The Singapore Food Festival at Ellenborough is a walk down the memory lane. “Relive the delectable charms of Ellenborough Market in its heyday during the 1800s – 1960s. Indulge in authentic food offerings such as Teochew meatballs, prawn rolls, and chive dumplings, while enjoying nostalgic Teochew Opera performances.” I heard the Teochew Opera from my hotel room and ate the soup dumplings, 小籠包. The Teochew opera is a variant of the Chinese opera that I grew up with. This experience rivals the Taiwanese night markets.
This is the carrot cake without the carrot.
Looking serious and very spicy.
Clams and abalones on the shell
Meat on the skewers
Suckling pigs
Otah- Per Wiki “Otak means “brains” in Indonesian and Malay, and the name of the dish is derived from the idea that the dish somewhat resembles brains, being whitish grey, soft and almost squishy.” Grilled in banana leaves and served with coconut sauce.
Soup dumplings小籠包。unfortunately, it was not good. The pastry was too thick. The filling was skimpy. The pork was tasteless. It wasn’t even soupy. I was very disappointed that this was what I spent my calories on.
Churros with favors I have never seen before…Banana Nutella and Ondeh Ondeh. “Onde-Onde is one of the traditional kuih in Malaysia (kuih is term for Malaysian cakes). They are either made from sweet potato or glutinous rice flour. The cute little onde-onde–also spelled as ondeh-obdeh–are infused with pandan (screwpine leaf) juice and filled with “Gula Melaka” or palm sugar and then rolled in with some fresh grated coconut.”
Durian creme brûlée – offered to me to try and I did.
The evidence that I did try. I think I can say I am not afraid of doing new things but would rather never eat durian again. Click here for my durian ice cream experience.
Fish balls with curry.
Had this in the Taiwanese night market. It was yummy. Forgot the name though.
Curry. 
Soup dumplings.
Shumai.
Fried and sweet soft shell crabs
The experience was vivid, lively, pungent, and friendly. This is very much the Asia I know. I am enthused to learn a lot more about the Malay and Timor influences in Singapore. My friend told me the Singapore population is made up of approximately 70% ethnic Chinese with the rest by Malay, Indian and a tiny percentage of Eurasian. The languages in the MRTs are English, Simplified Chinese, Malay and Timor.
I can see, smell and hear the impact the cultures had on Singapore. What a world I live in.
Peilin Corbanese 