Known for rousing a sense of nostalgia among Singaporeans is the 50 Cents Fest, back for its fourth consecutive year with affordable street food and interactive games.
From Jul 27-28, expect a blast to the past at Chinatown Food Street, accompanied by tantalising, traditional Hokkien eats—the focus for this year’s festival. More than 40 stalls and mobile vendors will be peddling a wide variety of savouries and sweets, including rare, authentic Hokkien dishes. Classics to anticipate include the Hei Zho, a deep fried prawn roll; Fried Five Spiced Pork Roll Jee Ba Wan, another fried delicacy in the form of a meatball; and the Cha Gay Ah, a stir-fry of tapioca noodles, dried shrimps, vegetables and dark soy sauce.
As for sweets, there is the Ang Ku Kueh, a well-known Hokkien pastry similar to mochis, with its sweet centre filling stuffed in a flattened ball of soft, sticky rice flour dough. Then beat the heat with the Iced Red Date Tea, which is not only thirst-quenching but nutritious too. Besides food and drinks, the two-day event will also play host to an array of interactive activities, ranging from a bingo game titled Jiak Ba Buay (meaning have you eaten?), to other nostalgic arcade games and even a getai performance.
All items range from a mere $0.50 to $3.00, but festival-goers need not scramble for coins. QR codes enable cashless payment methods at the event, through OCBC PayAnyone, so you can free up your hands for the most important thing—the food.
50 Cents Fest 2019 happens Jul 27-28 at Chinatown Food Street. More information to be released here.
