Goodbye Singapore! :(

My time in Singapore is now coming to an end. What a ride it's been!

Two years back, when I first moved to Singapore, I hated it. I complained about everything - the weather, the lizards, the people's accents, the lack of a Chipotle and a lot more of such profound problems. Also, it was the first time that I was living alone, without any roommates or parents. That brings in a feeling of loneliness and a weird sense of freedom. Throw in a breakup with all that, and it makes the perfect combination for disaster! Not only are you lonely and desperate for company, there's nobody that's going to stop you from doing absolutely anything you want to do. So after being all 'badass' for a while, I snapped out of that phase with valuable lessons all thanks to absolutely amazing parents and friends like Devika, Priya, Srinath and Karthik. They're awesome.

My second year in Singapore has been superb! I met some of the best people ever. Bobby and Ranjani. I will miss all the weekend lunch-movie sessions at your place. And trying out new vegetarian restaurants in the city with you both. Everytime I watch a kanraviyana padam or have awesome saapadu, I will think of you and miss you! Aditya, Ram, Vidhi, Sandhya.. and gang! You guys have been so much fun. Mafia, random (handle) bar in Malaysia, East coast beach at 3AM, the Nagarita/Precipitator, logos quiz.. awesome times. I'll also miss Natasha, Chen Xue, Ngoc and our super chilled out prof! And of course, the huge CBT gang here in Singapore.

Slowly, my motto in life became 'all that matters is good food' and that's what this post is really about. So coming to the point, apart from missing Singapore for all my wonderful friends, I will really miss the gastronomical delights that this city has provided me. Here's a list of my favorite restaurants! If you're neither in Singapore nor into food porn, you should stop reading this now.

Holland Village has always been one of my favorite hangout spots because it's easy to get to from my house and it has some lovely restaurants.
Al-Hamra for Zatar bread, Moussaka batinjan (eggplant curry) and the vegetarian shawarma with feta cheese. I like their cous cous dish as well, and the batata hara but that's just like any other aalu curry. Their sangria is one of the best.
The Crust is right opposite to Al-Hamra and has some really good tasting pizzas.
Original Sin is a porsche vegetarian restaurant there with fancy yet tasty dishes and desserts, but it's pretty overpriced so go there only if someone else is treating :P Or if you're very rich. In which case, call me!

I started enjoying Thai food only after coming to Singapore. My friends usually get tired of having to go to Thai Express because of me. I love their basil tofu! A little more expensive restaurant is the Thanying Thai in Amara hotel at Tanjong Pagar. All their dishes are super and they have a Thai dessert buffet! Ruby Thai at Raffles is another nice place with good green curry.

In search of a replacement for Chipotle, I've always been enthusiastic about trying out mexican restaurants here. Though none of them could replace it, some came pretty close.
Margaritas The kitchen sink burrito is the usual favorite, and the jalapeño poppers for starters. If you're going to the one at Dempsey hill, then you might want to dress up. Shorts and t-shirt would work for the one at Faber drive which is way easier of course.
Cafe Iguana has something that kind of comes close to the Chipotle burrito bowl. It's called the vegetarian bowl I think. If you mix the sour cream and guacamole with other sauces, you might have your Chipotle bowl! What I love about this place though is the cheerful ambience; open air along the river, and the lights and sounds of the totally happening Clark Quay. I also like their chocolate shots.
Myras beach club is a mexican and north indian restaurant on the East Coast beach. The north indian food is better than their mexican, and it's right on the beach! Hot samosas overlooking the beach, playing pool..good stuff! And cheap as well. A value-for-money restaurant.

Then there are some random things I like from different malls. I sometimes pick up a Japanese rice roll from the QQ Rice at Jurong Point mall, on my way home. They let you choose between various rice options like red rice/purple rice/mixed grain/wheat and they'll make it into a ball and fill it with veggies of your choice like spicy radish, sea weed, carrots, broccoli, nuts, mushrooms. It's a complete meal by itself for just 4 dollars.
Paradise Inn at West Coast Plaza is one of the very few Chinese restaurants I like. By Chinese I don't mean Indo Chinese though. Even a simple dish like the vegetarian fried rice tastes so different and amazing there because of the sauces. The omelet is very tasty too. They don't have any vegetarian dishes on their menu, but they'll make it for you. Their branch in Orchard road isn't as good though, not sure why.
La Barra Colombian Bistro at the new StarVista mall. I particularly like the sauces that come with their papas criolas. The dish is basically small sized potatoes boiled with some seasoning. The cheese empanada and the domino is good too. But it wasn't filling enough because their portions are pretty small. They have good looking staff if you go on weekends ;)
Chili's I go here mainly to have their Oreo milkshake. Everything else is just additional. My friends order buffalo wings, and I think that's very tasty. The only meat dish that I've liked after tasting. One good thing about this place is that their portions are huge. It's like in the US. So when Devika and I go, we just share one dish (like a quesedilla which itself comes in 8 pieces with rice on the side) and have our Oreo milkshakes.
Marche the Swiss restaurant. You get to choose your ingredients and dish, and they make it for you at different stalls. The main course is alright, I like the dessert better. Delicious crepes filled with either chocolate sauce or peanut butter or nutella or caramel, served with strawberries and bananas and ice-cream!
Frunatic the fast fruit restaurant at Star Vista mall has some really nice fruit meals and fruit juices.
Awfully chocolate, Haagen dazs, Max Brenner chocolate bar and Gelataria have the best ice creams and chocolate fondue desserts.

Then there's Little India which basically has loads of Indian food chains, and is very cheap as well. Murugan idli and Lakshmi-Narasimhan have been my favorites for a while. I still think the Murugan idli near bessy beach is better. Komala vilas I guess is the favorite of the majority. A lot of people love the food at Arab street. But from all the restaurants I've been to there, and being a vegetarian, I have nothing great to say. Singapore is famous for all its street food - Kopitiams. I've been to a few with my prof and lab mates, but being a vegetarian is a big draw back! However, I did enjoy the satays with peanut sauce off Robinson Quay.

And lastly, NTU! The south indian full meals at the Komalas inside campus has really made my day on so many occasions. Especially when they make avial and potato curry. It also has other brilliant food - masala dosai, mysore masala, ghee roast, idlis, puri, naan, chapati, chili parota.. and sometimes when we're hungry at 5pm, Ajitha and I go there to have chaat items with masala chaai. She likes their dahi samosa while I like pav bhaaji. I'll think of you whenever I have chaat Aji. Right next to Komalas, there's a stall that sells different tasty varieties of green tea - my favorites have been honey green tea, hazelnut green tea and the caramel green tea. Somedays we go to The Palette, for the veg baked rice or pastas. Then there's Canadian Pizza for pizza, and the Indian stall at the food court that has yummmm alu parathas. Speaking of which, canteen 11 has all kinds of parathas too. Man, I'm going to miss "working" at NTU!

If it wasn't for Harish and the fact that I'm getting married, I wouldn't have had the heart to leave from here. Singapore will always hold a special place in my heart. Goodbye Singapore! Keep feeding my friends well and take care of them!