Off the Beaten Path In Singapore

Some favorites include Little India, China Town, Boat Quay, Clarke Quay and Orchard Road. However, aside from the tourist attractions, Singapore has a wonderful variety of cuisines available, cuisine that often costs no more than two to four Singapore dollars. In most hawker centers you will find Chinese, Malay and Indian food.

Quick Tips:

Dress casually - i.e. shorts, t-shirts, sun hats, etc.

Best Way To Get Around:

The bus system of Singapore is quite extensive and inexpensive. Similarly, taking a taxi is quite affordable and reliable compared to those in the US and Europe. Fares are metered and you need not worry about a driver taking you on a long ride to nowhere to drive up the fare - a ride across Singapore would not cost more that S-S. Trips between tourist attractions will probably cost S-S. All cabs are air conditioned.
The Singapore underground rail system (MRT) goes past most of the important attractions and is quite affordable.
Either way you will not go wrong!

Little India is very much unlike modern Singapore as it possesses the buzz and excitement of activity that one can find anywhere in India. On the ground floor of each restored shophouse one will find general provision shops selling betel nut leaves for chewing, incense, all and sundry spices for cooking, Tamil music, banana leaf eateries (see my article – Eating out Banana Leaf Style), statues of deities, saris and shawls, and more. But more than that, the people who live and walk the streets of Little India make it a great place to visit. Along Little India’s main drag, Serangoon Road, you will find several Hindu temples, big and small, neatly tucked among the shophouses.

Walk along Serangoon Road and its side streets and you will not be able to walk far without hearing love songs sung in Tamil blaring from the numerous shops selling CDs and cassettes. On a Saturday or Sunday night the crowds of people trolling the streets of Little India swell as many of the foreign workers from India leave their construction site residences (more like cargo containers converted into dormitories) and head to town for a little rest and recreation. On those evenings, the number 97 bus will be filled with people heading to Little India.

Although Singapore is a very modern city, walking past all the shops in Little India transports one, if only temporarily, to the streets of Madras (Chennai) – all that is missing are the Bajai trishaw scooters that criss-cross Indian roads, belching out clouds of diesel exhaust along the way.

Though there are Indians of many languages and dialects living in Singapore, the majority have traditionally been Tamil speakers from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. On the streets of Little India it is Tamil that you will hear rolling off peoples’ tongues at a rapid fire rate, a rate just slightly slower than the speed of light. The effect of the voices, smells, sounds and splashes of color make a visit to Little India a memorable experience. It is my favorite place in Singapore.

How to get there - If you are only in town for a day or two and do not feel like figuring out the bus system, taxis in Singapore are quite inexpensive and can transport you to Serangoon Road with a minimum of hassle. You will be surprised how little your fare turns out to be!

For those who are willing to try the bus system, the number 97 bus which goes through the heart of the central business district (CBD) and up to Serangoon Road is the best option.

In a little nook of Singapore called Portsdown lies an old Singapore-style coffee shop-eatery called the Colbar. I have been told that the name is short for Colonial Bar but cannot confirm its meaning. It stands at the corner of Portsdown Road and Jalan Hang Jebat, opposite the Worcester Archery field.

It was opened around 1948, about 10 years after the surrounding British military housing was built. Those housing units still stand and have been extremely popular among expats since the departure of the British military presence in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They are painted black and white and feature large balconies and verandahs, surrounded by large rain trees with large vines and all types of ferns hanging from above. These structures are appropriately called Black and Whites and after an early evening meal at the Colbar, it is well worth taking a walk along the twisting and mysterious roads of the Portsdown estate, especially if you have eaten the chicken curry for dinner.

Colbar is run by Mr & Mrs Lim and it was Mrs Lim's father who opened the establishment in 1948. They live in the area and are on the premises every day except Mondays, the only day of the week Colbar is closed.

The Colbar is not fancy but definitely has charm and atmosphere. The interior is painted blue and cream and the walls are adorned with old posters of English football clubs and military regiments. Pictures of past Colbar football teams are found in the second inner dinning area. No reservations are required and seating is open. One can choose any table among the red and white folding chairs scattered about the two serving rooms. The tables are not bolted to the floor and most people eating at Colbar prefer to eat outside and are free to carry a table outside, place it in the grass and enjoy the sunset and cooler temperatures of the evening.

Inside there is no air conditioning, only ceiling fans, and hot air escapes via the old style grills located where the ceiling meets the walls, a feature common in most colonial-era buildings. Resting on the concrete floor just inside the entrance is a scale - no one quite knows why it is there but simply accept its presence as a part of Colbar.

Colbar's menu is quite extensive and you can order anything on it up to 8:00 pm, after which you may continue to order beer and soda. A favorite on the menu is the chicken curry but many expats order the more continental fare of steak and chips. The chicken curry costs S$7 which is more than a normal hawker center meal but people continue to come to enjoy the ambiance and surroundings of the Colbar.

Its menu features continental cuisine, Chinese food, and Malay dishes. A meal for two people with drinks can run about S$14.

While you sit outside and enjoy the cooler nighttime tropical air you will doubtless see numerous gecko lizards climbing the walls and ceilings looking for a meal that might be buzzing around the fluorescent lights. You will also see a couple of the neighborhood dogs wandering among the tables, inside and outside, wagging their tales in the hope that someone will look kindly upon them and donate something from their table to their daily intake of food. Do not be frightened of these pooches. They are harmless and are fixtures of the Colbar.

