ST News : Handsome hawkers turn up the heat

[Guest News reader]

Handsome hawkers turn up the heat

 

ST PHOTOS: GIN TAY, MARCELLIN LOPEZ, KELLY HUI, KHALID BABA

PUBLISHED

NOV 17, 2019, 1:07 AM SGT

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Hedy Khoo

STFood Online Editor

 

 

These hawkers not only dish up good food – they’re also yummy themselves

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FROM FIT TO FAB

The fresh-faced 31-year-old bachelor would look more at home as a trainer in a gym than behind a stove frying carrot cake, but Mr Walter Tay is a full-time hawker at Kampung Admiralty, where he runs a carrot cake stall with his father.

If one finds it hard to believe he is a hawker, the calluses on his hands say it all.

Being featured in The Straits Times’s Fit And Fab column in January boosted his image as a hawker hunk.

Since then, encouraged by close friends, he has no qualms playing up that image on social media. He appears shirtless in many of his photos on his Instagram account @walkwithwalter. His strategy certainly works as he has 18.6k followers on Instagram.

He says: “As a second-generation hawker, how do I stand out from the rest? A friend suggested I use social media to promote myself.

 

“In the beginning, I felt awkward posing shirtless. It felt like I was selling my body, but it is no different from bikini models at a car wash.

 

“At the end of the day, I am a hawker and I want to promote fitness. This is merely one way to gain attention and get people to listen to my story and see a different side of hawkers.”

His story is about how looks have affected his life up till now and to not be afraid of failure. As a boy, he indulged in junk food and computer games until he became obese. In school, bullies picked on him.

“I was regularly made fun of. I was kicked and sometimes, my classmates would even pour ice down the back of my shirt,” he recalls.

Mr Walter Tay (with his father) was in debt, so he restarted his family’s carrot cake stall to earn money to pay off the debt. ST PHOTO: KHALID BABA

At 15, he picked up basketball and started exercising. At 17, he picked up dragon boating, which changed his physique.

“I started to become popular. Guys wanted to be my friends and I could take my pick of girls who were interested in me. I felt a rush of power and I told myself I wanted to be an alpha male,” he recalls. “I felt looks brought me everything and was a source of my happiness.”

But in the army, he was told by an instructor that he was “all brawn and no brains”.

Mr Tay says: “I felt very hurt by that remark and felt I needed more material success to prove my worth.”

From there, he worked as a cabin crew at 21, then quit to work as a sales agent for a multi-level marketing company, getting his friends to join him too.

He wanted to get rich quickly, but the company turned out to be a Ponzi scheme and he found himself deep in debt. Combined with losses from other businesses he had dabbled in, such as Korean cosmetics, his debts amounted to about $200,000 at the age of 27.

His mother, who had retired by then, suggested restarting the family business of selling carrot cake. Mr Tay and his father opened their first outlet in 2015 in Bukit Panjang and a second outlet in Woodlands in 2017.

Working an average of 16 hours daily and eating at his stall or home-cooked food at home, Mr Tay scrimped and saved, paying off his debts in October last year.

• FATHER & SON CARROT CAKE

• 02-18 Kampung Admiralty Hawker Centre, 676 Woodlands Drive 71; open: 6am to 2.30pm; 4.30 to 8pm. Closed on Thursdays

  Info: Mr Tay works from 4.30 to 8pm on weekdays (except Thursdays) and 8am to 8pm on weekends

“I did not want to be a hawker at first because I felt people looked down on hawkers. But being a hawker myself has stripped me of my ego and whatever importance I placed on my looks. When I was faced with debt, my looks couldn’t save me. It was hard work and my family’s support which kept me going,” he says.

His current beauty regimen includes moisturising his face twice a day and using sunblock. He wakes up early – by 6am daily – to work out for two hours and he watches what he eats.

His diet consists mostly of fruit, seafood and brown rice. He does not eat dinner. But on Thursdays, his day off, he allows himself to indulge in ice cream.

“Now, I view having looks as a bonus. In the past, I was worried about ageing and losing my looks. But now, I am not. Looks will eventually fade. To me, it is about staying fit and leading a healthy lifestyle.

“I would like to promote our local hawker culture and also encourage people to keep fit,” he adds.

To those who think he is a pretty boy who cannot cook, he says: “To be frank, my carrot cake is not the best. But we have our regulars. If anyone doubts my cooking, I say, come and give it a try first.”

