It's waaaay better than fast food.

When I first learned that I would be spending an extended amount of time in another country that was known for its multitude of dining options, I figured it would be easy to swear off fast food. Honestly, it hasn't been so bad, considering I rarely eat things like Mickey D's or Burger King and our building is flanked by either one. However, I have to say that there's little I wouldn't do right now for a Chick-Fil-A #1 combo meal with a lemonade. Oh, and that new sauce they've got... you know... the smokey honey-mustard BBQ sauce. Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmmmmm!

Don't get me wrong, the food in Singapore has been surprisingly good. From the pork dumpling soup at a nearby hawker center to the divine chicken satay we had at an Indonesian place, the food has been wonderful. Portions are definitely smaller and I am feeling somewhat "lighter", but I'm not the best when it comes to a diverse diet and every now and then you've just got to get a little taste of home.

I got a pleasant surprise when Mom forwarded me an article about the first Wendy's opening in Singapore on Tuesday Dec 15. Jen and I are big fans of the square burgers and with the kind of heat over here, you can't imagine how good a Frosty sounds. The inaugural location is at the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, which is a huge hawker center near the central city (see Jen's earlier post), and is just a short walk up the road. Jen and I had been discussing how we needed something a little more familiar and we thought it would be fun to walk up to Lau Pa Sat, grab a bite to eat, and see if the new fast food joint was generating any buzz. Needless to say, it was buzzing.

When I say buzzing, I don't mean like a beehive. I mean like standing beneath massive power lines - BUZZING!! The place was crazy and had two queues that actually met up to one another in the back of the restaurant. It was obvious that it would be a long wait and we were starving, but I REALLY wanted a Frosty and Jen kind of had her heart set on some Wendy's chili. So we decided to brave the lines and wait our turn -- and man, am I glad we did. Not only was the food delicious, but we learned some interesting things about Singaporeans and, perhaps, Asian culture in general.

It's safe to assume that Singaporeans love burgers. Everyone was getting burgers and, oddly enough, baked potatoes. I think the potato is fairly rare and not indigenous to SE Asia, although you can find small ones at the local Fair Price (local Singaporean grocery), but I know one of the things our apartment lacks is an oven - which is kind of crucial to making a baked potato. Perhaps this makes it a delicacy. As we waited in the queue, Jen and I watched scores of eager Singaporeans order their square burgers, but we also noticed other interesting habits. For example, Wendy's has straw dispensers that drop a single straw out of the bottom when one depresses the lever. Jen noticed that the Singaporeans were either distrusting of this operation or unfamiliar with it and rather elected to open the top and grab one out of the pile. Also, Wendy's is a "dispense-your-own-condiments" kind of operation and offers two types of sauces for dipping one's golden fries: Ketchup and Chili Sauce. Both have nearly the same reddish hue, so they look the same from a distance. The labels on each dispenser were also illegible at our distance, but we did notice that those dining in were not dispensing into the same paper cup-like containers that we have in the States. Instead, Wendy's offers these wide, plastic, saucer-like containers that are much more difficult to handle. As we got closer, we noticed one was sputtering and showing signs of being empty, while the other was flowing freely with every pump.

Had this Wendy's been located on American soil, I would have given you 10:1 odds on that empty dispenser being designated for ketchup; but as this is Singapore - we bet it was the chili sauce and bet correctly. I'm not sure what's behind the cultural love for chili sauce in Singapore, but it has become the staple condiment.

Overall, there weren't any major differences between Americans and Singaporeans in how they went about fast food. We did notice that the guy taking our order responded better to our pointing at the picture menu than what we actually told him - despite speaking the same relative language. Of course, we weren't strangers to Wendy's so we were able to fire off our orders easily, which may have been too much for the novice manager to handle. I think the most interesting fact was that the place was SO jam packed on only it's second day. Is this the result of good advertising? If so, we never saw a commercial or billboard. Was it because Singaporeans were able to visit a Wendy's in another country and knew it was good? My understanding was this is the first Wendy's in Asia. Is it just the fact it's an American fast food joint? Perhaps it was the legend of the mysterious Frosty. Is it ice cream? Is it a milk shake? Who knows for sure? But man, it was good!

I have to close by saying the Lau Pa Sat Festival Market adds to its already exciting culinary delights when the satay stands open up at night and close down the street in front to use as table-space. We had to walk through the satay market to get home and you can't imagine how good the smell of seasoned meat on a stick roasting over open flames is. It's also a big hit with the locals, making competition for patrons rather fierce. Even with the satisfied and full look on our faces, we were still offered several opportunities to sit and eat satay. We're going to have to go back and report on it as well.