American YouTuber tries to find S$1 meals in S'pore, eats kueh meant for altar offerings

A Singaporean commenter pointed out that 99 per cent of Singaporeans don't eat huat kueh.

Melanie Lim | February 22, 2020, 08:01 PM

For the past five years, Singapore has been ranked as the most expensive city to live in the world.

That's no surprise, considering how one would be hard-pressed to find a decent cafe meal for less than S$10, or how eating out at a restaurant is likely to burn a hole in one's pocket.

On Feb. 22, an American YouTuber by the name of LivingBobby posted a video on how he managed to survive on S$1 meals in "the most expensive city in the world".

&feature=share

According to the self-proclaimed travel vlogger whose actual name is Bobby Briskey, he likes to "live as local as possible" wherever he travels, and had previously filmed similar videos in other countries.

Here are some of the food places and items he tried in his video:

1) Ang Ku Kueh at Maxwell Food Centre

The first location Briskey visited was Maxwell Food Centre.

While he initially said that "the best place to find cheap food is in a market," he was also quick to clarify that the food sold at Maxwell might be "a little bit overpriced" as the place was one of Singapore's main food markets.

After combing through various food stalls and bewildering a stall owner with his strange request, Briskey eventually managed to find a food item that fit his budget: a small, red, ang ku kueh that cost him S$0.60.

Image via YouTube.

Briskey, who had "zero clue" what an ang ku kueh is, described the outside of the dessert as being a "fruit roll-up" made of "rice flour" and guessed that the inside was made of "mung bean".

Pretty spot on for someone who had only visited Singapore twice.

2) Mutton curry with chapati at Little India

Next up, Briskey made his way to Little India, which he described made him "feel like (he's) in India right now."

Upon his entrance to the Tekka food market, Briskey was greeted by a group of Indian men from Punjab, who proceeded to offer him a beer and a seat at their table.

Image via YouTube.

One of the men, who claimed to be a "worker" here, mentioned that the best and most beautiful thing about Singapore is "Orchard."

He also said that the main difference between Singapore and India is "money".

After asking the men for recommendations on where to get S$1 Indian street food, they directed him to a stall selling mutton curry with chapati for S$1.

Image via YouTube.

Seemingly surprised that the curry had "tons of mutton," Briskey excitedly exclaimed that "the taste is bomb".

For the next two or three hours, Briskey went around different places in Singapore such as Sunshine Place, Chinatown Complex, 799 New Upper Changi Road and Punggol Plaza to scout for "outrageous" and "outstanding" S$1 meals.

Although he found things that looked good and smelled good, such as fried chicken and Thai boat noodles, he found that the portions "were not there."

3) Huat kueh, chicken rings & dosai at Giant hypermart

Briskey then headed to the Tampines Giant hypermart.

Certain things that caught Briskey's eye included chin chow (grass jelly), kaya buns, and Giant's diverse selection of food, ranging from halal to non-halal, and even "a bunch of Chinese... Indian... and Malaysian items."

Eventually, Briskey picked out huat kueh (S$0.95), a pack of chicken rings and a small serving of dosai (S$1), although the price of the chicken rings was not specified.

Describing the food items, Briskey reacted to the dosai with a "wow" and stated that it was "wonderfully made".

He also "couldn't believe (it) cost only S$1."

Image via YouTube.

As for the chicken rings, Briskey said that although it "doesn't taste like the flesh of a chicken, it's almost as if the taste dissolves in your mouth."

Finally, Briskey called the huat kueh the "most greasy cake" he had ever seen.

Image via YouTube.

After trying it, he said that it tasted very "subtle, a little sweet," with a possibility of the cake being "red bean".

To end his video, Briskey combined the last of his dosai with some chicken rings and dahl and claimed he was "living (his) best life."

Image via YouTube.

Commenters respond in good humour

In response to the video, one user left a cheeky comment on Briskey's popularity with the Indian men:

Image via YouTube.

Another user also made a humorous reference to New York City (which regularly makes it onto the world's most expensive cities list as well).

Image via YouTube.

Singaporean commenters, on the other hand, were slightly more straightforward, telling Briskey that the huat kueh he bought at Giant is used for prayers, or as offerings during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Image via YouTube.

Image via YouTube.

Two other Singaporean users also pointed out that huat kueh tastes much softer after steaming, and that 99 per cent of Singaporeans don't even eat the cake.

Image via YouTube.

Which all in all is good, wholesome fun for everyone.

Related Article

Top image via LivingBobby on YouTube