Handsome hawkers | THE BIG STORY | The Straits Times

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KEEPING FIT FOR THE JOB

Being recognised for his looks motivated fishball noodle seller Gilbert Lim, 46, to work harder to improve his cooking.

In 2005, he was named the Most Handsome Hawker in the National Day edition of The Straits Times.

“At that time, I felt very flattered, but at the same time, I felt annoyed that my looks attracted more attention than my noodles. I wanted to be recognised for my noodles, not because I looked good.

“After all, I am not an actor or a model, I am a hawker,” he says. “I did not like to be typecast as a himbo hawker with people questioning whether I can really cook.”

But he came around when he noticed that the publicity drew more customers to his stall.

“The attention made me more determined to improve my cooking skills to keep customers coming back.”

 

Noodle seller Gilbert Lim gets customers hitting on him even though he is married and a father. ST PHOTO: KELLY HUI

 

A third-generation hawker, Mr Lim began helping out at his grandfather’s stall in Maxwell Food Centre at the age of nine. His grandfather started the stall in 1958. When his grandfather died, his father took over the business in 1987 and moved the stall to Amoy Street Food Centre in 2003. Mr Lim and his father moved into their current unit in 2015.

Mr Lim says: “I learnt to cook noodles when I was 13. I watched how my father did it and cooked it for myself. Whatever I cooked, I had to eat. I did not like eating badly cooked noodles so I learnt to get the correct timing quickly.”

Still, he had never thought that one day, he would join his father in the family business. He left school after his O levels and worked various jobs, including being a currency trader and project coordinator at a construction firm. At the age of 30, he decided he wanted to be a hawker.

“I felt it would be a waste of the hard work that my grandfather and father put into the business if I didn’t carry on what they had started,” he says.

In addition, he felt being in the food business could be a stable source of income and he had a passion for cooking.

“My relatives were doubtful of my abilities and whether I could adapt to hawker life after working in white-collar jobs. But my parents were supportive of my decision,” he recalls.

• AH TER TEOCHEW FISH BALL NOODLE

• 01-14, Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road; open: 7am to 9pm (Mondays and Tuesdays); 7am to 3pm (Wednesdays to Saturdays). Closed on Sundays

  Info: Mr Lim works from 7am to 3pm (weekdays) and is off on weekends

Working with his father full time was a turning point for him.

“For a start, when I worked in office jobs, I used to enjoy shopping for working clothes and dressing up nicely for work. Now that I am a hawker, my attire became T-shirts, bermudas and slippers. It saved me a lot of money,” he says.

The hours are gruelling. He wakes up at 3am as he has to buy fresh ingredients at the wet market. He spends about 30 minutes getting ready in the mornings, of which 15 minutes are devoted to blow-drying and styling his hair with a bit of hair wax.

In the beginning, he often had arguments with his father over changing certain aspects of the business. “My father wanted to stick to the old way of doing things, but I wanted to make changes in order to generate better profits for the stall,” he says.

It took him five years to convince his father to make major changes to the menu. Mr Lim introduced more ingredients into the noodles, such as braised mushroom, pork liver, meatballs and prawn.

Despite the stress of hawker life, he is set on leading a healthy lifestyle. His main objective is to stay healthy to cope with the physically demanding hawker life.

He stopped eating fried foods when he was 30 and his current diet consists mainly of vegetables, fruit and fish for lunch daily.

Breakfast is two slices of wholemeal bread and a cup of kopi-c kosong. At 9am, he cooks Teochew porridge at the stall, which he eats with blanched spinach and boiled fish. At 11am, he eats rice and vegetables from the economy rice stall for lunch.

At 3pm, he has a bowl of plain noodles to replenish his energy. Dinner at 6pm is either chicken rice or sushi sometimes. He does not eat after that as he has to be in bed by 9pm.

Every day, he exercises for at least an hour. He runs thrice a week.

“Exercise is my way of relieving stress. The work I do at the stall is manual labour, but it is stressful. Exercise allows me to free my mind of worries.

“If I want to operate our stall, I have to make sure my body can go the distance,” he says.

Married with two daughters aged 15 and 14, Mr Lim still gets approached by female customers who ask him for his number.

“I give my number to them because they say they want to get noodles delivered or check our operating hours. Occasionally, some ask me out on dates. I decline by telling them politely that I am married,” he says.

