Day Three: Atticus Got the Crabs in Singapore

Tonight, we meet up with Robby's colleague and head to Chinatown. We stumble upon a busy pedestrian alleyway filled with restaurants on one side & food stalls on the other, with tables on the street. Finally, some food outside of the business district!

We start with a snack of satay (chicken, pork, & mutton). They are 60 and 70 cents apiece & they are very small - only two pieces of meat on each skewer. Skimpy, if you ask me. The peanut sauce is delicious, a dark brown sauce with peanut chunks...not at all like the smooth peanut butter consistency we get in the states. I could be very happy just pouring it over rice & gobbling it up.

Then we find another stall with black pepper crab for $19 a piece. We hear that the black pepper crab is better than Singapore's famous chili crab. We order a plate of two, along with a plate of ong greens (sauteed with lots of garlic & a jalapeno), grilled shrimp (with big heads & little but fleshy bodies), a fried egg pancake with onions, & a version of what we in America call Singaporean noodles, stir fried, thin egg noodles with little shrimp, scallions, onions, & a curry flavor. All of it is DELICIOUS.

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I have difficulty with the crab, which is not fun at all to eat. None of these restaurants provide napkins, so our hands are sticky & smelly. Sometimes, I doubt that the adventure eating any crab is worth all the work. But the flavoring is delicious (garlic & pepper), & we have fun cracking the shell open with a pair of walnut cracking tools. In fact, I have so much trouble with the tool that I crack one & the shell & crab flesh sprays everywhere around me. The largest piece hits the top of Atticus's head. He is sleeping so soundly that he barely stirs. I watch a few passers-by smirk, then commence to pick the big black peppercorns out of his hair. Boy, is Atticus a good sport...

The food is absolutely delicious. The three of us ate for $75, probably pricey in this touristy area, but we're happy to experience Chinatown if only for a few hours.