#hawker eats

[hanzajesthanza]

we need some more of those geralt’s company journeying through the marshland “what-if”s: the alternate routes they had expected or planned for, but ultimately didn’t take.

like what if: milva decided to go through with the abortion, and had to wait it out in a village as she expected. natural abortifacients are pretty brutal, and what follows, too, so regis would have had to stay with her, potentially splitting the company? or would the rest of the company also set down their quest for weeks and stayed with her. and villages at this time were none-too-safe either, what with the nilfgaardian invasion…

or what if: they indeed went through ysgith as previously planned. would dandelion have gotten eaten by a man-eating orchid? would milva still have miscarried, but this time from being exposed to poison gas? how would have geralt’s animosity and distrust towards cahir played out when things hungering for human flesh are all around them and it would be really easy to push him into that swamp? how would the pain in geralt’s knee play out in this humid environment? would they get a free pass by some monsters, if regis looked back behind the company with a stern, disapproving expression?

or what if: they couldn’t all cross the jaruga like geralt expected, and according to his plan, he and regis had to be the only ones that crossed and ventured on, alone together to go see the druids (which were farther away than they planned)? what would have happened to milva, cahir, and dandelion, left behind? if they didn’t participate in the battle of the bridge, then the rivian troops would have fled, and so nilfgaard wouldn’t have been driven back from the jaruga—affecting trade routes as the war carried on?

or what if: they didn’t stop in riedbrune and were not warned of the attack, and went straight to belhaven, walking right into the planned ambush by nightingale? would angoulême have indeed shot geralt in the back with a crossbow? or would his witcher senses have allowed him to pre-empt the attack? what if they really got captured by nilfgaardian agents then?

what if they never stayed in beauclair, or left early as geralt had inclined. they would have all frozen to death in the mountain passes (or, well, all of them save for regis, who is invulnerable to freezing)

there were a lot of uncertainties along their journey.

[cruella-devegan]

Victor Veggie (Circuit Road Hawker Centre) / Singapore

Veg satay with faux chicken 👏

[theafternoonmoon]

Delicious wonton soup with rice noodles. Courtesy of Dim Sum Darling inside Urban Hawker in midtown.

[inhidingxoxo3637]

Me watching 4/5 of my fav rookies crash out during the last two laps

[scrapyardwings]

I like to imagine if Hawke survived the encounter with the fear demon, he spends an awful amount of time wandering trying to find another Fade Rift to fall out of. Muttering the entire time about how there’s rifts every-bloody-where in Thedas except where he is specifically. And while traveling he encounters a multitude of spirits and demons, some he talks to and some he just whacks with his weapon and keeps going on. And if he doesn’t find his way out, he finds dreamers and realizes that even if he can’t find his way out, his friends still enter the fade when they dream. And most importantly, he finds his last sibling’s dreams, and does his best to watch over them from where he can.

[cobraonthecob]

why'd helmut fight so hard for nyck, if nyck went to williams, we could've had a fun video of him and alex trying singaporean food

[shadowthief78]

My grandfather died a few months ago and since we were travelling to where he lived for the funeral, we didn't know where any of the decent restaurants were. One of my uncles (grand uncles? idk) and a few other relatives but mainly him made it his job to buy us food and eat with us through the wake and cremation. It was so much easier than havig to find a restaurant, leave (and possibly miss guests), eat, and get back.

hey since i’m occasionally giving out adult advice. anyone wanna know my very adult and very boring and very sensible suggestion for grief gifts for friends and family when someone close to them dies

[clarabowmp3]

no hate but please reconsider supporting mcdonalds, they are supporting the IDF and are on the boycott list

oh okay, it’s just that my family and I don’t rlly eat there much cuz we’re vegetarian and McDonald’s singapore doesn’t have any vegetarian options (like you can ask for the meat to be removed but they don’t have much else in their burger) so it’s only worth it for their breakfast options. We wanted to order in to relax, their breakfast is smth my family and I are used to with, and given how restrictive the affordable vegetarian food scene is here I think it’s fine that we ordered from there today, esp since we do it so rarely.

