Changi Village Hawker Center

So myself, The Wife and The Mother-in-Law (MIL for short) were at IKEA Tampines over the weekend trying to find some household stuff. And everyone needs a decent place to eat after a workout at IKEA! I am assuming most would drive there, so it won't be too much of a stretch to say Changi Village is easily accessible at just a 15min drive away (assuming not much traffic)!

There are actually only 3 stalls I patronize at the place. But I am only gonna cover 2 of them as I didn't have anything from Mizzy's Nasi Lemak. One of the stalls I frequent is - you guessed it - the other snaking queue...

Wee Kee!
The stall is famed for their Ipoh Hor Fun, but what I love there is the Chicken Chop noodles.
You don't have to try the food to know that they have a loyal following. There is almost ALWAYS a queue, and a single stall occupying 2 shop spaces is almost unheard of. That stands testament to their popularity!

So The Wife had her usual, which is the signature of the stall, Ipoh Hor Fun.

Probably the greatest selling point of the dish is that the noodles are extremely smooth, and easily *slurppppppp* ed up...heh! 
You know how some sauces can be too jelat after 2 spoonfuls, and those that leave you feeling like you are just drinking colored water? Well, this was neither. Done just right, it had slight spiciness tinged with a little bit of sweetness. That is the hallmark of Ipoh Hor Fun, and it was executed well here.
Other ingredients are included as well, like char siew, fishcake, mushrooms and bits of chicken. The sauce sorta covers the taste of these individual items though. And the fishcake is so thinly sliced that I was looking at them and asking The Wife : "Aren't you gonna eat that abalone?"
That gave her a good laugh :(

The MIL wasn't feeling too hungry, so she ordered simple dumpling soup from the same stall.

Ok lah...nothing really special to me. I did like the fact that it wasn't too 'porky' though. After awhile you guys will realise that I'm partly halal, as in I try to avoid pork wherever I can!

And of course, it went without saying that I had my usual chicken chop noodles!

My apologies, I was famished and so I only managed to get off 1 photo before the urge to eat overwhelmed me! The noodles are slightly different from most other stalls selling wanton mee or mee kia, as in that they don't feel as starchy. I could probably polish off 2 plates without feeling sick!

Ok truth be told, I am not of big fan of the chicken though. I'm more of a (chicken) breast man. HAHA! But the parts here are pretty assorted, though to their credit, none of it is overly fatty or has any bones. I wolfed down my portion within minutes, partly cos I was super hungry. Do give this a try next time you visit! But it says chicken chop HOR FUN on the board, ask for NOODLES! 'JI PA MIAN'!!!

Before we started queuing for these 3 aforementioned dishes though, we made a beeline for this place.

Mei Xiang Goreng Pisang!
The goreng pisang is so nice! I never fail to get a couple (or more) when I am here and IF they are open.
I can't seem to grasp their operation hours, and I suspect they open on the whims and fancies of the owners. Just try and order from the grumpy uncle and you will see what I mean. He isn't exactly rude, but most times is brusque. Of all the times I have visited, only once did he joke a little with me. He probably struck Toto on that day hehe.

Rule of thumb No 1 when making banana fritters : USE RAJA BANANAS!
Any other banana will not be as sweet!
So Mei Xiang got part 1 right, and part 2 (the batter) down pat as well. Not excessively thick like most of the Malay-styled goreng pisangs, you can see how thin the coat of batter is in the photo above! Best eaten hot/warm, the batter is crispy and not too oily.

The bad thing about this is that once left to cool, the batter will stick to the teeth, most likely because of the oil seeping out. That is a good thing for the health conscious, but then again, if you are THAT health conscious, you don't have any business eating goreng pisang!! :)))) 

My favourite story is how I once bought like 20 for my campmates, but had less than 10 left when I reached my camp in Lim Chu Kang. MEHEHEHE.

The MIL said she was here a couple of weeks earlier, and she discovered some pretty good chendol just opposite the hawker center.

Just look across if you stand at Mizzy's Nasi Lemak and you will be able to see this stall.
The chendol IS pretty fine.

You get to choose whether you want your chendol plain, with red beans, with corn, or with a variety of different ingredients, even durian! We opted for the conservative red bean, and while it isn't comparable to Japanese azuki bean, it sure gave us an old-school ice kacang taste. We also liked the fact that the green wormy things carried flavour of its own. It tasted to me like Bengawan Solo's layered kueh (for some reason it slips my mind now, but you know the red, green and white one).

Worth the extra calories and also serves to cool us down in the sweltering heat!

Price : Nothing above $4 (individual item)
Location : Changi Village
Website : None to speak of!

Signing off,
The Lunatic