LittleSuperHero

exaggerating: of course. grimy: compared to les amis, st pierre and other "fine dining places". yes i was exagerating... But cos earlier posts centred almost entirely around the food served at pricier restaurants - my point really is just that you can find good food else where too ... at places where you've got to be prepared to perspire a fair bit, bring your own tissue paper to wipe your mouth, and sit at tables that haven't been cleaned very well. but i'm sure you get my drift.

If it helps, you would say : "I am a teochew person" by saying: "wo xi dio chu nang" if you spoke teochew "wo shi chao zhou ren" if you spoke mandarin although the written language is the same, you'd be surprised at how different the dialects sound. i can still understand hokkien , which is very similar to teochew. but cantonese is almost like another foreign language to me. what i also find interesting is that Singaporeans and Malaysians speak mandarin with SLIGHTLY different accents, even though the countries are just next to each other. (and both are very small) Singaporeans and Malaysians can tell each other apart, just by the way they speak mandarin. YES. All Chinese children learn Mandarin in school here. (If you are not Chinese you learn another second language). Simplified Chinese characters are used here. wrt to someone else's question: Simplified chinese characters are more widely used in: China Singapore Traditional chinese characters : in HK Taiwan I think Malaysia uses a mixture

That flavor could very well be from dark sesame oil. I will have to sample it again. I don't think the flavour is from sesame oil - i think jo-mel is right - the smoky flavour comes about due to the "flambe" effect. Re Chow Mein The funny thing is that food outlets in Asia dont really have "chow mein" on their menu. I also confess that i have no idea what chop suey is. (what is it? what goes into it?)

automatic orange juicer. too much hassle to clean cos all the pulp gets stuck in the grate. ultimately easier to just pop down to the shops and get one big cup for $1.50 my salad spinner ranks a close second.

London has pretty decent Chinese food too! you shouldn't miss it !! you might want to check out: Four Seasons for its roast duck (yum yum) Royal China for its dim sum (no bookings, just go on sunday, call to find out what time they open and get there half an hour before hand) Mandarin Kitchen for its Lobster Noodles. (divine) All are located in Bayswater. All are maybe cheap to mid-range kind of pricing. Patisserie Valerie - there are a few branches but the Soho one is the original and famousest one. 44 Old Compton Street. I enjoyed going to SeaShells at Lisbon Grove for fish & chips but it's been a while since and I don't know how good it is now.

Totally agree. Some of the Greatest Dining Experiences i've had so far over here tend to be in little shops tucked away at some grimy Arab St backlane or some awfully wet and stinky hawker centre (Old Airport Road). western fine dining in singapore tends to be rather disappointing and not really really worth the $$. today, i have a craving for Yong Tau Foo.