Sarah Teh
The first thing I noticed was the light. It was not the kind of light a photographer usually looks for. The fluorescent tubes above the stalls at 85 Fengshan Centre cast a pale, uneven glow across the tables, flattening some colours while exaggerating others. But at 1am, standing in front of the fried oyster stall…
The last bus has gone. Newton Food Centre keeps a few lights on. I walk in past shuttered stalls, chairs stacked, floors still wet from a mop. Then I hear it: the scrape of a ladle, the low hiss of a pot. At 500 Clemenceau Ave N, #01-10, one stall is awake. XO Minced Meat…
The wings went on before I found my angle. It was close to midnight at Bedok North, and I had been standing at Sin Bedok North BBQ for a while, camera down, watching the wings land on the grate in a neat row. The uncle laid them out without looking, the way you do a…
The day heat lifts slowly here. By the time I reach Newton Food Centre, the sun has gone and the light has changed hands. No longer the flat white of afternoon. Now it comes from the stalls themselves, bulb by bulb, a row of small fires holding back the dark along Clemenceau Avenue North. Newton…
The grill was the brightest thing in the room, and that was the problem. It was past eleven at Fengshan Market & Food Centre, and I had been standing near Chan BBQ for a while, camera down, watching the uncle work the coals. He moved without hurry. A pair of tongs in one hand, a…
Orchard Road lets go of its crowds slowly. By the time I reached Cuppage Plaza B1 28, the shopping stretch behind me had thinned to a few late walkers and the low hum of traffic sliding past shuttered windows. The bright malls were already dimming. The night was settling in the way it does here,…
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…