I do get where you’re coming from abt the boycotting tho, I just think me/my family aren’t contributing so significantly to the problem to warrant us getting rid of the little comfort we get when we occasionally eat there

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 1940s Britain, at a time before fast food and ready meals were staples of the British high street and in a country struggling to deal with the ramifications of war, a popular new restaurant chain was established. It served high-quality meals at reasonable prices, attracted customers from the full spectrum of British society, and grew at a rate of 10 new sites a week at its most popular. The brains behind the operation? The British government, led by the prime minister, Winston Churchill. Churchill’s British Restaurants, a chain of government-funded canteens offering nutritious price-capped meals, were intended to counter inflation in food and fuel prices related to the war, as well as to boost community spirit. At their peak, there were more British Restaurants across the UK than there are branches of McDonald’s or Wetherspoons today. Now a new report is calling for the return of a “national restaurant service” in some form, as a way to tackle contemporary issues such as health inequality, food insecurity and even climate change in the UK. A forthcoming report entitled Public diners: the idea whose time has come, by food policy NGO Nourish Scotland, marks the beginning of a campaign to introduce restaurants as a new piece of national infrastructure, a call backed by politicians and experts. A public diner, according to the report, is a state-subsidised eatery serving quality and ethically produced food at affordable prices. Crucially, says Nourish Scotland, they are neither charity nor a treat, but rather everyday eating places for entire communities to access.

[...]

Last year hospital data showed the number of patients in England and Wales being treated for nutritional deficiencies had tripled in a decade while a January 2024 survey by the Food Foundation found 20% of UK households with children reported experiencing food insecurity. And, Nourish Scotland says, ingredients could be sourced from organic farms, reducing unsustainable food production practices and food waste, and stimulating local economies. Public diners have already been realised elsewhere in the world. In Poland, government-funded “milk bars” (bar mleczny) gained popularity in the communist era as a way to serve traditional home-cooked food at low prices, and remain numerous today. Singapore’s “hawker centres”, market-style community dining rooms, emerged as part of the nation’s urban redevelopment following independence, and bring an array of street sellers under one roof to ensure vendors’ access to ingredients and space, as well as food hygiene standards and choice for consumers. The call for state-subsidised dining in the UK comes amid a growing international movement for public restaurants as key infrastructure.

31 August 2024

See also I Dream of Canteens, by Rebecca May Johnson

[buffetlicious]

Although Bukit Canberra Hawker Centre publicly opened on 17th Dec 2022, mum had refused to patronize this place citing the need to walk as the reason. That is until the bus service she takes made route amendment and now there are a couple of bus stops nearby. So finally, one and the half years later, we are here for the first time. Mum likes the clean and spacious environment with plenty of stalls to choose from. Yet after one round, she still chose this dry style Wanton Noodles (S$4.30).

I looked around and settled for the Hotplate Omelette Rice & Chicken Cutlet Set (S$5.80). The dish came on a sizzling hotplate with an egg and rice pillow topped with sliced fried chicken cutlet and drizzled with chilli sauce. I think there are some onions below the rice too. You also get a bowl of soup and some kimchi. While it was a cheap eat, I wished the plain fried rice had some extra ingredients in it to boost up the flavours.

[monarch-moon]

No harm in submitting this!

For the past few months, I've been working on and off on a new project called World Cell, which is more of an adventure story featuring a caravan of characters going on a world-wide journey! To put it lightly, at least lol. This is the height chart and a collection of refs for the major cast!

Bits of info of each of them under the cut!

We of course have Asher as our main character! This royal prince is ready to do what he's been training to do, but the only other thing he likes aside from swords and weapons is eating bugs!

Returning is our grumpy lady, Evo! Now sporting 20% more side boob, 40% scales, and 100% foul language.