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INDIAN COOKING BAK CHOR MEE

When Ms May Leena Krishnan posted a video of her fiance cooking fishball noodles on their newly opened stall’s Facebook page last month, her aim was to prove that an Indian can cook Chinese dishes such as fishball noodles and bak chor mee.

But the good looks of Mr Jeevan Ananthan, 28, attracted attention online and drew requests for media interviews.

The couple have been interviewed by Chinese daily Lianhe Zaobao and Tamil paper Tamil Murasu.

Ms Krishnan, 29, who used to work as a digital marketer, says: “I knew the content was interesting, but I wasn’t expecting much traffic online when I posted the video as our account is new.

“I am used to Jeevan getting attention from girls, but the focus of my video was on his cooking.”

 

When Ms May Leena Krishnan posted a video of her fiance Jeevan Ananthan cooking fishball noodles, she did not expect his looks to draw so much attention. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

 

Mr Ananthan worked as an investment banker for five years before quitting to open the stall with Ms Krishnan as they share a mutual passion for hawker food and want to preserve the hawker culture.

He is the head cook at their stall. Recently, the couple hired another cook to work the afternoon shift.

Mr Ananthan learnt his noodle-cooking skills from an experienced noodle seller whom he hired for a month to train him.

Mr Ananthan says: “He taught me the basic techniques, but I had to develop my own recipes for the chilli paste, the braised mushroom and sauces.”

When the couple opened their stall on Aug 6, Li Na Fishball noodle – named after Ms Krishnan’s Chinese name – they had a rough start.

She recalls: “Some people did not want to eat our noodles because Jeevan is Indian.”

She says some customers even pointed to the ingredients and asked Jeevan if he knew what he was doing – they assumed he was a foreign worker hired to cook at the stall.

• LI NA FISHBALL NOODLE

• 01-140, Block 116 Toa Payoh Lorong 2; open: 7am to 8.30pm daily

  Info: Ms Krishnan and Mr Ananthan work from 7am to 2pm daily. On Thursdays, they work from 7am to 8.30pm

Mr Ananthan says: “The greatest triumph is when sceptical customers turn into our regulars.”

He says nutrition and exercise are his secrets to staying in shape. His mother cooks for him at least four times a week.

But he admits that running the stall has taken a physical toll on him.

He says: “Since August, I have lost at least 7kg of muscle mass because I don’t have enough time to eat and I skip meals.”

He clocks six hours of sleep daily. In the past, he used to sleep eight hours a night.

Prior to opening the stall, he used to visit the gym up to four times a week. These days, he goes to the gym once a week for two hours.

“Staying fit is something I picked up from my father who got me exercising since I was a child,” he says.

As for Ms Krishnan, she makes it a point to do yoga stretching exercises for 10 minutes daily.

She says: “It is not our style to milk our good looks. It is a bonus if people think we look good, but at the end of the day, we want people to come back for our noodles.”

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PRATA OVER LOOKS

Third-generation prata seller Mohamed Dufail, 33, is an “aunty killer”.

He says: “I think we attract more ‘aunty’ fans who are less shy about talking to us. Some ask me why I am not in Bollywood. I usually joke by saying I will invite them for my movie premiere if I do go to Bollywood.”

Mr Mohamed, who holds a degree in mechanical engineering, does not think of himself as handsome, but he attracted female fans after appearing in a feature about next-generation hawkers in The Peak magazine in 2016.

He works with his elder brother and father at their family stall in Sin Ming Road. His grandfather started as a street hawker selling prata in 1933. Mr Mohamed’s father set up his current prata business in 1993.

Prata seller Mohamed Dufail has aunties asking him why he is not acting in Bollywood. ST PHOTO: MARCELLIN LOPEZ

Mr Mohamed joined the family business in 2013 at age 27 after working as a mechanical engineer in a construction company for three years.

“Working as an employee in a company made me see the difference between working for someone else and being a business owner,” he says.

“I thought about the hard work that my father has put into building his business and I felt I wanted to carry on what he has established and pass it on to the next generation.”

He had a discussion with his father who supported his decision. While Mr Mohamed’s elder brother is in charge of cooking, which includes the making of the curries, Mr Mohamed is in charge of the prata-making and customer service.

