Food, glorious food!

Porridge is what one thinks of when one is ill. There are two stalls worth visiting for it. One is a Malay stall and the other is a Chinese stall.

The Malay stall is at Serangoon Gardens Market, located next to the Roti John stall. Bubur Ayam or Chicken Porridge is really porridge with shredded chicken slices topped with a generous amount of mee soto soup. It is filling, hot and a good source of comfort food. It costs $2-$2.50.

The Chinese stall is at the S-11 coffeeshop in the row of shophouses adjacent to the Serangoon Interchange. It is a new stall and it sells fried Hokkien Mee as well. It is next to the Western food stall. There are a few choices and each costs $3. Chicken with Century Egg, Pork and Fish are some. Extra toppings of century egg and egg are available too.

The porridge is smooth and garnishings of sesame oil, fried onions, spring onions and fried dough fritters are lashed on top. It is a good portion for such a price. The porridge is made on the spot and thus one has to wait for a while. The stallholder has such a really sweet smile that you'll feel inclined to tell her so. She seems to be from China, judging from her accent.

Western food seems to be popping up everywhere, even in coffeeshops. Two coffeeshops are worth going to for it.

The coffeeshop behind Christ the King Parish on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 has a stall. Its Fish and Chips is a good order. It costs $4.50. Though the fish slabs are rather small, they are juicy. They are served with baked beans, coleslaw, tartare sauce and french fries. The coleslaw is really good because it isn't slathered with mayonnaise or salad cream. The vegetables seem fresh as well. So it's really healthy.

Along Serangoon Avenue 3, there is a coffeeshop at the corner of the row of shophouses opposite Yangzheng Primary School. The stall operates at night and the variety of items sold is different from that sold by Western food stalls in other coffeeshops. This one sells side orders like Cheesy Fries, Tempura Prawns, Chicken Nuggets, Calamari and Scallops. It is worth going to if one craves a late-night snack. It closes at 10.30pm-11 pm.

Corn and nacho chips are a different variation from mere potato chips or prawn crackers. Chacos is a common brand. There are flavours like Cheesy Cheese, BBQ and Spicy Curry to choose from. A packet costs around $1.50 though the first quarter is mostly air.

Black Bean Rice Noodles or Vermicelli is a typically Cantonese main meal. The Cantonese call it Xi Cup Hor Fun or Mai Fun. Rice noodles or vermicelli is stir-fried with assorted seafood or meat over high heat and then lathered with black bean sauce, which is salty and yet fragrant. There are two places on my recommended list.

Prosperous Kitchen at Thomson Plaza has Hor Fun in Black Bean Sauce. It is fried with assorted seafood and pork. It makes a full meal for a family of 3, costing about $9. It definitely doesn't taste too bad.

Fatty Weng Restaurant at Albert Complex however, takes the cake. It is the best version I've ever ever tasted since I was born and I'm not exaggerating. The sauce is really delicious and the noodles are soaked in it. Words cannot adequately describe the actual taste of it and even though it has been a great number of years since I last ate it, my sensory nerves can still remember how it tasted like. I can already feel my tongue buds tingling and my salivary glands working!

Though it was the father who was the chef when I first tasted it, the son has inherited his father's flair and has reproduced his dad's cooking to the exact degree. The only difference is that the son is thin unlike his dad. Tourists flock to this place as well so it's worth going there for a meal.