GEYLANG
Geylang
(pronounced "Gay Lung") is synonymous with glorious food and
the red light district. The lorongs ("streets" in Malay) in
Geylang are numbered 1 to 42 eastward, with the red light district in
the teens and great food places found all over.
To
get there, alight at Aljunied MRT Station and follow the map.
SIMS
AVENUE & LORONG 17 - DESSERTS AND MORE SAVOURIES
Time
for something sweet after all that fiery, savoury soup. Walk down Sims
Avenue in the direction of Lorong 19. At No.
158 Sims Avenue, sandwiched between Lorong 21 and Lorong
19, is Rochor Beancurd. Smooth, white curds
made from soya beans are served in a bowl with syrup. It's a popular dish
for breakfast and as a dessert. Eat it cold or hot. Rochor Beancurd is
open from noon to midnight. Although the beancurd here is good, there's
a more popular one along Geylang Road which I will come to a few paragraphs
down.
Along
Lorong 17 is a stall called "Famous
Mian Jian Kueh" in a coffeeshop. They sell another interesting
local dessert called ondeh ondeh, round balls
stuffed with gula melaka ("brown sugar" in Malay). They close
when they're sold out, usually at about 8.00 p.m.
Along
Sims Avenue, between Lorong 17 and Lorong
15 is a very popular 24-hour dim-sum stall
at No. 126. Try thevarious types of dim-sum
and also the century egg congee (pronounced in Cantonese as "pei
dan zok") here. Don't be afraid, the preserved egg is not really
a 100 years old!
Further
down Sims Avenue, you'll see a whole row of roadside
fruit stalls selling King of Fruits - durians,
mangosteens, and all kinds of colourful, local fruits. The fruit stalls
are interesting to visit. As a local, I just can't get enough of the rich,
creamy, bitter-sweet lumps, but most foreigners find the taste of durians
repulsive. Sometimes I wonder if foreigners dislike durians because the
ones they try are of poor quality. Only good quality durians taste good,
and choosing a good quality durian is a skill which even the locals have
difficulty picking up. I notice that mangosteens (sweet, white flesh)
are very well-liked by foreigners though. Be careful of the purplish red
stains which come off the fruit when you eat it though. It's hard to wash
off if it gets on your clothes!
If
you can't bring yourself to buy and try an entire spiky green 'melon',
then try a durian "chee cheong fun"
(a smooth, white skin made from rice flour which is usually stuffed with
shrimps or chicken and eaten with soya sauce) instead at Jia
Ping Porridge House. This is indeed a very unusual dessert, with
durian puree stuffed in rice flour skin, then coated with a layer of peanuts.
The porridge house is tucked amongst the row of fruit stalls and is located
at No. 81 Sims Avenue (opposite Lorong 11).
It is open till 4.00 a.m. and the porridge house also serves a whole array
of delectable savouries like chee cheong fun stuffed with you char kway
(crispy dough fritters), fresh raw fish, and wanton noodles.
LORONG
9 & GEYLANG ROAD
After
your pit-stop at Jia Ping Porride House, cross Sims Avenue and walk down
Lorong 9. At the other end, Lorong 9 will
meet Geylang Road. At that junction, there are 2 coffeeshops. The one
on your left has a stall called Geylang Famous Beef
Kway Teow (fried Chinese, flat, rice noodles served with tender
slices of beef in black bean sauce), whilst the one of your right has
a stall selling frog's leg porridge. If you
intend to order something from both coffee shops, you can sit on either
side of the road. The hawkers will cross the road to serve you the food.
Just let them know where you're seated.
After
you've had your fill, walk down Geylang Road
in the direction of Lorong 11. Wedged between Lorong 9 and Lorong 11 is
a coffeeshop called Yong He Eating House.
This 24-hour coffeeshop too serves soya beancurd, and it is definitely
more popular than Rochor Beancurd. Order yourself a bowl of soya beancurd
in sweet syrup and some you char kway (crispy dough fritters) to go along.
RED
LIGHT DISTRICT
Work
off that bloat by taking a tour of the red light district. Cross Geylang
Road and you'll find that the red light district is the entire area which
starts from about Lorong 8 and ends at about Lorong
24.
The
red light district is nothing like that in Amsterdam, where the girls
sit behind glass windows at street level in plain view of all pedestrians.
Here, the girls are housed in brothels, which are terrace houses with
large numbers and sometimes with red lanterns hanging outside. Unless
you walk into one of the brothels, you're likely to see only hundreds
of men lurking around waiting for something. There may be a few girls
walking back to the brothels after being dropped off by their clients
though, and I did see quite a few Indian and Thai prostitutes along
Lorong 15.
GEYLANG
ROAD - BLACK PEPPER CRAB
After
your walking tour of the red light district, it should be time for supper.
At 414 Geylang Road, close to Lorong 24,
is the famous No Signboard Seafood Restaurant.
The restaurant is open from 3.00 p.m. to 2.00 a.m., and they're well-known
for their black pepper crab. The restaurant is next to Lai Ming Hotel.
Aljunied
MRT Station is just down Lorong 25, across Sims Avenue and then up Aljunied
Road. If you cannot get to the MRT Station by 11.30 p.m., you will have
to catch a cab back instead. |