“I was 13 years old when I made my first prata. Back then, I had to help out at the stall after school. It was the head cook at that time who taught me how to make prata. I did not dare ask my father as he is very strict. Although I found it fun, it was understood that I had to eat the results of whatever dough I ‘played’ with.”

When he turned 18, he worked for six months at the stall. That was when his father taught him more about prata-making techniques, from making the dough to serving prata.

When he later joined the family business for good, Mr Mohamed’s father taught him the operational side of the business, from managing staff to dealing with suppliers and customers.

Every day, Mr Mohamed arrives at the stall by 6.30am to set up shop. His father will then inspect the curries and Mr Mohamed has to make a batch of prata for him to perform a taste test.

“This is the most nerve-racking part of the day. After all these years, I still feel nervous every morning when my father tastes my prata. He is a perfectionist and very strict about quality. If the texture or taste is not the same, he knows and he will point it out,” he says.

The dough is prepared the day before. Mr Mohamed has to mix up to 30 to 35kg of flour by hand.

Mr Mohamed, who got married in 2016, says ruefully: “I used to exercise regularly and run 5km three times a week. These days, I try to exercise at least once a week.”

• SIN MING ROTI PRATA

• 01-51, Jin Fa Kopitiam, 24 Sin Ming Road; open 6.30am to 6.30pm daily. Closed on alternate Fridays

  Info: Mr Mohamed is at the stall during its opening hours

His breakfast is prata by default. His mother cooks lunch on alternate days and sends it to the stall. The home-cooked meals usually consist of rice, vegetables, fish and meat.

His mother cooks dinner daily, but the family do not eat rice for dinner. Instead, they eat bread, chapati or thosai. Mr Mohamed also eats fruit daily.

Do looks matter in his job? Mr Mohamed says yes, but only in the sense of looking neat and clean.

“Looks are a marketing tool, but they do not last. No matter how handsome you are, how long can you stay handsome for?

“I don’t think it is necessary to be devastatingly handsome to sell prata. It is a bonus to be pleasant-looking, but what really matters is the food and how we interact with customers and build rapport to keep them coming back.”

[mantin30]

Should include the Song Jung Ki lookalike at ABC hawker centre selling bubble tea.

[Guest chicken Rice , anyone ?]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&feature=emb_logo

[Guest Omg]

20 minutes ago, Guest chicken Rice , anyone ? said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&feature=emb_logo

 

Wow, what a talented queenie  !! You go gal !! 👏👏

 

[Guest News reader]

1 hour ago, mantin30 said:

Should include the Song Jung Ki lookalike at ABC hawker centre selling bubble tea.

 

You mean the following hah ?

 

Song Joong Ki Lookalike Sells $2.50 Brown Sugar Bubble Milk At Hawker Stall In Bukit Merah

• 

BY YIP JIEYING

14 SEP 2019 12:00

UPDATED 15 SEP 2019 23:09

Jack Neo is a fan of his affordable bubble tea.

 

 SHARE  TWEET  SEND

 

 

There’s a bubble tea hawker stall in ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, and it’s selling possibly the most affordable brown sugar pearl milk in Singapore, at $2.50 a cup (most brand name versions cost about double the price). Meanwhile, a medium cup of Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea here goes for only $1.60.
 

•  

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  1/8
   
   
  1/8

  The thirst is real

  The drinks’ prices aren’t the only attractive aspect of this nine-month-old stall, which is aptly called Beautea. Its young hawker-owner, Zhou Zhen Yang, 25, looks a bit like Korean actor Song Joong Ki (Descendants Of The Sun star and Song Hye-kyo's ex) from certain side angles.
  
  The punny stall name has a bittersweet origin story: the currently single Zhen Yang tells us his ex-girlfriend came up with the name for the stall. “We were going to open this stall together, but we broke up about a year ago. I kept the name,” he shares.

•  

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  2/8
   
   
  2/8

  This stall is Jack Neo-approved

  Business has been brisk for Beautea — when 8days.sg dropped by on a Friday during lunchtime, there was a snaking queue and we waited for at least 10 minutes for our drinks.
  
  Jack Neo is a regular customer here, according to Zhen Yang. “He always buys brown sugar fresh milk from me. He likes that drink. His office is just behind my stall, and he’d order 100 cups of bubble tea at one go for his crew when he’s filming something. He did ask me to audition for his shows — I told him if he has a show next time and needs [an actor], he can contact me. It’s something new for me to try.”

