By Anjana Krishna Kumar

When taxi driver Victor Woo was on a trip to Hokkaido last month, he did not just eat a live octopus, he wrestled with it first.

'I think it was the welcoming ritual there, and since I was first in line to enter the place, they made me bite off the first tentacle of the octopus,' he recalls.

'It tasted very bland, like chewing on a rubber band.'

It was one food experience he will never forget because the other seven tentacles of the octopus latched onto his face as he was biting one off.

'It was very uncomfortable,' he says.

The 59-year-old was given a free trip to the Japanese island for being one of eight winners of the Tourism Award for Best Tourism Host in the taxi category.

Organised by the Singapore Tourism Board, the annual award honours taxi drivers who provide excellent service.
Mr Woo, who is a father of three, has been a London Cab driver with transport company SMRT for 13 years.

The jovial man tells LifeStyle about his work philosophy: 'I believe in PAP - living with Passion and serving with Pride.'

Do you cook at home?

Yes, I cook whenever possible. I make very good spaghetti - I add a lot of ingredients such as white button mushrooms and top it off with bottled pasta sauce. It's a very hearty meal because the portions are huge.

I don't understand why my children order spaghetti when we go out to eat. Mine is much better and the serving size is value for money.

Where are some of the best hawker stalls in town?

The fried fish soup stall at Havelock Cooked Food Centre at Block 22b in Old Havelock Road.

This dish is usually served with fried fish slices placed in the soup, so the fish is very soggy when you eat it.

But this stall places the fried fish in a separate bowl, and you have to add them to the soup yourself. So the fish tastes nice and crispy. I've never seen it served this way anywhere else.

The stall is really popular with the residents in the area, and the dish is usually sold out by 7pm.

Another place is the briyani at Murugan Vilas at 126 Dunlop Street in Little India. I took a tourist around that area once and we could smell the briyani from outside. We had to try it, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The briyani rice was not yellow and oily as in most stalls. Instead, it was brownish and didn't leave you feeling heavy after the meal.

I later took all my friends and family to try it, and everyone loved it.

What's your favourite local dish?

I like Hainanese chicken rice balls from Block 111, Lorong 1 Toa Payoh 01-366. The owner's younger brother also has a stall at Jalan Besar, 30 Foch Road 01-02, and I take my tourist passengers there when we go sightseeing in Little India and Kampung Glam. It's a very unique dish and very filling.

Which restaurant would you go to for Chinese New Year or special occasions?

I like Sakura International Buffet located on the second floor of Orchard Shopping Centre. It's the best place because you can get whatever cuisine you want for $26 per person, which is very reasonable.
Which is your favourite food haunt?

I like the xiaolongbao stall called You Peng located on the fourth level of Beauty World Shopping Centre in Upper Bukit Timah. Ten pieces cost $7.

It's run by a couple from Beijing, and the items are really fresh and delicious. Usually xiaolongbao that is made locally does not taste as nice. The authentic ones made by people from China are the best.

Which is the best dining hub in Singapore?

Definitely Tanglin Village in the Dempsey Road area. You get many types of food, such as Italian in La Forketta, steaks at The Prime Society and local seafood at Long Beach and Jumbo restaurants. At Oosh, which has beautiful interiors, you can order both Japanese and Western food.

What's an unusual dish that you have recommended to your passengers?

I once recommended fish head curry from one of the Indian restaurants in Race Course Road to a British passenger. When the dish came, she got up and screamed really loudly. The whole restaurant was startled.

Apparently she got scared by the way the fish looked at her. She wasn't used to eating fish with the eyes and all intact. But later, when I served her a portion of the fish, she seemed to like it a lot.

What is the most interesting incident you've had with a tourist?

There was this British family I was taking around Singapore. The family comprised an elderly woman, her son, his wife and their two teenage boys.

We were walking along Temple Street in Chinatown and the elderly woman noticed something a construction worker was carrying. She asked me what it was, so I looked closer and realised he was carrying tea in plastic bags for himself and his friends.

I tried explaining to her that we take away tea from coffee shops that way, and she was very amused that we use straws to drink our tea from plastic bags when the British drink theirs with tea sets.

But she was a good sport. She then ordered teh-C (tea with evaporated milk) for everyone in the family and it was funny seeing them take pictures of themselves drinking tea out of plastic bags.

What's the best local snack?

Goreng pisang (banana fritters). And the best you can find in Singapore is from the stall Lim Kee in Maxwell Food Centre. A Malaysian friend of mine comes all the way from Kuala Lumpur to buy them to take home.
Are you a sweet or savoury person?

Savoury. I like my spicy dishes. I think I'm sweet enough so I don't need any more sweet dishes.

anjanakk@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Jan 11, 2009.

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