Third is our gentle giant, Haoyu, who is the party's medic. It doesn't take long to get him to freak out, especially since he's in a gang full of reckless troublemakers.

Fourth up is our resident living armor, Alyster! Don't mind him, he may be the largest, but he's pretty chill.

You know her, I love her, it's none other than our resident potato, Aki! Now with more dogy love, especially to her angry lizard girlfriend~.

The party needs someone competent to cook for them, so meet Eirwen! When things get gloomy, you can trust his friendly face c:

But if you need someone who can bring a lot of sunshine in the group, meet Natsu! Our lovely transgirl here has a smile so powerful, the only other thing that can rival it is her punch.

The group needs someone sensible to lead them, so meet Haku, Natsu's older brother! This man may be short, but he is prepared for any situation. We stan a short king.

Next up, we have our lovely lady Sarya! She may not participate much in the action, but she contributes in a different way: driving everyone around in a sizeable carriage!

Following close to Asher is the first princess of Vaalum herself, Naiotah! This is her first time doing this, but she's ready to go either way!

Never without his box of artifacts and rocks, we have Hayden! Rumor has it he can tell exactly what era something is from just by licking it...except it's not a rumor, that's true.

Can't have Asher without Odix!! He may have more feathers than before, but he's still full of heart~

Last but certainly not least is our pearl from the sea, Xouya! Don't let her elegant demeanor fool you, this one's got p l a n s cooking in her brain, and you might not like em.

To be quite honest with you guys, this has been the most well put together main cast I've made in any story I've created (though credit where credit is due, I made all the refs, but @snowprismdragon , @hawker-the-gary , and @solannecontinuum contributed characters...namely Alyster and Eirwen from Snow....Aki, Hayden, Sarya, and Odix from Hawk, and Xouya from Solanne. Asher, Haoyu, Haku, Natsu, Naiotah and Evo are mine.)

Anyway, if you've read all this, thank you guys for your time c: I will probably be drawing these guys a lot when I can!

[cruella-devegan]

DeliSnacks / Singapore

Entirely vegan hawker stall filled with various fried treats including sesame balls, red bean buns, curry puffs, butterfly buns and more 😋

[theotherklm]

Discernment

Down the hole I crawl, Echoes of “Drink Me” and “Eat Me” call To a domain where tastemakers reign, Truth a hostage in the hawkers’ game. Screens glow with Wonderland’s guise, Truths and lies meet earnest eyes. “Shrink waist,” “Build jawline,” they boldly claim, A mad tea party of deceit and shame. Through Cheshire’s broad, grim…

[quitealotofsodapop]

[Again its very sappy] Very good, very good, very good!

So, to keep everyone from getting cavities, let's move the stage:

A food court in a shopping mall - because I doubt those were a thing 500 years ago and Mac doesn't want to stay at home all day.

A place with actual food and plenty of people to, ahem, snack on - what more could this monkey want?

And with juicy new future food, well, it seems like a good day, especially this thing called a 'burger'-

"Ehem!"

The glamoured six ears twitch at that, and his head swivels to the source of the sound to see...some human woman? He's not too versed on modern days fashion, but the clothing does look nice, Mac supposes.

The women gave them a look of disgust and pointedly asked at the darker monkey, "Should you be eating that with your weight?"

SWK is ready to go on the defensive (relationship in shambles or not, no bitch will be allowed to run her mouth like that at his Moon! Especially when he's pregnant!), but Mac calmly stands up, keeping eye contact with the woman. Then he grabs the big juicy burger and starts eating it in big bites, ripping with his sharp teeth, while still keeping eye contact. Unflinching and steady.

Whatever bravado the woman had was diminishing faster than a whole orchard of heavenly peaches with SWK in the area.

With the final bite down, Macaque then very widely and very toothily smiled.

Ever seen a rhesus macaque's (the species SWK and Mac are based on) chompers?

Mac used Intimidate! Wild Karen fled for the hills.