•  

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  3/8
   
   
  3/8

  Passion for bubble tea

  The China-born Zhen Yang has often been mistaken for a Taiwanese. “Because I sell milk tea,” he laughs. The Singapore PR moved here with his parents when he was nine. He adds in fluent English: “When I was serving NS, I was very interested in bubble tea. After NS, I decided not to continue with a polytechnic or university education. Instead, I went to Shenzhen to learn how to make bubble tea. My friend has a bubble tea shop there, and he taught me a lot.”
  
  Despite having a 3.9 GPA while studying for an Automation & Mechatronic Systems diploma at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Zhen Yang dropped out two years into his three-year course. He explains, “When I first came to Singapore, my English wasn’t good and I was retained in a government school for two years. I had to start from Primary 1 even though I was at the age for Primary 3. Although I was one of the top students in my poly and the school saved me a place there for five years when I dropped out, I really didn’t feel like studying anymore. ’Cos I’m already ‘old’ — I don’t want to waste more years studying and have a stable career only in my 30s. I decided to set up my own business so I can retire early.”

•  

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  4/8
   
   
  4/8

  BBT is lucrative

  His drinks cost only one-third of what most bubble tea shops charge, but Zhen Yang says he’s still able to make a profit. “My sales is not bad lah. My stall’s rent is cheap (we hear it's about $1,800 a month) and the cost price of bubble tea is low. If I work from morning till night, I can sell 300 to 400 cups a day,” he reveals. “I thought of opening my shop in a mall, but the competition in malls is strong since there are so many bubble tea shops there. [I set up shop at ABC market ’cos] I saw that there aren’t many bubble tea stalls in hawker centres, and everyone needs a drink with their meal.”

•  

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  5/8
   
   
  5/8

  Hawker life

  Working as a part-time car mechanic apprentice during his poly days also helped build up Zhen Yang’s resilience for the hawker line. “I fixed tyres and earned $3.50 an hour,” he recalls. Despite being on his feet for long hours at his stall, he reckons “the work is okay if you have the passion to be a hawker”.
  
  He reasons: “A lot of people say being a hawker is hard work. I think working in an office is just as tedious. You’re strained mentally. But I don’t feel tired being a hawker. I feel happy, especially when I invent a new drink and people tell me it’s nice. I feel a sense of achievement.”
  
  He also works alongside his mother now. “My mum set up a stall opposite mine selling drinks like coffee and tea. It’s not really competition ’cos what we sell is very different. We help each other. She wants to retire and hand over her stall to me, but I’m busy with my own stall too (laughs).”

•  

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  6/8
   
   
  6/8

  The drinks

  Beautea’s bubble tea menu is as extensive as any respectable, higher-priced bubble tea shop in a mall. Zhen Yang brews his own tea like earl grey and black tea, which he dispenses from metal canisters upon order (try the Oolong Tea; it’s super fragrant). “I have a lot of passion for bubble tea, so I created some of my own drinks, like chocolate mint ice cream milk tea ’cos I like eating chocolate mint ice cream,” he tells us. 
  
  There’s also a daily special drink which Zhen Yang says changes “every two weeks to a month, depending on how popular it is”. Currently, it’s Dirty Mango Fresh Milk. “I called it that ’cos the cup is stained with mango syrup. It has fresh honey mango chunks with mango purée and fresh milk. I saw it at a bubble tea shop in China and made my own.”

•  

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  7/8
   
   
  7/8

  The pearls

  Zhen Yang’s brown sugar tapioca pearls simmer in a slow cooker till they are scooped out nice and warm for orders.
   

•  

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  8/8
   
   
  8/8

  Brown Sugar Pearl Fresh Milk, $2.50

  At first glance, Beautea’s attractive version of the viral brown sugar pearl milk drink resembles Tiger Sugar’s, with dark caramelly stripes. Except it costs half of Tiger Sugar’s $5.30 price tag. Zhen Yang pours in a liberal amount of Meiji’s full cream milk in a cup (the same milk is used by local BBT brand R&B Tea for its delish brown sugar pearl milk).
  
  The concoction is wonderfully thick and creamy, though, despite its sultry striped appearance, could do with a stronger, smokier brown sugar flavour. The syrup is a tad mild-tasting. But what we like best about this drink is its pearls — al dente and bouncy with a nice chewiness. They could give Tiger Sugar’s pearls a serious run for its money.
  
