Eathai Food at Central Embassy in Bangkok

I always enjoy eating Thai food because I like their use of fresh ingredients as well as strong natural flavours and aromas from herbs and spices. I also like it that Thai food has many interesting textures and colours, not to mention that it is also rich in vitamins ;-D



Unfortunately, my visits to Thailand are never long enough to enjoy all the food that I like to try. There is so much to eat, buy, do or just gawk see in Thailand. Also, there are many regional variations in Thai food as Thailand is a large country with many provinces. It's simply impossible to truly appreciate the diversity, breath and depth of Thai cuisine in a short visit.

Review Ah Boy Chicken Rice @ V6 Food Court near Yew Tee MRT Singapore

Ah Boy Chicken Rice Stall (at V6 Food Court) | Blk 678A, Choa Chu Kang Crescent, Singapore 🚅 10 minute walk from Yew Tee station ⏰ 9:30 am to 8:30 pm (Closed on Thurs)

✍ 3 May 2025. Came back to Ah Boy Chicken Rice near Yew Tee MRT station. Have not been here for a long time. Yew Tee has changed quite a lot with much improved amenities while Ah Boy Chicken Rice hasn't changed much - yeah, that's perfect. Life improved while the things we love remains unchanged 🙏

Old National Library Nam Seng Wanton Mee Noodles in Singapore 南生云吞面

I still remember this counter at the entrance of National Library

✍ Update 7 Feb 2024. Mdm Leong Yuet Meng founder of "National Library wantan mee" passed on on 6 Feb 2024.

Rest in Peace, thank you and always in our memories.

✍ 5 Dec 2020. Founded in 1962 at the National Library at Stamford Road, Nam Seng Noodle House called it a day in Nov 2020 after 58 years. Owner Mdm Leong Yuet Meng was still full of feist and zest at age 91 but the drastic drop in business since Apr 2020 due to social distancing requirements to stem the spread of Covid-19 virus meant Singapore's oldest wanton mee stall was no longer sustainable.

We will miss Mdm Leong and her infectious cheerfulness. We wish her the best of health and lots of wonderful times with her family and great grandchildren in her well deserved retirement.

A BIG thank you! for the wonderful memories.

Mdm Leong is not ready to quit! She is now looking for a new location for her business. We wish Mdm Leong the best in her endeavours.

✍ 23 Feb 2015. When I was at Club Meatballs along China Street last month, I noticed Nam Seng Wanton Mee 南生云吞面 directly opposite across the road. It's like bumping into a long lost friend and I immediately made a date for a reunion.

Today, I paid my old friend a visit. As I walked towards Nam Seng in great anticipation, I tried to recall what my old friend was like. Frankly, I couldn't remember exactly much. The only thing that stuck was the good feelings that I had when I was with this old friend. Then, my thoughts turned to, how is my friend today?

Needless to say, the circumstances are completely different now. (Image of National Library in 1967 courtesy of NAS. This was the time my dad started taking me to the library.)

Credit: Source of photo is unknown

When we first meet, Nam Seng was a corner wanton mee stall at the small, dingy "food centre" under the cooling shade of a big tree just beside our National Library at Stamford Road. It was there since 1958, before I was born.

I remember beside Nam Seng wanton mee was a drinks stall with lots of bumble bees buzzing around it. Does anyone here remember this and the other stalls at the old National Library hawker centre?

Today, Nam Seng is in a prettily dressed up pre-war shop lot under the shadow of glass towers in Singapore's Central Business District.


Nam Seng Wanton Mee SGD5

I couldn't really recognise this old friend of mine, when we reunited. My memory of things is bad, really. The last time we met was in the mid 1990s when I brought my kids there; that's at least 30 years ago. At that time, we just slurped and ate. Thankfully we didn't have the modern bad habit of analysing or photographing our food and posting on social media before we ate.



The egg noodles were quite thick and heavy. It had a slight crunch but the type that lacked spring. My memory is bad (so don't take my word for it) but my impression was that Nam Seng's noodles of old were the lively, well oiled, slender, angel hair type.



The sauce was mainly soy, oil and chili plus others I don't know. There wasn't much of it and it crossed my mind to splash in some of the soup to moisten things up a little. I refrained as I wanted to taste the noodles as it was.

The chili seemed familiar, slightly tart and quite spicy; it's like a distinct birth mark I remember of my old friend. Mixed together, it was a blend of salty, sweet, tart and spicy. It lacked the aroma of lard and sesame oil.



The char siew looked like it had been sliced and left around for a bit of time. It's almost all lean meat. Quite dry and quite bland except for the sweet tasting marinade.



The soup had a slight anchovy flavour and was quite sweet, maybe sugary.



The wantons were stuffed with minced pork which was a blend of fat and meat. The wantons had the traditional sesame oil flavour which I liked. The wanton skin was thick though.