If you make more than one visit to the Colbar you will surely see some regular faces. Some expats have been coming to the Colbar for years and practically live at there. They come there for lunch and then come directly from work at 6 p.m. for dinner and lots of beer. When passing by there late at night, sometimes as late as 11:30, they are still huddled around their table with a growing number of bottles of Tiger Beer before them. I imagine that they will continue to come to the Colbar till their dying days - they are as much a part of the Colbar as the Colbar is to Portsdown.

The Singapore Government has had plans to redevelop the Portsdown area for a number of years, and for a while it seemed that their plans had been shelved indefinitely when the regional economic crisis occurred. However, news that the nearby Temasek Club has been given one year's notice to move from its present location does not bode well for Portsdown or the Colbar. It is difficult to say how much longer one will have to visit and experience a cozy bit of Singapore's past, a past that is very much alive without the gloss and Singapore's other refurbished and modernized tourist attractions.

This place is very much off the beaten path and only few tourists get to experience, but it is a place that many would enjoy.

Go visit the Colbar before it suffers the same fate that most of old Singapore suffered in the 1970s, the wrecking ball or bulldozer in the name of modernization.

Getting there - From the City center take the 14, 97, 166, 521 buses to the Normanton Park bus stop. From there walk across the bridge crossing the Ayer Rajah Expressway, walk along the edge of the soccer fields and archery field and you will find yourself at the corner of Jalan Hang Jebat and Portsdown Road. Turn right at that corner and the Colbar will be the first establishment on the left.

Otherwise, take a taxi! You won't be disappointed.

When visiting Singapore you should try to find a Banana leaf restaurant where you can eat yummy vegetarian and non-veg cuisine much in the same way they do in India. These banana leaf restaurants are not simply for tourists. They are frequented by the local Indian population and construction workers temporarily staying in Singapore.

The important feature about banana leaf restaurants are the opportunity to eat with one’s hand – not with both hands since etiquette requires one to eat with the right hand only! When you sit down to eat in one of these establishments a plain banana leaf will be placed in front of you and shortly thereafter a scoop of white rice, spicy pickles, and several other items will be ladled onto your leaf for you to mix with the rice. If you haven’t ordered extras yet you will be given a chance to order chicken, fish or mutton curry to eat with your rice.

Once the components of your meal have been placed on your leaf, dig in! With your right hand, begin mixing the dal, curry or whatever you have on the leaf with the rice. Don’t be shy. I think everyone feels a bit shy about making a mess with their bare hands since those who eat there frequently seem to have a technique for mixing everything together, lifting the mixture and popping it into their mouths.

Curious about how you are faring? Try to keep the mixture of your food below the second knuckle of your fingers. If you can do that then you are doing well. But do not feel embarrassed about getting food above that line. Several times I have seen experienced eaters make a mess of things, but the important thing is that food seems to taste soooooo much better when you use your hands.

Some popular places for banana leaf eating include Komala Villa’s along Serangoon Road in Little India, as well as a dozen other places with less modern facades dotting the streets of the area. Komala’s tends to attract its fair share of tourists so you can go there and feel a little less self-conscious about yourself.

You will likely find that you have gone through your initial allotment of rice before you have finished all your other items – ask for more rice! That is the norm. There is no extra charge for extra rice and the other things they give you initially. The result is that you can eat a rather large amount for a relatively small amount. The most expensive thing on the menu is likely to be the lime juice which may be necessary to cool your now-volcanic stomach lining.

The banana leaf restaurant on Wishart Road is the real McCoy! Komala’s in Little India resembles a modern fast-food joint, but the Wishart restaurant will remind those who have been to India of the humble truck stops along the long stretches of highway where a driver and passenger alike can eat some dal and chapattis and then rest on a rope bed for a snooze afterwards. Wishart has the atmosphere but not the beds.

Many of the patrons are port workers and taxi drivers and its business has declined since much of the port’s activities shifted further up the west coast to the Pasir Panjang Terminal.

The place looks and is very run down, furnished with folding chairs and card tables, and an old Sony radio with tape deck broadcasting Tamil music and news. Sometimes when walking down the block one can hear the Tamil tunes 50 yards away.

Like the Colbar and Komala’s, seating is open – just pull up a chair, wash your hands (not that I think it would make that much of a difference here) and order from whatever items are behind the glass window – fried fish, chicken curry, egg curry, and so on. If you want the vegetarian platter, it is pretty straight forward.

There is no menu with prices but from what I have been able to deduce from my past bills is this – vegetarian platter S$2-S$3; each additional serving of meat/fish/poultry, an additional S$1. Drinks are S$1. So it should be possible to get away with paying about S$3 for a meal, hence its popularity with the construction and port workers who get paid only S$15-20 per-day.

The faces of the Indian workers could tell many stories but for the most part the workers often sit facing one another, eating silently. The restaurant employees themselves are characters. They speak little and softly, and often give little acknowledgement of your words but trust me, they hear you – though not always correctly and they might be a bit slow in getting your soda or more rice, but they will get it to you.

One thing you will notice in these types of establishments is that the hierarchy of responsibilities does not seem clearly defined. Ask someone to do something and he seems to not hear, stares blankly at you or ignores you. Ask a second person and he will nod in the affirmative and disappear. Wait a few more minutes and a third, completely different person will fulfill your request. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. It just works.

Some of the older employees split their time between serving food and banging doors or pots and pans to shoo away sparrows that come looking for rice (sometimes in the rice bowl, other times in the storage room). So don’t be surprised if when you are eating your rice with fish curry gravy you hear a sharp bang of a pot over the Tamil newscast – they are just keeping the sparrows at bay.

Getting there - To get there, take the 143, 10, 30, 188, 521 buses from town – the bus stop is only about 3 or 4 stops from the World Trade Center along Telok Blangah Road.