3 Paws Saloon Attic

My trip back to Singapore was memorable as always. Especially the food. As promised, I've kept a photo diary of my expeditions. T-Rex wants to visit all these places too the next time he gets to travel.

To welcome me back, my cousin arranged for dinner at Clarke Quay, a historic riverside quay near the mouth of the Singapore River. Clarke Street along the quay is a pedestrian mall with five blocks of warehouses converted to restaurants and nightclubs. It's an impressive sprawl, full of colour and worth a visit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke_Quay

We went to this seafood restaurant called Long Jiang Classic Noodle and Congee House, where the owner and award-winning chef is a friend of my cousin’s husband. This means ‘star’ treatment for all of us. Cookie, their furkid, was allowed to reside in her pram-carriage and be entertained by the human antics while she enjoyed the choicest scraps from the table

As an unexpected pleasure, a half-cousin (from the other grandmother, the First Wife; my maternal grandfather had 2 wives) whom I hadn't seen since school days, joined us. She was particularly fond of the duck congee (rice porridge) that the restaurant was famous for. The owner came out briefly to meet and chat with us. The waiters and waitresses scrambled to fill the iced water jugs, and little saucers of pickles and salted nuts. We were royally fussed over.

I can’t quite remember all the dishes, but my favourites were the baby squid in a vermicelli nest and the deep-fried tofu stuffed with ****ake mushrooms. The yam basket with the sliced abalone was pretty good too. My younger sister arrived later, having been delayed but in the tradition of elder siblings, my cousins and I put aside a serving from each dish to compile a sizeable platter for her. No one went hungry that night at the table. 

After the meal, we each had a citrus jelly-filled young coconut. We ate the jelly and drank the refreshing coconut water, and scrapped and spooned out the white coconut flesh. This balanced out all the rich fried food from the meal.

Afterwards, all the ladies (including Cookie) took some happy snaps for the occasion.

The photos (from left to right):

• My cousin’s husband, Cookie and cousin
• Marinated baby squid and deep-fried tofu
• Me and my younger sister enjoying fresh coconut;
• My cousin with Cookie, my half-cousin, me and my younger sister.