After my meal, I struck up polite conversation with a gentleman helping to run the shop. He told me that the lady boss is still at the shop.



I was thrilled and in awe to meet Mdm Leong, the grande madame of Singapore food heritage. (Mdm Leong prefers me to address her as Ah Po 啊婆, the respectful way to address a senior lady in Cantonese.)

Ah Po was friendly, sharp and alert. She had a charming, impish, cherubic smile. We chatted a while and Ah Po graciously offered me a drink. Of course, Ah Po don't know me personally. She laughed heartily when I joked that that is because she is famous and I am not 😂

But Ah Po remembered vividly the little school children from all around the Stamford Road area and the National Library, buzzing like bumble bees around her busy stall. Sometimes, when a child comes to the stall with insufficient or no pocket money, Ah Po will just let the boy or girl eat without paying. To Ah Po, I am just one of those children who later brought our own children to eat at her well loved stall. To this day, Ah Po still remembers us kids and our kids fondly. We are all, in a way, her kids too.

In the 2004, the little food centre where Ah Po's wanton mee stall was at was demolished along with the National Library to make way for a road. Ah Po moved her stall to a few places including to Joo Chiat and also stopped work for a while, before finally settling down here at China Street at the invitation of the developers of Far East Square.

Ah Po's three sons are all grown up and she has grand children, and great grandchildren. Ah Po said she enjoys the routine and life of selling wanton mee, and it was obvious that she did. Wanton Mee is her life and she is full of zest for life!



As today is the 5th day of Chinese New Year, I wished Ah Po Happy New Year and she in turn wished me and all her fans happiness, prosperity and good health.

To say Nam Seng has a special place in our hearts is not a hollow cliche. Many Singaporeans had their first dates here. We don't know how many hearts melted or were given away over a plate of Nam Seng wanton mee under the shady big tree at the hawker centre - there must have been more than quite a few.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you Madam Leong for all that you have done for us.

If you had been looking for Nam Seng wanton mee and wishes to say hello to Ah Po, you know where to find her.

Restaurant name: Nam Seng Wanton Mee 南生云吞面
Address: 25 China Street, #01-01 Far East Square, Singapore
Tel: +65 6438 5669
Hours: Mon-Fri: 8:00 am-8:00 pm | Sat: 8:00 am-3:00 pm (Closed on Sunday)

Non Halal

Date visited: 23 Feb 2015

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Atmosphere Bistro Bar at Parkland Green, East Coast Park, Singapore

Opened only in Oct 2014, Atmosphere Bistro Bar at East Coast Park is already packing in the crowds, especially on weekends. If you like a seaward facing, breezy al fresco table, do call ahead to reserve a table as otherwise you will likely be assigned indoor seating. Atmosphere's tel: +65 6440 9705.



Atmosphere is a sports bar.

There were widescreen TVs at many points around the bistro and a large screen in the middle. Atmosphere will be an excellent place to watch your favourite teams while enjoying your drinks and the sea breeze.

The food we had was competent and reasonably priced. The bar had an extensive drinks menu which were also competitively priced.



Ordering was via an iPad menu, which was quite user friendly. The food came quite quickly once we confirmed our orders, though one dish did come a lot later than the rest. Overall, an efficient, easy to use system.



Caesar's Salad SGD6.80++.

The powdery grated cheese was very salty and the dressing was sourish. The salad wasn't appetising.



Atmosphere's Rib Eye Steak SGD25.80++



I asked for my rib eye to be done medium rare. The steak came nicely pink and moist but there was not much flavour and it was quite chewy. The watery brown sauce wasn't of much help either. (The bluish hue is due to the blue tint lighting in the bistro.)



Lamb Rack SGD20.80++



Looked nicely pink and juicy but the lamb didn't have much flavour and was a little chewy.



Miso Salmon SGD18.80++

I didn't taste this dish.



Scallop Baked Rice SGD16.80++

The rice buried under the blanket of salty melted cheese was soft and soggy. The scallops were not fresh.



Blue Lagoon cocktail SGD13.00++. 

We also had a bucket of 5 beers in bottles at SGD33++ (generic imported brand, so no pic ;-p ).



I like the happening atmosphere at Atmosphere and can see myself coming here to catch major sports events. I'll stick to drinks and some finger food to go with it, for the time being.



Atmosphere Bistro Bar is located right opposite Parkway Parade shopping centre across the East Coast Parkway. There are ample parking spaces available.



Atmosphere is within the Parkland Green cluster of restaurants in East Coast Park.



The view of Atmosphere Bistro Bar from the car park.