SWK meanwhile is 1/3 impressed at Mac's self-control, 1/3 amused at the spectacle, and 1/3 In Full Simp Mode.

Oh my, even separated from the au; Macaque really would be taken aback by how much food is available in the modern world. Like??? China has an infamous history of famine, and I could see Macaque not having a fun time roughing it when FF Mountain was burned. But now theres so much food that there's overabundance??

Wukong and Tang are def the ones that drag him to a food court/hawker centre to try out new dishes. Pigsy grumbled ofc cus; "I would've cooked you some if you asked."

Macaque: "But we have food at home???" Wukong: "I mean yeah, noodles. But have you ever tried street food? Or cheese tea? Or- OH man! You don't even know that Peach chips exist!" Macaque: "I once ate flatbread a man cooked using his own helmet. I stayed away from big cities when I could." :\ Tang, eyes already glazed with hunger: "Brace yourself then."

Cue Macaque having a brief sensory overload of smells (everything smells so good), sight (lots of things to look at), and Sound (so loud). Tang and Wukong are able to ground him enough so he doesn't leap away like a startled cat - noise canceling headphones quickly become Macaque's favorite modern tech. They find themselves a quiet corner of the food court to sample the wares of the modern world.

Macaque is cautious to try anything at first, but immediately gets enthralled by a regular ol' juicy cheeseburger grilling on a skillet - think of the burger thay made in The Menu. Meat, bread, and cheese? One sniff and he is off. It's like Homer taking the first bite of the Ribwich.

The other two are surprised how much he gets into it since he seemed to glance over the more traditional chinese street food places. Macaque is too busy having a religous experience with the first burger to realise that dips, sauces and other stuff can be put on them. They all end up campling outside the nearest McDonDons (anime joke) or local burger joint so Macaque can focus on one type of food for his first culinary expedition.

The a group of women sitting a table over make a catty comment about Macaque "not needing the extra weight" + "what is it with demons eating like that?". Tang is uncomfy cus he isn't sure how Macaque reacts to public rudeness, whilst Wukong is seconds away from going into defensive hero mode. Macaque just finishes his burger, teeth bared, without breaking eye contact with the women making the comments. Rude onlookers are terrifed, Tang is giggling to himself, and Wukong is in full "I love my terrifying mate" mode.

It becomes a ritual of sorts for them to take Macaque out for a new food each week as a bonding experience/enrichment. He ends up enjoying most things he can get his hands on, especially if said thing was originally on Wukong's plate >:) - Wukong complains but is secretly very much adores seeing his mate's more playful side. Macaque also develops a weird craving for cheese tea later in pregnancy for some reason.

Pigsy still proudly holds the title for the best noodles Macaque has ever eaten though.

[instruth]

A Story About A Girl, A Red Car And Me

The only car I had as a student was a red convertible MG Midget, similar to the attached picture. I bought it for a song,$500.00, from savings from my Colombo Plan Scholarship pocket money.

I wanted to impress my girlfriend Hinly, whom I was dating. But honestly I wanted to impress her father.

So I drove to her house to fetch her on our date. It was a real broken jalopy (having passed through many hands by King Edward Hall Hostel resident students). It was all I could afford then.

Previously, we had gone out on the bus, till her parents drove past and saw us waiting at the bus stop. They stopped and reversed to tell us to take a cab.

Later, after showing off my cheap red mg midget, I was offered the Lau family Mercedes to go out with Hinly. I sold my car as advised.

Hinly later told me her parents will ‘kill’ me if they had known I took her to Philips Square to eat hawker food on our first date. I didn’t know she had never been to eat at such lowly convertible hawker stalls beside a rather smelly canal (open air carpark in the day, hawker stalls at night). After we were married, she used this incident to tell me, “You were just being yourself, that’s why I married you.”

She knew I didn’t have the money to spend on our dates. But I spent all I had in my pocket.

I like her most of all because she accepts me as I am, even to this day. She is the easier girl to please. I feel happy just being with her, because I know I don’t need to impress her.

