Where did you say you wanted to go again?

‘Foodie’ can’t have been a word that was coined among the English-speakers of Asia, because that doesn’t narrow anything down. Us Asians, especially ethnic Chinese, love food. We spend hours eating it, talking about it, even arguing over it (ask a group of Singaporeans where the best place is to get pretty much anything and a full-blown discussion is likely to occur).

Not being able to speak, much less read, a word of Chinese, my boyfriend approached a neighbouring local stir-fry, pointed at another customer’s meal (noodles and vegetables in soup), and Noodle Man was born. The positive review (”It hit the spot”) led to more visits, and eventually, when I arrived in Xiamen, my first time there. The first thing to note is that at all Shaxian Xiaochi stores, there’s a hell of a lot more than noodles available.

We haven’t eaten there in a long time, but our favourites were dumplings, bian shi (small wonton), fried rice, and fried bai guo. Noodles don’t even feature so much on our list any more, but the name’s stuck. We’d spend our ten RMB at the ‘Good’ Noodle Man, or the ‘Not So Good’ Noodle Man, depending on how far we wanted to walk.

Sea World is a common moniker attached to seafood restaurants that proudly display their “So fresh it’s live” ingredients to all and sundry. I first heard this phrase uttered by an American visitor. I enjoy seafood, I really do, but walking by tubs of fish slowly turning upside down in shallow water (or attempting to make a break for it), baby octopi in styrofoam, grey prawns not moving very much in overcrowded tanks, and crabs sitting, bound, in dry plastic tubs, does not make me want to partake in that particular meal.

And if the specialty is seafood cooked live in a hotpot right at the table, I’ll just meet you after dinner, okay?

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to BBQ Street? Apologies. A Xiamen institution is the BBQ vendor, the illegal hawker lining the side of the road or standing on the beach, dispensing sticks of BBQ to all and sundry who’ll pay the price. BBQ street is a legal collection of BBQ ‘restaurants’. Wander on down, pick one shopfront that agrees with you, have a seat, and commence ordering whatever you like.

I haven’t actually been there yet, but I’ve walked by, and lots of my friends are regulars and survive visits to the place, so I reckon I can talk about it.

Cafe Ayi is the name given to the office canteen that provides breakfast, lunch, and dinner to all staff. It doesn’t matter if you eat in the canteen, or the special boss and foreigners’ room, the food is the same (cold) and the price is right (free).

That’s one of the peculiar things about China (or maybe only Xiamen). In Singapore, you get your monthly salary and you’re on your own, buddy. If you work in the CBD, look forward to bringing your own lunch from home or spending a good amount of money on a soup and sandwich. In Xiamen, it doesn’t matter what your position is in the company, your meals are included in your benefits package, if you want them. If you’re not too fussy about eating Chinese food every day, it’s a great way to save money. Especially if you want to spend a bit of time with the boss!

[Apologies for skipping last week. The national holiday threw me for a loop and I lost track of days.]

• 8 Oct 2004