No booking needed: Singapore (4)

Had lunch in the food court on the B3 level of the Ion shopping centre along Orchard Road. In order to get there we had to get off our bus across the road at Far East Plaza, and immediately thought we'd landed in a WW1 trench with the bloody Huns launching a mustard gas attack at us, such was the acrid intensity of the cigarette smoke. Turns out we should have expected this as FEP is a popular weekend hangout for many of the foreign workers in Singapore, and this is where they come to send money home to their families.

Predictably, the whole of Orchard Road was also packed with shoppers eager to make the most of the last full weekend before Christmas. However, the food court at Ion was a disappointment. The curry yong tao foo (a curry noodle dish where one can have their choice of extras such as dou fu, fish balls, and other fried bits) that I had was warm, not hot (which was probably why I appeared to be the only customer asking for this option, and I'm sure the fact that curry was an extra 60 cents over plain soup also had something to do with it). The rest of the clan thought their orders were pretty ordinary too. Plus did I say it was packed?

On the bright side there were quite a few Japanese ramen and other stalls, one of which had a longish queue, so we'll be back another time to check them out.