.

[meimei]

...yung isa 3x na na-food poison.

..yung albert centre is that the one near OG and gitna ng sim lim and bugis market?

waaaahhh!! parang nalungkot naman ako nang sobra. kasi di ba, Singapore is known as a gastronomic capital and hawker centers ang major food-tripping itinerary ng tourists... tapos biglang mabalitaan ko tong cleanliness issues... na-sad naman ako. i was so longing to go back to SG to do serious food-tripping dahil nabitin kami nung last trip namin.

anyway, sis Grayce, yes yung Albert Center yung sa may tapat ng Bugis Market, yung malapit sa Ibis. sa Ibis kasi kami nag-stay nung last trip namin.

[Grayce]

^to be honest d hamak na mas malinis pa dyan satin when it comes to food handling or even sa mga restos. Satin ang mga tables sinasanitize pag nililinis/nililigpit, naku dito ultimo minsan sa starbucks makikita mo walang punas punas ang table there was a time na nagka rashes pa ang husband ko sa elbows/arms dahil sa kakapatong nya sa table.

yung mga reputable hawkers dito kahit papano malinis naman maghandle ng food, and yun naman usually tinatarget ng mga tourists... but definitely not the tabi tabi hawker lang. you can also eat at food republic at ion and wisma to be sure na malinis (some stalls there started sa hawker lang tapos nagbranch out na sa food republic, like yung fishball noodle stall sa ion)

[meimei]

^sis, please share kung alin-alin yung tinutukoy mong "reputable" hawker centers. kasi oo marami nang nabanggit sa thread na to na hawker centers, but then yun nga, apparently some of them are not as clean as we hoped.

so please, which are those, in your opinion, are "reputable" hawker centers... thanks!

[Grayce]

^makansutra is a hawker centre nga pala, sorry d ko nasagot. lau pa sat din. But mahal sa lau pa sat  tourist trap cya IMO. you can check anong hawker stalls ang ok sa ieatishootipost google mo nalang. 

[xtine]

I think in determining "clean" hawker centers is to just judge based on the how these stalls handle the food.  You can check one by one and observe.  I honestly do not trust the spoon and fork of these establishments kaya I use their disposable chopsticks / spoon fork. 

So aside from the "grading" i just base it on instinct.  Kahit na grade "A", pero pag nakita kong the same hands that dipped in their sauce are the same hands that collected money, I just move on to the next one.

I guess even in hongkong they have dirty food stalls kaya I just make sure I am careful when selecting where to eat.  First world countries also experience these types of dilemmas. 

[nataliaesperon2000]

maulan ba sa singapore ngyon dec contemplating on bringing foldable umbrella kaso bawal naman hand carry lol