Wee Teck hamming it up for the camera

YONG TAU FOO HITS THE SPOT

After almost getting really lost on the Seletar Expressway (SLE), we somehow made it to Ngee Fou Restaurant along Upper Thomson Road, albeit with some phoned-in help from MINI headquarters. 

Crispy yet not excessively oily, it was lighter than most of our earlier samplings, making this one of our unanimous favourites of the day.

The photographers on assignment enjoyed that stop too, as Wee Teck hammed it up with our yummy Yong Tau Foo. (See pic on the left)

BAK KUT TEH IN THE WILD WILD WEST

Our biggest stumbling block came next, with some cryptic clues and our obvious lack of familiarity around Jurong resulting in us going round in circles for what felt like hours.

We eventually found the elusive stall, Joo Siah Bak Kut Teh, which served up some hot, peppery, but 'oh-so-tasty' Bak Kut Teh.

Burp!

The sun was really beating down on us at this point, but the really solid soup was just too good to pass up. I personally felt the pork was slightly on the tough side though.

BEDOK'S BEST CHWEE KUEH

The next clue brought us all the way across the island to the famed Blk 85 market in Bedok North, which is famous for its night-time 'Bak Chor Mee'.

Today's highlight wasn't the famous noodle stall, but Siang Siang Chwee Kueh, for what else, but Chwee Kueh!

At this point, we raised the proverbial white flag and asked for a take-away portion instead.

Just as well, because this was to be our last stop for the day.

The event's organisers radio-ed us to 'return to base' because we'd run out of time. Bummer.

Final score: 8 out of 10 stops

Not quite mission accomplished, but not too bad for a long morning drive either.

Too stuffed, even for Chwee Kueh!

FAST FOODIES

In addition to sampling some of the best food that the island has to offer, MINI owners were also racing against each other for $6,000 worth of cool prizes that included iPods and petrol vouchers, plus the all important bragging rights in the second instalment of this very popular event organised by Trans Eurokars and K.F. Seetoh's Makansutra.

Even slow pokes like were in the running for some $3,000 worth of lucky draw prizes. Knowing my luck though, I was happy enough with the goodie bag.

Philip Lee and his wife Winnie Woon were the top team this time around, and they accomplished their blazing run in a three-year-old MINI Cooper S.

When asked about the secret behind their success, Winnie was quick to point to their failure in their last Makansutra event where she had mixed up Telok Ayer with Kreta Ayer while searching for an elusive Teh Tarik stall, as the driving force behind desperately wanting to win this time around.

According to Winnie, Philip is so attached to his MINI that she is now 'relegated' to driving their other family car; a German luxury sedan.

If you'd like to meet Winnie, Philip, and the rest of Singapore's MINI-mad motorists, visit www.minisg.com.

- THE STRAITS TIMES REVIEW OF THE MINI COOPER S: Exercise in excesses
- THE BUSINESS TIMES REVIEW OF THE MINI COOPER S: Small is beautiful

Feel like a 10-course breakfast? You can try out the stalls for this year's MINI Makansutra Breakfast Trail yourself. Here they are in no particular order:

Bak Kut Teh: Joo Siah Bak Kut Teh
(Blk 347 Jurong East Avenue 1 #01-220/221)

Yong Tau Foo: Ngee Fou Restaurant Ampang Yueng Tow Fu
(928 Upper Thomson Road)

Chwee Kueh: Siang Siang Chwee Kueh
(Blk 85 Bedok North Street 4 #01-247 Fengshan Market & Food Centre)

Roti Prata: Riyadh Muslim Food
(Blk 32 Defu Lane 10 #01-12 Soon Soon Lai Eating House)

Soto Ayam: Selamat Datang Malay Food
(Stall 9 Adam Road Food Centre)

Teh Tarik: Rafee's Corner
(7 Maxwell Road #02-85 Amoy Street Food Centre)

Chapati: Azmi Restaurant
(170 Norris Road Thye Chong Restaurant)

Soon Kueh, Yam and Pumpkin Cakes: Jin Ji Mei Shi
(No. 96 Maxwell Food Centre)

Moon Cakes: Tai Thong Cake Shop
(35 Mosque Street)

Hoagie Roll with Farmer's Sausage & Sauerkraut: Werner's Oven
(6 Upper East Coast Road #01-01/02)