Restaurant name: Atmosphere Bistro Bar
Address: 920 East Coast Parkway, #01-25/26/27, Singapore
Map: http://bit.ly/AtmosphereBistro
Hours: Mon – Thu: 6 pm – 12 midnight | Fri: 6pm – 1am | Sat & Sun: 10:30 am – 1:00 am
Tel: +65 6440 9705

Non Halal

Date visited: 22 Feb 2015

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Review Haji Shariff’s Cendol in Seremban, Malaysia ● Chendol & Pasembur

Bobby from Thistle Resort in Port Dickson suggested that I must try Haji Shariff’s cendol and pasembur (also known as Indian rojak) in Seremban. It's safe to say that everyone in Seremban knows Haji Shariff's Cendol which had been around since the 1930s, from two baskets to today's large corner shop. It's a Seremban landmark now. Founder Abdullah Mohamed Ibrahim came to Malaya from India and learnt how to make cendol from Javanese at Lorong Jawa.



Locating Haji Shariff's Cendol shop is easy.

Haji Shariff's Cendol is a large, green painted corner shop. You will not miss it, once you are on Jalan Yam Tuan (it's at the junction with Jalan Nunis).



Inside Haji Shariff's Cendol, it was bright and very clean. Green is the theme from the outside walls, wall tiles, flooring, furniture, the staff's shirt and apron, to the cendol "worms or noodles" itself. The spacious restaurant was well shielded from the scorching sun and was airy and breezy. People of all communities are here - Haji Shariff's Cendol obviously enjoy lots of community love.



We first ordered a freshly made cendol, Haji Shariff's claim to fame.



I like Haji Shariff's cendol (RM2 per bowl in 2015) because it has interesting layers of sweetness from the green pandan worms (rice noodles), sweet corn, glutinous rice, boiled red beans, gula Melaka (coconut palm sugar) and fresh coconut milk. The sweetness was mild and balanced with a slight salty note, so it was not cloying at all. 

Six layers of sweetness all blended together in one delicious bowl 😋 The chendol had interesting textures too with a mix of syrupy smooth, mushy, sticky and gently crunchy.

The fresh coconut milk gave off a nice sweet fragrance too.

Wow.

I like it that the pandan "worms" are made with real pandan leaves, not the starch and pandan essence type with "translucent glow worms" 🤭

Cendol is served with shaved ice, so it's the best answer to the stifling tropical heat of Malaysia and Singapore. (The thick aluminium bowl that kept the chendol cool was pretty cool looking itself too 😝  )

Cendol is one of the many food gifts which Indonesians brought to Malaysia and Singapore when they migrated here in numbers in the 1800s.

Another old cendol stall that traces it's origins to the Javanese is Kluang Cendol Kader 👈 click

Here in Singapore, our oldest cendol stall Geylang Serai Cendol also attributes their cendol to the Javanese 👈 click

Next, we tried Haji Shariff's pasembur RM3.50 (also known as Indian rojak in Seremban).



Pasembur is a salad of shredded fresh cucumber, turnip, bean sprouts, potatoes, prawn fritters and fried bean curd (with a hard boiled egg thrown in).



The ingredients are doused with a splash of thick, fiery looking, sweet and spicy peanutty sauce with some sesame seeds.



All the ingredients are made fresh here at the Haji Shariff’s.



I like the interesting mix of textures from crispy to crunchy to spongy soft. The shredded vegetables were juicy and crunchy. The fiery looking gravy was just mildly spicy as it was well balanced with sweetness and nuttiness.



We liked the food at Haji Shariff's so much that we had double orders for everything.

That says a lot actually, because when we are out on food hunts far from home, we don't normally repeat our orders in any single sitting. Time and stomach space are limited. Repeat orders meant that we are sacrificing stomach space reserved for the day's other possible new discoveries.



Of course, we also had the mandatory teh tarik (pulled milk tea) to wash everything down.



Haji Shariff's also serves Indian mee rojak which I shall try at my next visit.



If you are visiting Seremban, don't leave town without trying Haji Shariff’s Cendol.

Restaurant name: Haji Shariff’s Cendol
Address: Haji Shariff’s Cendol No. 44, Jalan Yam Tuan, Seremban, Malaysia
Hours: Mon - Thu: 11:00 am - 6:30 pm | Sat - Sun: 11:00 am - 6:30 pm (Closed on Friday)

Halal

Written by Tony Boey on 28 May 2014 | Updated: 1 Mar 2023

Washington Square Park NYC - New York City on Sunday

Washington Square Park is a small park at the centre of Manhattan's Greenwich Village. It surprised me that New York City has nearly 2,000 of such small, neighbourhood parks across the Big Apple. These little parks provide NYC's residents with idyllic oases to relax in the concrete jungle that New York City is. I found that neighbourhood parks are good places to meet and mingle with New Yorkers.

(Before coming to NYC, the only park that I heard about is the giant Central Park which is full of tourists. Central Park in Manhattan, New York City's green lung, is nearly 3 times the size of Bukit Timah Nature Reserve in Singapore.)



