Coffeeshop culture

Ask any Singaporean what the favorite national pastime is and food is never far from our minds. Singapore, being a cosmopolitan city, is blessed with a wide variety of cuisines, from Indian to Chinese, Japanese and Western, our palate is one spoilt for choice.

Travellers to Singapore would agree that food can easily be found in every corner of the tiny island for indeed even in every residential estate, there is at least one food centre. Food centres, or also known as hawker centres, food courts or coffeeshops are more than your typical restaurants and are more like a conglomerate of different food stalls housed under the same roof.

In fact my yesterday can be described as a food day. Lunch was from a Japanese fast food chain MOS Burger, followed by mid-afternoon snack of Rojak (turnips and other vegetables tossed in a nutty dark sauce), then dinner consisting of Chinese Roasted Pork Rice with Indian Prawn Vadai (prawn fritter), and finally ending it off with supper of Italian Gelato (frozen desert made of water, milk and flavorings).

Some people hunt for good food in lavish restaurants but not all the best cuisines are found there, for even the humble coffeeshops can bring great culinary delights. I am one such person who enjoys the coffeeshop culture. It was yesterday that my mother and I had dined al fresco in a coffeeshop not far from my home, munching away happily at the deliciously sweet Rojak and washing it down with a nice cup of hot tea.

I guess I just love the simple pleasures of life.