312: White Bak Kut Teh

They spent almost an entire afternoon at Haji Lane.

Lilia took pictures in front of almost every unique graffiti wall.

Although the photos were beautiful, in reality, each shot required a short wait in that spot, as many people were queuing for the best photo position.

When Li Qinghe was taking pictures for Lilia, many girls nearby would crowd around to see the results of his photography.

After comparing the photos Li Qinghe took, many people felt their boyfriends were useless.

Some girls even wanted to pay Li Qinghe 100 singapore dollars to take pictures for them. Seeing the girl waving a banknote, Li Qinghe smiled and shook his head, making an exaggerated gesture as if reaching into his pocket, and accidentally dropped a thick wad of banknotes.

The girl watched Li Qinghe casually tuck the money into his pants pocket as if picking up a pack of tissues, couldn't help but swallow, and silently retreated to the side, her gaze at Li Qinghe becoming very complex.

It's unclear whether her thoughts were about 'getting on' or 'moving up'.

Besides numerous craft and creative shops and coffee and milk tea shops, Haji Lane also has many open-air bars.

Many foreigners sat by the colorful walls, leisurely sipping small glasses of drinks. The more particular ones would order some snacks, but most just had a single drink.

Haji Lane Open-Air Bar

"The bars here only operate for a while during the day and close very early at night. If you want to drink in Singapore, you still have to go to Clarke Quay, where they generally stay open until one or two in the morning."

As Lilia introduced this to Li Qinghe, she quickly added, "I rarely drink; my roommates told me all this."

"It's alright, Lilia, a little alcohol occasionally helps activate blood circulation."

Li Qinghe smiled as he looked at the mixed-race girl in front of him. She was anxious to explain because she cared about him; he understood that psychology.

After accompanying a relaxed Lilia to a few more handicraft shops, Li Qinghe and she had finished exploring this 300-meter art alley.

"Li, how about we go for Bak Kut Teh for dinner? It's a must-eat when you come to Singapore."

"You know best, you arrange it, and I'll pay for dinner."

Li Qinghe smilingly agreed to Lilia's suggestion.

He wasn't a picky eater anyway. Following a local to try food they also approved of was fine. If he got tired of it later, he would go for authentic Chinese cuisine.

Although Chinese restaurants in Singapore are very expensive, Zhang Rui mentioned that in high-end Chinese restaurants, a single dish of stir-fried pork with chili could cost 180 dragon country currency.

But now, money was the least of Li Qinghe's problems.

The biggest spending area had already been thoughtfully handled by the system; his money was just for food, drink, and entertainment. With hundreds of thousands of singapore dollars in income daily, he couldn't possibly spend it all.

Fortunately, Li Qinghe didn't have the compulsive need to spend large sums of money.

He could eat bird's nest soup costing tens of thousands, and he could also eat street snacks costing a few dollars.

Life's enjoyment was this kind of freedom of choice.

So when Lilia suggested eating Singapore's famous Bak Kut Teh, he readily agreed.

However, his offer to pay was mercilessly rejected by Lilia: "Li, we are the best of friends now, and I like you so much. It's my duty to treat you to Singaporean delicacies."

Then, Lilia continued to tug at Li Qinghe's sleeve, a little unnaturally: "Besides, you're taking me to stay in a presidential suite worth 26,000 singapore dollars tonight, and I can't afford that."

She was truly direct, and truly adorable. A girl blending Indian and Chinese characteristics, raised under the influence of multiple cultures, ultimately expressed Singapore's mixed culture.

"Oh, by the way, Li, do you know about Singaporean Bak Kut Teh?" Lilia quickly changed the subject; the more they talked about the previous topic, the faster her heart beat.

"I've heard of it. Is there something special about it? We can exchange some knowledge." Li Qinghe was happy to learn something new.

So, with Li Qinghe's eager attitude, Lilia shared the origin of Singaporean Bak Kut Teh with him.

Originally, Singaporean Bak Kut Teh came from the ancestors of Fujian who migrated to Nanyang. As laborers, they needed nourishment, so they stewed some Chinese herbs with pork ribs, which replenished energy and also dispelled dampness and tonified qi.

Later, it gradually evolved into two schools: one was the traditional Fujian-style Bak Kut Teh with a herbal packet, known as the 'Dark Soup Faction'.

The other was the Teochew style, a Bak Kut Teh primarily flavored with white pepper, with a milder herbal taste, which is now the mainstream Bak Kut Teh in Singapore.

The traditional Fujian-style Bak Kut Teh, however, is particularly popular in Malaysia.

The Bak Kut Teh restaurant Lilia brought Li Qinghe to was a typical Teochew-style white soup Bak Kut Teh.

It took less than ten minutes to drive from the Arab Quarter.

Driving anywhere in small Singapore isn't too far, as crossing the entire country only takes about an hour.

Parking, however, is more troublesome. Singapore's parking space divisions are quite complex; the lines on the parking spaces indicate their purpose.

White parking lines are for regular spaces, paid hourly.

Yellow parking lines are for exclusive spaces or time-restricted spaces.

Red parking lines indicate spaces where social vehicles are prohibited; they are generally reserved for seasonal pass holders. Parking there incurs a 50 singapore dollar fine.

There's also a red and white parking line, which usually means it's charged like a white line on weekdays and prohibited on non-working days.

The last type is blue lines, which are rare free parking spaces, but they have time limits, and one must also check if they are disabled-only spaces.

The parking space Li Qinghe found was not expensive compared to where they parked last night, 0.6 singapore dollars for half an hour, which was a bit cheaper than 1.4 per hour.

Lilia introduced this restaurant as one of Singapore's top Bak Kut Teh establishments, an old shop with decades of heritage.

The entire shop covered about 200 square meters, with nearly 30 square meters allocated to the kitchen area.

The shop's layout was like the most common hawker stalls in China, even using a combination of rectangular and round tables.

Li Qinghe left the entire ordering process to Lilia.

He just briefly looked at the menu.

The best Bak Kut Teh was 12.8 singapore dollars a bowl, using prime ribs.

Slightly lesser options included pork ribs and dragon bones, priced at 11.8 singapore dollars and 10.8 singapore dollars respectively.

As a small table of Bak Kut Teh with side dishes and rice was served, Li Qinghe felt this array of bowls looked a bit light.

"Li, quickly try it, this soup is especially flavorful."

Compared to what was ordered for Li Qinghe, Lilia only had a bowl of Bak Kut Teh and a bowl of fried dough sticks in front of her. Indeed, influenced by her Chinese-descended father, she ate pork without hesitation.

He remembered her saying she would also eat beef; she was a filial daughter.

Li Qinghe looked at the surrounding diners, each savoring their meat, sipping their soup, and even dipping fried dough sticks into the soup.

So he first took a sip of the soup. And surprisingly, it was unexpectedly delicious. The rich, peppery spiciness blended into the fragrant soup, and it went down without irritating the throat at all.

And the pork ribs were incredibly tender. This meat quality indeed belonged to prime ribs, and with the shop's meticulous cooking, the texture made Li Qinghe nod in approval.

Seeing Li Qinghe nod in agreement, Lilia picked a rib from her bowl and placed it in Li Qinghe's bowl: "Li, eat more."

Hmm, this mixed-race girl seems to know a lot of tricks.