i hath bloggeth,you had taggeth

there's been so much talk about teh tarik in the papers recently. i don't blame them for dedicating two whole pages of the Life! section to it cos its such an integral beverage in singaporean society. and i've been drinking so much teh tarik recently too. well actually, i've drunk teh tarik my whole life but more so in the last couple of weeks than usual. i dont drink coffee(except the glorious bru coffee they serve in the temples) so yes, teh tarik rocks.

it all started when i was about 5. thats when my grandma, the best tea maker in the world, gave me my first cup of tea and taught me how to eat "teabiscuit"(haha..like seabiscuit). that is, breaking a kong ghuan cracker in half(right down the middle mind you..) and dipping it into the tea until it had soaked in all the sweet,milky tea goodness and then taking it out just before it got too soft and sorta dropped into the tea(i HATE when that happens).

note: the tea i'm talking about isn't any of that earl grey watery stuff the English ppl drink. i'm talking about chai, good strong indian tea which has the most wondeful aroma and milky brown colour and it is sugary goodness. the kind my family makes has cardomom thrown in so its called masala tea.

and another note: it is a CRIME to dip chocolate biscuits in tea! its just plain wrong! chocolate biscuits or cookies and milk are perfectly alright but plain wheat crackers are all that ever should be dipped into tea.

so anyways, serangoon gardens(aka the place where i spent my childhood,cos i went for all my tuition classes there and cos i went so often,that i ended up spending SO much time there) has this shop in a coffeeshop which used to sell teh peng: milk tea with ice added and given a good shake in one em silver alcohol mixer tumbler thingies and poured into a plastic bag,ice and all, for easy takeaway. oh yes, there was the straw of course. i dunno anywhere else in singapore where they'd actually shake it up for you so that you dont end up with just hot tea and ice thrown in. PET PEEVE. teh peng is love.

half the stalls they mentioned in today's recommended list of teh tarik stalls,i've been to before. exactly half. haha :D. i think i followed after my parents in the tea drinking thing. i think i shall ask for less condensed milk to be added as far as possible from now on.

and in my humble opinion,the best teh tarik can be found at al-athirah restaurant.yes the one they said that fandi ahmad frequents. i've been there SO many times and i've never once seen him there. but its best to go there for supper..then they can take their time making you a proper teh tarik cos there aren't too many people there. aprt of the experience of sipping on the hot tea is people watching..you can ALL sortsa characters there. from a groups of dodgy looking bengs to really large malay families to 20-something year old indian biker dudes. and they'll all be having teh tarik too. ahh...uniquely singapore.