Dining While Married and Hawker Centers – Singapore Day One

Friday, November 21st, 2008. After a full day of flying – from Chiang Mai to Bangkok to Singapore – all Sara and I wanted to do was grab a meal and crash. Like most couples, finding a dining option that is mutually acceptable is as much a negotiation as an art form. For example, here’s a common pitfall:

Jason: “What sounds good for dinner?”
Sara: “I don’t know, anything I guess.”

Now only a fool would interpret Sara’s response to mean that “anything” is acceptable. “Anything” is most certainly NOT acceptable – the actual meaning (a translation, if you will) is “I’m hungry, but not hungry enough to know exactly what I would like and I am open to suggestion. Still, I have some strong opinions about what I will and will not eat.”

Being that I’m an experienced dinner negotiator, I’ve learned to respond to Sara’s statement with “Well, what doesn’t sound good?” Then, using a process of elimination, we arrive at a cuisine that’s mutually acceptable (albeit not exactly what either wanted). Such is life.

HOWEVER, while visiting Singapore, we’ve discovered a way to both get exactly what we want without compromise. The solution, known as a “hawker center,” is a large food court that offers at least 12 dozen types of food at ridiculous prices.

Sure – I know what you’re saying: “Jason, I’ve been to a food court before.” Well maybe so, but you’ve never seen this kind of variety of quality, fresh-cooked food. I’ve been to food courts too, and between the Sbarro and McDonalds and the Pei Wei I usually find in a U.S. food court I’m rarely enthused. Most of that food is already cooked, fatty, and bland. Not so at your average Singapore hawker center. The ingredients are prepared as you wait.

These food courts are called “hawker” centers because food vendors call out to you as you walk by their counters, shouting out their best meal offering to you in the hope that you’ll acknowledge them. You must take care when responding to these unsolicited offers – even the slightest acknowledgment is considered a commitment. Instantly, this “commitment” results in a flurry of activity. When you correct the hawker and tell them that you’re not interested, they feign confusion while wearing a very sad look on their face.

This has nothing to do with this post, but isn’t this a cool-looking building? It was a block away from our hotel.

For the un-initiated Asian traveler, this display will often cause a flood of guilt followed by a purchase of food you didn’t really want. Once you come to learn this is nothing more than a scam – a ploy to get tourists to buy food they didn’t order – you can begin to appreciate this highly developed sales technique.

Still, don’t let my comments give hawker centers a bad name. If you want to find a wide variety of quality food like you would find in a restaurant, for obscenely low prices (nothing was more than $5), a hawker center is the way to go in Singapore. Just watch out for the hawkers…