Crab! Is that a Tiger?

I've been playing scales on the computer keyboard - finger stabbing the 26 different letter keys - wondering whether or not I should write this post.

It is afterall, the weekend*. And who bothers to update their blog on the weekend anyway??!!!!

...

However, I feel it my patriotic duty to highlight today's gastronomical event! If Ginger Spice can don the Union Jack, then I'm drapping the Singapore flag round my wobbly bits. Just for this entry. Better yet, I'll use the flag as a bandana. No, turban, since lengthy.

While I do a swift wardrobe change, please feast your eyes on...

Tiger Beer Singapore Chilli Crab Festival 2007!

This is the 2nd year running that the event's being held in London. Jointly organised by APB and STB, last year's saw approx 8K visitors to the festival. This year, organisers are confident they'll rake in even more, and are prepared to make more than 10,000 visitors belly happy. Judging by the unending queues that meandered through gates and round corners, I'd say someone will score well on their KPI!

We Chans were eager to get to the festival early. For a number of practical reasons, of course:

• First 15 SUKA (Singapore UK Assoc) members get free chilli crabs!
  
• First 100 London paper readers who show up with the paper's writeup on the festival get a free goodybag!!!
  
• Go early, get seats. Unlike in Singapore where we can leave tissue paper packs to 'chope' seats, here, it's chope what chope?!
  
• Go early = more to eat, more to drink, more to eat, more to drink, more to eat, more to drink...

I'd say our reasons are extremely kia.. justified, no?

Londonpaper (a free publication, somewhat like TODAY) reported that the 2-day event would 'be a recreation of Singapore in Brick Lane'. Oh I just love the way these PR reps lace their news releases with euphemisms.

Because a Recreation of Singapore? In London? Really now.

Authentically Singaporean, the festival was not. A skim through the program confirmed this. These were the program highlights:

• chinese acrobats,
  
• chinese magic show
  
• chinese music performances
  
• kung fu demos
• lion and dragon dance
  

And oh, there were cooking demos by Terry Tan. Pardon this ignoramous, but who is he? Is he famous? Where were the Indian and Malay cultural performances? What happened to the representation of Singapore's other ethnic races to show off our cultural diversity and vibrancy? Surely we shouldn't marginalise the melting pot of tastes, smells, sights and sounds our fine country is well-known for, with mere offerings of our iconic brew, chilli crab and a hodgepodge of China-Chinese performances?

(By the way, I want to know when chilli crabs officially became our national dish? The first I heard of this was in some Amex (???) TVC where Lim Kay Tong was boarding a train and uttered something about 'chilli crabs' to a porter?)

Authenticity (or the lack of) aside, the festival was abuzz with people holding their Tigers in one hand, and a crab claw in the other. I was amazed at the tenacity of Londoners who seemed to have no qualms queueing for hours for a measly portion of crab and other Singaporean delights. And despite the 'pop-yer-eyes-outta-them-sockets' pricetags! They've certainly proven themselves epicureans!

2 pounds?!!! For a cup of teh tarik?

Just mug me in broad daylight why don't u?

I must air my grouses on the food quality. The cha kway teow was nothing but cha-ed (no tao gay, no eggs, certainly no 'hum'!), laksa was a watery bowl of spices and coconut milk. And don't get me started on the bland, wormy chendol. As for the dish du jour - the chilli crabs (we were served chunks of crab, not 1 full crab ok!) - they were 'a good attempt'. Even my dear Dad whom I sent pictures of the festival commented that the chilli crabs looked 'pale'. I enjoyed the satay best but they should've served them with ketupat.

Overall, I'd say the food quality was good enough for 'smoking all the ang mohs'. If you know what I mean.

Alright, I shouldn't be too hard on the organisers. Despite the disappointing food offerings, I'm sure they worked hard to bring together this festival, so I'm grateful.

We Singaporeans are simply a belly hard lot to please.

I'm not a baby,
not yet a FULL GROWN SRI LANKAN! Bah!
( a la that Britney song, u know the one?)

Us with some of our UK friends

and yes, we got our goodybag.
(Luckily, Sam managed to snag us one!)

* didn't manage to finish the post over the weekend. Proves I hv some semblance of a life then? :)