Monday 18 May 2009

The weekend in Singapore

It has been quite a while since I visited my parents. The last time I was there was in early March. In fact, my old folks come over to our place more often than we go to theirs. I am surely not a good example of filial duty.

The trip to Singapore also saw us taking the opportunity to do some shopping at Mustafa Centre in Serangoon Road. Our second son is due to enrol at UiTM next week and we need to get him a suitcase. We managed to find a 28" Camel Active bag made of tough polyester at S$79. A similar suitcase in Malaysia costs nearly RM300.

It is common misconception that all things in Singapore are more expensive compared to Malaysia because of the high currency exchange rate (presently around RM2.38 to the Sing dollar). Generally, this is true of course but sometimes you can find some items that cost significantly less, even after you have factored in the exchange rate. As I have mentioned above, luggage is one example. Another is wristwatches.

We love to do our shopping at Mustafa Centre because the store carries a wide variety of goods. In the case of luggage, for example, Mustafa sells the whole range from budget no-name brands to the quality ones such as Delsey and Samsonite. There is everything for everybody.

After getting the bag, we drove to the Beach Road Hawker Centre to have dinner. The missus and I had Mee Kuah while the two boys had some Bonesteak or in Malay known as Sup Tulang Merah. My kids are mutton-lovers and they eat anything to do with kambing with much vigour. Since the second son is entering college in Shah Alam, it would be some time before he can get to eat this dish again.

I know of a few stalls in JB that sells Sup Tulang Merah but none come close to the taste of those sold at Beach Road in Singapore. You can ask my sons... the best Sup Tulang Merah they have ever tasted... ever.

28 comments:

Unknown said...

merah btul tulang tuh...

cili or tomato? please don't say blood....

Anonymous said...

Is this Sup Tulung Merah the sinfully cholestrol-raising dish where you get to slurp the marrow of the bone? It's very popular in HK but over there they roast it in herbs or cracked black pepper. I've tried it once - in HK. It was so rich that I put myself on a salad diet for the rest of the week!!

HLiza said...

Eee..teringinnya nak pi Singapore. When I suggested this to hubby, dgn selambanya dia cakap Thailand lagi dekat dgn kita..(tapi tak pergi pun!). We had plans to travel to Singapore one day because my kids love the zoo which they see on Astro often..but that may happen many years in the future. And I think hubby will want to try this sup tulang merah, we never heard of it before..maybe I can contact you for some guidance when the time comes.

Bstnya bila anak2 dah bujang2 semua!

Dad of 4+1 said...

I have heard so much about Beach Road sup tulang merah from my aunts in S'pore tapi belum kesampaian rasa. Must be sinful, huh....Terliur ni.

Snakebite said...

apa daa...org johor dpt kat shah alam, anak saya pulak dpt kat larkin. tukar boleh?

DrSam said...

firt time I heard this sup tulang merah. Something that look spicy always make my head sweating :)

Chahya said...

Does this sup tulang merah available in JB?
I'm so gonna kirim this with my hb when he's in JB next week. *Drooling*

Chahya said...

lupa pula nak wish.
Congratulations to your son.

Anonymous said...

They grow up fast don't they .... a bit too fast.... off to college and from there they move on on their own.

You're going to miss them when the house gets a bit less noisy .. and don't you deny it. More so for the Missus

But dear Mum can always try to bribe them ...come back, come back..got sup tulang for dinner.

All the best.

allanwee

Fadhil said...

Verse,

Basically the merah comes from tomato puree. But some stalls put in food colouring.

Fadhil said...

Andrea,

Yup, this is the one where you use a straw to suck out the gooey marrow. No good if you have cholesterol problems, like me.

When I have this bone steak, I put myself on a low cholesterol diet for a week. My self-imposed quota of kambing is once a week.

There is another version of this soup in JB, but not red in colour. It is just plain sup tulang but more Malay style recipe. I have a pic in a posting in August last year.

We also have mee rebus tulang here in JB. It is the nermal mee rebus with 2 pieces of mutton bone thrown in.

Fadhil said...

Hliza,

I have not been to the Singapore Zoo for many years now. Last we went to the Night Safari when my eldest son was around 6 or 7 years old. But it is a good place to visit for the kids. Of course comparatively more expensive but it was worth it.

Feel free to contact me if you and your family get the chance to visit Singapore.

Memang best anak2 dah besar bujang, tapi rumah semakin sunyi.

