Eating at a hawker centre is one of every true blue Singaporean’s favourite past-times. Some of us lunch there daily, and some of us dabble on occasion. Whatever the case, if you’ve ever claimed to love a plate of Char Kway Teow or swooned over a plate of perfectly cooked Chicken Rice, this list is for you.
Part of the VIP status is also an unspoken language. The auntie already knows your regular order so all you have to do is raise your fingers to indicate how many packets you need.
Eggs Benedict for $12? Big Mac for $5.55? You could buy 2 packets of chicken rice at that price!
You dread every moment being away. You miss the scent of your favourite dish, and the second you touch down, you dash to a hawker centre with all your luggage in tow.
Tissue paper is indispensable for you – you wipe your mouth after a meal with it, the sweat off your brow after biting into chilli padi, but most importantly chope seats with it.
Alex thinks Block 470’s Crab Bee Hoon is better than Block 471’s. You think he’s crazy and it’s completely justifiable to throw away 15 years of friendship. UNFRIEND.
Also, he’s wrong.
You don’t mind smelling like a hawker centre after lunch even though your colleagues hate it. Smelling like deep Fried You Tiao and Sambal Stingray sounds amazing! What’s wrong with that?
You have all these hacks that you think will make your dish taste better, “lesser vinegar, more prawns more lard!”. Hawkers hate you for all your special requests, but you’ll only have it your way no matter how crazy the demands.
Whenever your friends crave for a particular dish, you’re the first on they text for info. Coincidentally, people only talk to you just before lunch or dinner. Damnit.
There is a beautiful type of chaos. And then there’s a chaotic type of chaos. You fall in the latter. You feel uneasy dining in luxurious restaurants and long for the sound of clashing plates and aunties saying “xiao di, ni yao sugarcane mah?”
Sometimes, you feel more at home eating in Lau Pa Sat than your own dining room. You don’t eat at home enough and it feels weird when you do. Hawker centres are an all encompassing experience, the Mary-Jane to your Spiderman. It’s not just a place, it’s a lifestyle!
With your affection towards hawker centres, possible career paths include morphing into the uncle who watches soccer matches with his khakis or a corporate bigshot who still queues up for his favourite chicken wings. The point is, no matter where you go or who you become, you will always be a hawker kid at heart.
This post was brought to you by Guinness.
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