Life is a Bowl of Noodles !

Yum yum ......

The curtain fell on my favourite kway teow dry at Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 at the end of January 2012. Two  weeks after the fateful day, we searched and sampled possible replacements for this void in our lives. You see, I am at a stage in life where calories cannot afford to be wasted :)
We tried fishball noodle and fried bee hoon at this food court but it does not bring the same sense of satisfaction. The yearn for a really good bowl of noodles is so strong that my wife and I have decided that we will no longer have breakfast at this Ang Mo Kio food court. Instead, we will proceed to another food court nearby (Jalan Leban Food Court) after our weekly marketing for the best (IMHO) fish ball noodle in Singapore.
This stall has fed 3 generations of my family :) It started out (probably in the 1960's) as a street hawker stall perched over a drain with wooden planks as a floor. Sometime in the early 70's, as the government relocated what they deemed "unhygienic" street hawker stalls to food courts, this stall moved to its present location at Jalan Leban and has been there ever since. The uncle who ran the stall retired last year and his children now run the stall. Just as he has seen me evolve (sideways), we have seen his children and grandchildren grow up as well. He is at his stall at 4:00 am every morning to start boiling the stock for his soup from scratch. By 6:30 am, when the stall is ready for business, the soup is tasty and flavourful. Truly to die for. He also prepares his special chilli for the dry noodles. Such dedication is admirable. It is all about quality and putting calories to good use.
It is more than a worthy replacement for the one we miss at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4. With this arrangement, and all is well with the world once again :)

ahhh......shiok !

End of an Era

Every Saturday morning for the last 12 years, I have my breakfast at a noodle stall in Ang Mo Kio. My order is "Kway teow dry with extra vinegar" :) Yum yum. Each Friday evening, I drift off to dreamland in anticipation of the delicious kway teow dry breakfast. Yum yum....again.

The lady who runs the stall is about sixty years old (I think) and she retires this week to look after her grandchild. I am happy that she has prioritised her life to do the thing that brings her fulfilment. I am sure it was not an easy choice for her (she has quite a big following at her stall).

This has created a mini crisis of sorts for me. I really do not know what I will replace my kway teow dry breakfast. You see, I only eat at her stall and while there are other food stalls at the food centre, I know it will not fill the void.

I am reminded of another mini crisis when my hairdresser gave up her shop because of escalating rental. Although she is operating her business from another location, it is too far away for me to make the trip. She was more than a hairdresser. She was part of the gel (pun intended :P) in the community. While she cut my hair, she also updated me of the latest happenings in the neighbourhood. Once, she even told me about my brother's shopping habits ! Yes, she was that connected.

After agonising for about a month, my hair was badly in need of a trim. Reality eventually set in and one day, when I looked at my hair in the mirror, I realised that there really wasn't that much left and it was not like I would style my hair differently each time I had a haircut. I decided to try out one of those $10 haircuts. The ones where you stick $10 into a vending machine and it would dispense a card. You then took your seat with your queue number printed on the chair! The equipment (scissors) is kept in a sterilising unit, much like a dentist. The haircut was quick (10 minutes) and they used a vacuum to suck up the bits of hair on your head, around your ears. Oh, they even offer to give you the comb they used to cut your hair. It is a far cry from the barber shop of old where half the floor is covered with hair - black hair, brown hair, white hair, grey hair, straight hair curly hair. To add to the ambience, there was a whiff of rose hair oil in the air. The $10 haircut is best described as sterile and there is hardly any talking. It is coldly efficient but gets the job done.

Back to the noodle stall, I now have to push the envelop and venture out of my comfort zone to find a replacement for the kway teow dry. Will I find it? Will I enjoy it? Will I accept a replacement? Stay tuned for the next episode of  "Life is not a bowl of kway teow dry with extra vinegar" :P

Have you encountered a simialr situation where something seemingly mundane throws you off keel?