Singapore, hot steamy and yet still relatively exotic despite a short 5 hour flight from Perth (It’s relative, trust me) February is a nice time to visit as there is less rain and therefore less humidity to drain the life out of you, even if you like that sort of weather. This time, the Swissotel Merchant Court was base for a week. It’s very handy for the MRT and there are plenty of good places to eat along the quay. Also, if you fancy a walk, Boat quay is not that far around the bend in the river… you can always take a “Bumboat” if you feel like traversing the river that way instead.

There are many places to eat in Singapore, you can find anything from Asian to European to Australian to even an American “Hooters”, which incidentally, is staffed by some very pretty but tiny Singaporean Chinese. The look is not quite what you would expect from that particular chain.

Street fountain, one row back from the waterfront, Clarke Quay.

Now some of you already know that I am rather fond of frog legs. The Asian variety in preference to the French version, as they are about 4 times bigger and therefore juicier and much more like eating chicken legs if you are a little squeamish at the thought. Fortunately I am not so, so, when I hear “aww, you wan gingers flog? Best here.” I practically swoon. I tried eating my way through my weight in them this trip. I’m known for wanting to get off the beaten path and find the best places where the locals eat and indeed did find some spectacular dishes for some ridiculously cheap prices.

Ginger and spring onion frog legs, Chinatown.

There were two great little places in china town that both ran a close second, but oddly enough, the best place in town was in a little touristy restaurant at the junction of Boat and Clarke quays. Go figure.

Stir fried Lotus Root.

We took an order of Lotus root, stir fried with chilli and garlic, that had a fabulous crunch to it that went well with the meaty frog and the eel dish that my partner in crime preferred to the constant barrage of my amphibian cravings.

Eel in oyster sauce with spring onions.

The lot went down well with copious quantities of Tiger Beer whose slight bitterness was a great foil for the almost sweet and succulent meat.

Now to snails… and Shanghai…

Snails in black bean sauce.

There is a large food hall in the old section of the walled city in Shanghai that sells the most amazing array of chinese food I think I have ever seen. This place does not remotely serve anything resembling western food. No one speaks english and it seems that pointing is a reasonable way of getting what you want. Being able to say XieXie (Thank you) helps, it makes them smile.

These snails were rich and tender until you hit the cache of baby snails hidden within the shell. I’m not sure I liked the texture though the taste was fantastic. Trying to remove the snails from the shell was interesting with chopsticks until a local pointed out via descriptive sign language, that the toothpicks supplied on the tables was the implement of choice.

Puppy dog tales…

No, I did not eat them. The Chinese like them as pets too it would seem. At least in the centre of Shanghai they did…