wonderment

In a move that suprised even me, my city-slicker friends, John ‘n’ Pris, invite me out for a road trip to a lesser known part of Singapore - a place synonymous with pig farms and third-worldliness - the only country side left in Singapore - LIM CHU KANG.

Our first stop: Bollywood veggies - the retirement home - cum - organic vegetable farm - cum bistro of the (INevitably)Famous, awesomely Fiery and exotically Fascinating ex-Netball Association honcho - Ivy Singh-Lim. Set up in 2001 with her husband Lim Ho Seng, the 10-acre farm boasts of a variety of organically-grown local vegetables that taste as good as they look.

Looking for a restful little cafe in the country side? Welcome to Poison Ivy.

Painted and decorated in colours any Indian would be proud of, Poison Ivy is exquisite homeliness. Wooden dining sets that would have looked clunky and out of date in our modern kitchens, fit in seamlessly with the decor. A pandan-leaf ensemble in a glass vase tells you the number of your table. Clusters of fruit and vegetable for sale are displayed proudly at the white-tiled counter. A struggling wooden bookshelf, laden with books and magazines, leans against one wall. Ceiling fans are the old kind, the ones we used to have in primary school.

It’s so rustic, you can’t believe there’s air-conditioning.

I would like to think this is 1986 where I spent many happy days at my grandaunt’s farmshack at the foot of Bukit Timah Hill, but this is 2005 Lim Chu Kang and here we are in the highly-acclaimed Poison Ivy.

Diners chatter comfortably with one another, sipping their chilled white wines and silver utensils clatter melodiously in the background. I should feel odd, it’s like stepping into someone’s home, but I’m drawn by the informal atmosphere.

We ushered ourselves to our seats and proceeded to order. Don’t be fooled by the simple menu. Everything looks like a mere hawker centre offering, but wait till you try it.

Fish Otah cushioned with Egg Omelette


Garden Salad

Looks too easy peasy right? Wait till you put that first bite in your mouth. The explosion of natural flavours make you feel all healthy and delicious inside. Ingredients are fresh from the soil and the fish we had was sedap!

Expect service to be slow on weekends because of the upsurge in customers. But you’ll hardly get bored. Pick up copies of Tatler or Prestige with Ivy Singh on the front cover and read all about her Bollywood Veggies story. Go play with the mongrel puppies in the backyard. Shoot a couple of hoops in a makeshift basketball arena. Or, in my opinion, the best thing to do is just sit back and relax the afternoon away.

If you’re there, watch out for this nice old uncle. He’s one of the servers and he provides such excellent personalised service, you won’t mind paying the service charge. He treated us to a banana and seriously, organic food really tastes different from the stuff you get in the market.

I’ve never seen furry bananas before and this one tastes exceptionally sweet. White bananas, I like.

John says that after eating this Kueh Ko-sui, you’d think the ones you eat outside are plasticky and yukky. I totally agree. This KKS is creamy and cold and not too sweet.

The banana cake and tapioca are made from farm produce and are served steaming hot. Fall in love with local desserts all over again!

*Burrrrrrrrrrrrp* - John’s king burp.


Never-stink-a-lot toilet.

Next up! We go to Hay Dairies - the only goat farm in Singapore. Entry is free and it’s only $2 for a pack of alfafa sprouts if you want feed the goaties.

One goat too many! This little boy was so cute to watch. While he was feeding one miserable sprout to the brown goat while trying not to let it bite off his fingers, the white goat was busy getting at the rest of the sprouts in his bag.

Grandpa goat. Chewing on his cud and looking so comfy on his belly.

I downed a whole bottle of goat’s milk and while it doesn’t taste very different from normal cow’s milk, it certainly kept me full until dinner time!

For 4 hours, we were whisked away to another part, another world where there are no high-rise buildings, no fast-food restaurants, no shopping malls … just pure nature with its rolling hills and farms that provided a different perspective for 3 urbanites yesterday.

If you want to go on a free ‘n’ easy journey like ours, drop by Bollywood Veggies for lunch, pick up a map of the area and off you go on your countryside tour.

Enjoy and tell me how it goes!!