  Zhen Yang says he will introduce a Singaporean-influenced “gula melaka fresh milk with white pearls” next year, after his stall undergoes an upgrading renovation (the hawkers are still in talks with the management to decide on the reno period) along with the rest of the hawker centre: “Everyone is drinking brown sugar pearl milk now, so I want to make something nice and special.”
  
  Beautea is at #01-43 ABC Brickworks Hawker Centre, 6 Jln Bukit Merah, S150006. Open daily except Sun, 11am-3pm; 5pm-9pm. www.instagram.com/beauteasg.

 

 

[mantin30]

29 minutes ago, Guest News reader said:

 

You mean the following hah ?

 

Song Joong Ki Lookalike Sells $2.50 Brown Sugar Bubble Milk At Hawker Stall In Bukit Merah

• 

BY YIP JIEYING

14 SEP 2019 12:00

UPDATED 15 SEP 2019 23:09

Jack Neo is a fan of his affordable bubble tea.

 

 SHARE  TWEET  SEND

 

 

There’s a bubble tea hawker stall in ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre, and it’s selling possibly the most affordable brown sugar pearl milk in Singapore, at $2.50 a cup (most brand name versions cost about double the price). Meanwhile, a medium cup of Royal Earl Grey Milk Tea here goes for only $1.60.
 

•  

  ---

  1/8
   
   
  1/8

  The thirst is real

  The drinks’ prices aren’t the only attractive aspect of this nine-month-old stall, which is aptly called Beautea. Its young hawker-owner, Zhou Zhen Yang, 25, looks a bit like Korean actor Song Joong Ki (Descendants Of The Sun star and Song Hye-kyo's ex) from certain side angles.
  
  The punny stall name has a bittersweet origin story: the currently single Zhen Yang tells us his ex-girlfriend came up with the name for the stall. “We were going to open this stall together, but we broke up about a year ago. I kept the name,” he shares.

•  

  ---

  2/8
   
   
  2/8

  This stall is Jack Neo-approved

  Business has been brisk for Beautea — when 8days.sg dropped by on a Friday during lunchtime, there was a snaking queue and we waited for at least 10 minutes for our drinks.
  
  Jack Neo is a regular customer here, according to Zhen Yang. “He always buys brown sugar fresh milk from me. He likes that drink. His office is just behind my stall, and he’d order 100 cups of bubble tea at one go for his crew when he’s filming something. He did ask me to audition for his shows — I told him if he has a show next time and needs [an actor], he can contact me. It’s something new for me to try.”

•  

  ---

  3/8
   
   
  3/8

  Passion for bubble tea

  The China-born Zhen Yang has often been mistaken for a Taiwanese. “Because I sell milk tea,” he laughs. The Singapore PR moved here with his parents when he was nine. He adds in fluent English: “When I was serving NS, I was very interested in bubble tea. After NS, I decided not to continue with a polytechnic or university education. Instead, I went to Shenzhen to learn how to make bubble tea. My friend has a bubble tea shop there, and he taught me a lot.”
  
  Despite having a 3.9 GPA while studying for an Automation & Mechatronic Systems diploma at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Zhen Yang dropped out two years into his three-year course. He explains, “When I first came to Singapore, my English wasn’t good and I was retained in a government school for two years. I had to start from Primary 1 even though I was at the age for Primary 3. Although I was one of the top students in my poly and the school saved me a place there for five years when I dropped out, I really didn’t feel like studying anymore. ’Cos I’m already ‘old’ — I don’t want to waste more years studying and have a stable career only in my 30s. I decided to set up my own business so I can retire early.”

•  

  ---

  4/8
   
   
  4/8

  BBT is lucrative

  His drinks cost only one-third of what most bubble tea shops charge, but Zhen Yang says he’s still able to make a profit. “My sales is not bad lah. My stall’s rent is cheap (we hear it's about $1,800 a month) and the cost price of bubble tea is low. If I work from morning till night, I can sell 300 to 400 cups a day,” he reveals. “I thought of opening my shop in a mall, but the competition in malls is strong since there are so many bubble tea shops there. [I set up shop at ABC market ’cos] I saw that there aren’t many bubble tea stalls in hawker centres, and everyone needs a drink with their meal.”