Falling in love with her is simple

It is the easiest thing in my life

Comes so naturally to me

Like breathing, to feel alive

It’s my happiest experience ever

©Johnny J P Lee

10 May 2024

A Gogyoshi-bun Poem (Story + Gogyoshi)

Photos: From my album

[youhideastar]

I'm one of the readers for whom the ending of Concord didn't work and I think the commentary helped me realize why. WWX's depression really resonated with me extremely deeply, whereas the parts where you intended to show that he was getting better once LWJ started making an effort were incredibly subtle. So I continued feeling the angst building up and up and was expecting a climax that would be cathartic and drain all the pent up emotion, only for the angst to suddenly fizzle out (1/2)

(2/2) If the intention was that LWJ was an unreliable narrator and also, like the reader, had misunderstood WWX's mental state, it would have been nice to see him grappling with that realization for a bit. Maybe disbelieving or shocked at first but then rewinding his memories and picking up on all the things you pointed out in the commentary. Or something. Instead, he takes it in stride and then WWX tells him he loves him, and then theyre holding hands, the end. It's too rushed.

My usual response to constructive criticism with which I disagree is to carefully and patiently explain why I wrote the fic the way I did and why I think the way I did it is good. In this case, I already spent tens of thousands of words doing just that, so I'm disinclined to show my work all over again, especially for someone unwilling to attach their pseud to their criticism - instead, I'm going to speak from the heart.

I have spent a lot--a lot--of time talking to people with depression. Like you, they often try to convince me that the unrelentingly negative view of the world that they see through their Depression Goggles is, in fact, objective reality. It is not.

Wei Wuxian's growing happiness in the second half of Concord is not "incredibly subtle." Frankly, it is not "subtle" at all:

Wei Wuxian still conducts himself according to the principles, when they travel together – still eats in silence, sits properly, refuses alcohol. But he seems more comfortable in crowded spaces full of laughter and color – teahouses and markets and small-town festivals, where he banters easily with shopkeepers and hawkers. And if Lan Wangji fills his bowl after he has already eaten three, or orders meat dishes for him, Wei Wuxian accepts the implied permission and eats with pleasure. He is still too thin. But he no longer looks as if a strong wind could blow him away.

Because he cannot take Wei Wuxian night hunting as often as he would wish, given his teaching responsibilities and other tasks as head disciple, Lan Wangji begins finding excuses to visit Caiyi Town. He brings his husband with him, and watches with satisfaction as Wei Wuxian offers effusive compliments to the innkeepers and waiters when his meal is finished; as the staff come to know Wei Wuxian’s likes and dislikes, and bring him his particular favorites.

On one such occasion, a small child toddles up to their table and deposits a toy lion in Wei Wuxian’s lap. “Can you make it roar?” the child asks, blinking up at him.

“Of course,” Wei Wuxian says, beaming. “What’s your name?”

“Yan’er.”

“Well, xiao Yan’er, are you sure you want me to make your lion roar?” He makes a ridiculous face. “It’s going to be very scary!”

The fact that someone can read a passage like the above and think, "The angst just keeps building up and up, nothing is getting better," says something about the lens with which they are viewing the fic; it says nothing about the fic itself.

You say, "If the intention was that LWJ was an unreliable narrator and also, like the reader, had misunderstood WWX's mental state"--but that was not the intention at all. "The reader" does not misunderstand WWX's mental state. Most readers got it just fine. For the other readers (including at least one previous anon of the same mind), I have already expended hours and hours of time and effort on the commentary trying to help them understand, so going forward, I won't be responding to any more anon asks that boil down to "I don't get the ending of Concord." It's not a good use of my time or theirs.

Frankly, even if nobody else liked Concord, or its ending--which is very much not the case--that wouldn't change how I feel about it one bit. I am very proud of Concord, including and perhaps especially the ending. No anon is going to change my mind about that.