Residents come to Washington Square Park to be inspired, to create. Illustrious literary legends like Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain, once walked this park. For artistes that come here today, the spirits of literary giants that once haunted the park still inspire. My mind relived the poetry of Robert Louis Stevenson and the novels of Mark Twain, which I read during my school days.



Everyday, people sing and dance spontaneously to the music of buskers.




Rock and Roll legend, and one of my loved singers, Buddy Holly also used to play and mingle here at the park as he lived nearby. (Sadly, Buddy Holly's career was cut short by a plane crash, less than 2 years after it was launched.)



Children catch rainbows with nets of soap bubbles that blow in the wind. (The Empire State building looms in the background behind the Washington Arch.)



Others, picnic or just roll and tumble in a pile on the lush greenery, shrieking with joy and laughter. Watching these children made me wished that I am a child again.



Best friends spend blissful, quiet, quality time together here.



Washington Square Park is bordered on all sides by modern and heritage buildings, most belonging to New York University (NYU). NYU students add youthful energy to the buzz in this quiet nook of Manhattan.

The 10-acre Washington Square Park was once marshland and tobacco field of American Indians before it was occupied by Dutch settlers in the 17th Century. The Dutch later allowed Black slaves to settle on it and it became known as "The Land of the Blacks". The land was later bought over by the City which used it as a graveyard for unknown persons whose bodies no one claimed. The remains of 20,000 people still laid under the green lawns and grey pavements of Washington Square Park. The land was also used for deadly duels to settle private scores and for public executions.



Park users may not suspect that hangmen once conducted public hangings from this giant elm tree, known as Hangman's Elm. The twisted, outstretched, flaying branches looming high in the sky gave me goose pimples.


Photo credit: New York Public Library

The land then became a military parade ground. In 1849, work began to turn the area into a public park.



The imposing Washington Square Arch stood at the park's northern entrance. 



Completed in 1892, made of marble, the Washington Square Arch was built to commemorate 100 years of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States of America.



The Washington Square Arch was modelled after the larger and older, majestic Arc de Triomphe of Paris.


Photo credit: NYC Parks Department

The large fountain built in 1852 in the middle of the park used to double up as a public swimming pool, up till the 1950s.

Cars used to drive under the Washington Square Arch and around the fountain in a traffic circle, until the park was closed to all vehicular traffic in 1971.



The fountain is no longer filled with water. Nowadays, it serves as an amphitheatre.



There is a popular mobile food stand serving doss (thosai) at the southern entrance to the park. This is the only food stand at Washington Square Park.



This tiny food stand is run by Mr. Thiru who is originally from Sri Lanka. Mr. Thiru serves vegan dosa - a kind of crispy crepe from the Indian sub-Continent which is made with rice and lentil. 



Mr. Thiru makes many kinds of dosa, all vegan, fresh at the stand on a flat griddle. The crispy crepe is folded over shredded fresh vegetables and curried potatoes, making a delicious healthful meal. Crispy, crunchy, mushy, sweet and spicy, I liked this Pondicherry Dosa, Mr. Thiru's specialty.



Mr. Thiru's story is the classic tale of the immigrant's American Dream come true. Mr. Thiru brought his family to New York City from Sri Lanka in the 1990s. Today, Mr. Thiru runs his internationally acclaimed dosa stall - newspaper cuttings in English, Chinese and Japanese adorned his humble food cart. 

With eyes twinkling, Mr. Thiru proudly told me that his daughter is studying in Ivy League Columbia University in NYC. As a father with a daughter in university too, I can appreciate a fellow father's pride.



Me enjoying Mr. Thiru's dosa like a local, on a park bench. I didn't know that I was joined by other locals.



Curious park residents came out to see what the visitors were doing.



Washington Square Park is a stone's throw to the west from Broadway Avenue between West 4th and 6th Street. The park is a tranquil oasis to cool your heels from all the day's hectic shopping. Clean, well maintained public toilets are available too. The park is easily accessible from West 4th Street subway station (5 minutes walk) and 8th Street NYU station (10 minutes walk).



A short 10 minutes walk heading north from Washington Square Park takes you to the Flatiron District and Union Square Park, another popular place to shop, eat and relax. Many people enjoy al fresco dining under the iconic Flatiron Building, whenever the weather allows. I took this picture on a Winter day in December 2014 when the weather unexpectedly warmed up briefly.



If you are game to stretch your heels a little further, continue walking for another 10 minutes heading north will take you to the famed Empire State Building.



We went up to the Empire State Building's viewing deck during our first visit in 1989, though we did not go up this time ;-D

If you are visiting New York City, a visit to Central Park is of course, a Must. But, the smaller neighbourhood parks like Washington Square Park should not be missed if you want to enjoy a taste of New York City like a local.

Map: http://bit.ly/NYDosas

Date visited: Jan 2015

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