Fadhil said...

Dad of 5,

Since you have relatives in Singapore, all the more reason for you to take your family down for a visit. Next trip to Air Baloi tu, cari masa sikit gi Spore. Call me if you need some pointers.

The sup tulang merah can really only be appreciated if you have a taste for kambing. Otherwise, it's difficult for me to describe how delicious the dish is. And it was not that expensive too, S$10 for ten pieces of bone. Kat JB, 2 pieces cost RM5.

Fadhil said...

Snake,

Anak ko amik course apa? Bila nak turun JB? If the timing is convenient, drop me a line. We can go have some mee rebus tulang or nasi beriani.

Fadhil said...

Doc,

Kat Malaysia memang tak jumpa dish ni. At one time, there was this one stall in Tmn Melawati where I used to stay selling this dish. Of course, rasa tak berapa sama, tapi boleh la... kata org tu setakat nak layan craving kejap. But the stall business did not last... tutup after a few months.

The peculiar thing is this.... kat Spore, sup tulang merah is sold by mamak stalls. But surprisingly, no mamak restaurant in JB (or anywhere else in Msia) can make this dish.

ib said...

kena makan crestor 20mg after makan sup tulang merah...

Fadhil said...

Chahya,

Sup tulang merah ada jual kat JB tapi rasa tak sama macam yg Spore punya.

If your hb is in JB, tell him to look for Restoran Tapah near Kg. Melayu Majidee / Larkin area. Kat situ sup tulang merah not bad jugak la. At the same time, try tapau some murtabak tomok at Restoran Rafi at Kg. Melayu. On sale from around 3pm onwards. On piece RM6 tapi sedap beb. Kitaorang kalau gi KL mesti tapau 5 atau 6 keping utk adik-beradik kat sana.

Thanks for the wishes. My son amik Asasi Sains with the hope of doing Medicine later on.

Fadhil said...

Allanwee,

You're spot on about the house becoming more quiet as only one son would be left at home. But that's the cycle of life, I guess.

The only plus point is that he is in a local college, so more chances of coming home during term breaks. The mother would probably cook nasi beriyani when the son comes home.

Fadhil said...

Ib,

Aku makan Covastin 20mg. Dah dekat setahun dah, tapi belum check the current choles level yet.

Next month aku kena buat full medical sebab this month sibuk sikit.

zafi said...

its from mamak right? so alluring!!! huhuhuhuhu
hungry2... :P

Snakebite said...

stock, anak saya nak gi buat dip acct kat uitm larkin. kena register sometime in june, can't remember the date. dia dpt gak asasi sains kat kpm k. nerang, but aftr kajian di buat he wants to do dip acct, which i agree. i will bitau bila i nak gi sana nanti. i've got no idea where uitm bandaraya jb is. cadang nak rely on garmin gps je.

Snakebite said...

btw, i saw this sup tulang merah featured in no reservatin, anthony bourdain makan dgn bobby chin.

Anonymous said...

hi oldstock,
lama tak jengah your blog..been bz lately with hb hospitalised.. ni curi2 online bila dia tidur...haha..
yes... nothing can beat that beach road sup tulang merah... i think it's the best in sgp so far.. even my relatives would pack this 'sinful' dish all the way to rawang, selangor..

miezarra

Fadhil said...

Salam Zafi,

Selamat datang to this blog. Good to know that I'm getting more readers from the UK.

Yes, sup tulang merah are sold by mamak stalls in Singapore. As I've mentioned above, strangely no mamak stall in Malaysia can cook this same dish.

Fadhil said...

Snake,

Drop me a line at fadhil.isma@gmail.com once you have confirmation of the date. Alternatively, Ahan has my mobile number.

I can show you where Uitm Larkin campus is.

Fadhil said...

Mie,

Sorry to read about your hb. Dia sakit apa? Hopefully getting better already. Saya akan doakan utk dia.

Apa kata kita sama-sama gi makan bonesteak kat Beach Rd satu hari nanti?

Anonymous said...

hi oldstock,

Thks for the doa... Hb ada mcm2 sakit..hbp, gout & diabetes.. too bad lah he cannot join gi makan beach rd bonesteak tu..danger for him but not for me...hahahha...

mie..

Fadhil said...

Mie,

Too bad about your hb. Hope he takes things easy. Semuga cepat sembuh.

How come you're not in FB anymore?