Going cheap

Warong Nasi Pariaman (stall with yellow sign board) at 738 North Bridge Road

Friends accuse me of being an atas diner. But contrary to popular belief, I DO eat at cheap places. Terence wanted to go Tai Sing to buy some construction site toy cars for Kai to enjoy in Phuket, and so I suggested going to an old haunt--Warong Nasi Pariaman--for some nasi padang.

My memory has gone bad ever since I got pregnant and had Kai, so I can't remember what's so nice about the 'warong' (as Terence calls it). But they are supposedly known for (what Terence terms as the) 'lemak' chicken, just because it is cooked with coconut.

The copycat lemak chicken is in the top left hand corner

The warong was closed by the time we circled round the block four times to find parking. But the good thing about that part of North Bridge Road is that there are plenty of other eateries to satisfy your nasi padang craving. So we stepped opposite the said warong to another Malay stall, which serves the lemak chicken too. What you see^ costs us S$12 in total. Their sambal balachan is quite shiok too.

Next on our cheap trail is Tai Sing. It is a toy distributor and supplier, so expect a warehouse shopping experience complete with dusty, rough round the edges, crumpled packaging. But the toys are pretty affordable. We bought construction car set (three cars) for S$5.90, and huge sheets of stickers for S$1.90 each.

Parents with babies and toddlers might be interested to know they carry Combi products too.

Tai Sing was recently featured in The Straits Times as a cheap place to buy toys. But how I found out about them was from another mother, a complete stranger. Her boy was playing with a nice construction car set at an East Coast beach cafe, and Kai joined in the fun. Terence begged me to ask her where she bought it, and I did.

So friends, trust me, good things DO come to those who go up to strangers and ask for help.