Singapore Reloaded.

Before I begin, I just wanted to clarify the subject matter of these posts. I don't have nearly the patience nor the attention-span to write half a dozen posts giving a comprehensive summary of my time in Singapore. If you're really that interested in it, I would be happy to oblige to describe it to you, but I'll probably just end up telling you to "just go already" and be done with it. Two or three days into the trip, I was finally acclimated to the time change and climate of Singapore. Being 13 hours ahead of EST is not something you can sleep off in one night. Or two. Or three. Nevertheless, by that time, Daryl and I were spending our days using the same formula: I would suggest some highly-touristy site. Daryl would grudgingly agree to go and map out the best places to eat. More often than not, we were eating at hawker centers.

The best way to describe a hawker center is that it's a food court. It is a public complex (usually vulnerable to the elements, as are most buildings in Singapore), that allows people to rent out ridiculously small storefronts to sell their food. But beyond that, hawker centers are nothing compared to the cafeterias we are accustomed to.

(My weak attempt at trying to make a panorama view of a hawker center.)

The most obvious reason is that the food is absolutely divine. Instead of having chains or restaurants renting space that try to specialize in everything (sometime go to McDonald's and count the amount of different options they have available. Or even just the number of hamburgers offered. I bet the number is unnecessarily high), each store in the hawker center specializes in just one type of food. Walking around, you notice a store that only serves pork, or abalone, or noodles, etc. Nothing else. Even the drink stands are separate from each store. As a result, each of these stores has spent generation upon generation perfecting their niche food, rather than trying to be good at many things.

But mind you, just because they specialize doesn't mean your options are limited. Hawker centers, depending on size, can have dozens of storefronts. I'd estimate that a decently sized hawker center has 20 stores. Each store specializes in something relatively different. As you can imagine, the options are endless.

So it begs the question: Why don't we have this in America? Sure we have strip malls with multiple restaurants, but that doesn't have the same centralized feel as a hawker center. Each stand is right up against each other. And sure Pittsburgh has Market Square and Station Square, but those (especially Station Square) have largely been redeveloped with chain restaurants being the main attraction. Have you seen Station Square? Its an absolute gentrification joke.

As Americans, we're obsessed with convenience. That's why we have so many FAST food stores. We're not like the French. We don't spend 2.5 hours eating lunch. We place more value on work than on eating. Hawker centers are quintessentially convenient. One stop for food. Endless options. And yet we're stuck with Burger King. Who was it that said America is the greatest nation in the world?