•  

  ---

  5/8
   
   
  5/8

  Hawker life

  Working as a part-time car mechanic apprentice during his poly days also helped build up Zhen Yang’s resilience for the hawker line. “I fixed tyres and earned $3.50 an hour,” he recalls. Despite being on his feet for long hours at his stall, he reckons “the work is okay if you have the passion to be a hawker”.
  
  He reasons: “A lot of people say being a hawker is hard work. I think working in an office is just as tedious. You’re strained mentally. But I don’t feel tired being a hawker. I feel happy, especially when I invent a new drink and people tell me it’s nice. I feel a sense of achievement.”
  
  He also works alongside his mother now. “My mum set up a stall opposite mine selling drinks like coffee and tea. It’s not really competition ’cos what we sell is very different. We help each other. She wants to retire and hand over her stall to me, but I’m busy with my own stall too (laughs).”

•  

  ---

  6/8
   
   
  6/8

  The drinks

  Beautea’s bubble tea menu is as extensive as any respectable, higher-priced bubble tea shop in a mall. Zhen Yang brews his own tea like earl grey and black tea, which he dispenses from metal canisters upon order (try the Oolong Tea; it’s super fragrant). “I have a lot of passion for bubble tea, so I created some of my own drinks, like chocolate mint ice cream milk tea ’cos I like eating chocolate mint ice cream,” he tells us. 
  
  There’s also a daily special drink which Zhen Yang says changes “every two weeks to a month, depending on how popular it is”. Currently, it’s Dirty Mango Fresh Milk. “I called it that ’cos the cup is stained with mango syrup. It has fresh honey mango chunks with mango purée and fresh milk. I saw it at a bubble tea shop in China and made my own.”

•  

  ---

  7/8
   
   
  7/8

  The pearls

  Zhen Yang’s brown sugar tapioca pearls simmer in a slow cooker till they are scooped out nice and warm for orders.
   

•  

  ---

  8/8
   
   
  8/8

  Brown Sugar Pearl Fresh Milk, $2.50

  At first glance, Beautea’s attractive version of the viral brown sugar pearl milk drink resembles Tiger Sugar’s, with dark caramelly stripes. Except it costs half of Tiger Sugar’s $5.30 price tag. Zhen Yang pours in a liberal amount of Meiji’s full cream milk in a cup (the same milk is used by local BBT brand R&B Tea for its delish brown sugar pearl milk).
  
  The concoction is wonderfully thick and creamy, though, despite its sultry striped appearance, could do with a stronger, smokier brown sugar flavour. The syrup is a tad mild-tasting. But what we like best about this drink is its pearls — al dente and bouncy with a nice chewiness. They could give Tiger Sugar’s pearls a serious run for its money.
  
  Zhen Yang says he will introduce a Singaporean-influenced “gula melaka fresh milk with white pearls” next year, after his stall undergoes an upgrading renovation (the hawkers are still in talks with the management to decide on the reno period) along with the rest of the hawker centre: “Everyone is drinking brown sugar pearl milk now, so I want to make something nice and special.”
  
  Beautea is at #01-43 ABC Brickworks Hawker Centre, 6 Jln Bukit Merah, S150006. Open daily except Sun, 11am-3pm; 5pm-9pm. www.instagram.com/beauteasg.

 

 

Yup. He looks more yummy. 

[Guest guest]

2 minutes ago, mantin30 said:

Yup. He looks more yummy. 

Who looks more yummy?

[mantin30]

10 minutes ago, Guest guest said:

Who looks more yummy?

Song Jung Ki lookalike:)

[mantin30]

1 hour ago, Guest chicken Rice , anyone ? said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&feature=emb_logo

He reminded me of that guy who sings that funny doraemon song. I tried to search him but dont know his youtube name.

[henryt1]

yes, he looks yummier.

[starlight_87]

2 hours ago, Guest chicken Rice , anyone ? said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&feature=emb_logo

Anyone tried? 

Edited November 18, 2019 by starlight_87
Edit

[Steve5380]

8 hours ago, Guest News reader said:

H

---

KEEPING FIT FOR THE JOB

Being recognised for his looks motivated fishball noodle seller Gilbert Lim, 46, to work harder to improve his cooking.

In 2005, he was named the Most Handsome Hawker in the National Day edition of The Straits Times.

“At that time, I felt very flattered, but at the same time, I felt annoyed that my looks attracted more attention than my noodles. I wanted to be recognised for my noodles, not because I looked good.

