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 the various 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. |