Sarah Teh
The smoke found me before the food did. It was close to midnight at Bedok 85, and I had been standing at Chomp Chomp BBQ for a while, camera down, letting my eyes settle. The uncle worked the grill with his back half turned to the crowd, a pair of tongs in one hand, the…
Orchard Road empties from the top down. By a quarter to midnight, storefronts have started pulling their shutters, glass gone dark over displays that glowed all day. Escalators still run. A few people drift toward the Somerset MRT with shopping bags softened at the handles, while red tail lights smear across the wet glass outside.…
Finding Apollon AM-Bar on the First Floor The first floor of Orchard Plaza’s dining oasis is quiet in that way old shopping centres go quiet at night. The bright shops of Orchard Road felt far away by the time I found unit #01-29. Inside, there isn’t much room. A counter, a handful of seats, staff…
The pot never stopped moving. It was near midnight at Bedok 85, and I had been standing at Seng Hiang for a while, doing more watching than shooting. The auntie worked the noodles in a wire basket, dipping them into the boiling water, lifting, shaking off the drops in three quick beats. She did not…
It’s past eight, and the lingering heat warms the pavement. A grill flares beneath bare bulbs, smoke rising as a vendor fans the coals. Satay skewers sizzle, coins exchange hands, and the queue shifts, a fleeting moment in the vibrant night market in Singapore. Most visitors miss this dynamic scene. They arrive ready to photograph…
The steam came up in one thin ribbon, and I almost missed it. It was near eleven at Bedok 85, and I had been standing at Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian for a while, watching more than shooting. The uncle worked the noodles in a wire basket, dunking them into the boiling water, lifting, shaking…
The malls close first. Restaurants dim their lights behind glass, chairs are stacked, and the daytime shopping crowds begin to leave Orchard Road. Somerset, which spends most of the day moving between lunch queues and retail floors, quietly becomes something else. I walk the streets around Somerset MRT Station with a camera after dark: down…
It was past ten when I got to Bedok 85, and the steam was doing all the talking. Fong Seng was long shut by then, but the hawker centre still hummed. A few tables of men in singlets nursing beers. The clack of a wok somewhere behind me. And that particular fluorescent glare that flattens…
6ix 6ix After Midnight Cuppage Road goes quiet after the dinner crowds thin out. The shophouses along Cuppage Terrace dim, Cuppage Plaza rescinds into darkness, and the street holds only the low hum of a few late cars and the occasional figure walking home. Then there is 6ix 6ix, spilling warm light onto the pavement…
The wok never stopped roaring. It was almost midnight at a zi char stall in Geylang, and the flames kept leaping up in short, angry bursts. Trays clattered. Someone shouted an order across the aisle. A cleaner dragged a bin past my chair. I sat there with my camera in my lap, waiting for a…