“After all, I am not an actor or a model, I am a hawker,” he says. “I did not like to be typecast as a himbo hawker with people questioning whether I can really cook.”

But he came around when he noticed that the publicity drew more customers to his stall.

“The attention made me more determined to improve my cooking skills to keep customers coming back.”

 

Noodle seller Gilbert Lim gets customers hitting on him even though he is married and a father. ST PHOTO: KELLY HUI

 

A third-generation hawker, Mr Lim began helping out at his grandfather’s stall in Maxwell Food Centre at the age of nine. His grandfather started the stall in 1958. When his grandfather died, his father took over the business in 1987 and moved the stall to Amoy Street Food Centre in 2003. Mr Lim and his father moved into their current unit in 2015.

Mr Lim says: “I learnt to cook noodles when I was 13. I watched how my father did it and cooked it for myself. Whatever I cooked, I had to eat. I did not like eating badly cooked noodles so I learnt to get the correct timing quickly.”

Still, he had never thought that one day, he would join his father in the family business. He left school after his O levels and worked various jobs, including being a currency trader and project coordinator at a construction firm. At the age of 30, he decided he wanted to be a hawker.

“I felt it would be a waste of the hard work that my grandfather and father put into the business if I didn’t carry on what they had started,” he says.

In addition, he felt being in the food business could be a stable source of income and he had a passion for cooking.

“My relatives were doubtful of my abilities and whether I could adapt to hawker life after working in white-collar jobs. But my parents were supportive of my decision,” he recalls.

• AH TER TEOCHEW FISH BALL NOODLE

• 01-14, Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road; open: 7am to 9pm (Mondays and Tuesdays); 7am to 3pm (Wednesdays to Saturdays). Closed on Sundays

  Info: Mr Lim works from 7am to 3pm (weekdays) and is off on weekends

Working with his father full time was a turning point for him.

“For a start, when I worked in office jobs, I used to enjoy shopping for working clothes and dressing up nicely for work. Now that I am a hawker, my attire became T-shirts, bermudas and slippers. It saved me a lot of money,” he says.

The hours are gruelling. He wakes up at 3am as he has to buy fresh ingredients at the wet market. He spends about 30 minutes getting ready in the mornings, of which 15 minutes are devoted to blow-drying and styling his hair with a bit of hair wax.

In the beginning, he often had arguments with his father over changing certain aspects of the business. “My father wanted to stick to the old way of doing things, but I wanted to make changes in order to generate better profits for the stall,” he says.

It took him five years to convince his father to make major changes to the menu. Mr Lim introduced more ingredients into the noodles, such as braised mushroom, pork liver, meatballs and prawn.

Despite the stress of hawker life, he is set on leading a healthy lifestyle. His main objective is to stay healthy to cope with the physically demanding hawker life.

He stopped eating fried foods when he was 30 and his current diet consists mainly of vegetables, fruit and fish for lunch daily.

Breakfast is two slices of wholemeal bread and a cup of kopi-c kosong. At 9am, he cooks Teochew porridge at the stall, which he eats with blanched spinach and boiled fish. At 11am, he eats rice and vegetables from the economy rice stall for lunch.

At 3pm, he has a bowl of plain noodles to replenish his energy. Dinner at 6pm is either chicken rice or sushi sometimes. He does not eat after that as he has to be in bed by 9pm.

Every day, he exercises for at least an hour. He runs thrice a week.

“Exercise is my way of relieving stress. The work I do at the stall is manual labour, but it is stressful. Exercise allows me to free my mind of worries.

“If I want to operate our stall, I have to make sure my body can go the distance,” he says.

Married with two daughters aged 15 and 14, Mr Lim still gets approached by female customers who ask him for his number.

“I give my number to them because they say they want to get noodles delivered or check our operating hours. Occasionally, some ask me out on dates. I decline by telling them politely that I am married,” he says.

---

 

 

Fishball noodle seller Gilbert Lim, 46,  looks amazingly young for an "uncle" who in four years will be half a century old.  Many guys will never look so good at any age!

If he keeps his good life style for the next 20 years he may not look much different then,  and if he had a less stressful life he could stay nearly the same for the next 30 years, and then he would be about my age

 

Thinking about it, 30 years is not such an age difference.  If he were not married with children he would fulfill my physical selection of prospective boyfriends.  As for his character, he may qualify as well. But if he becomes my bf I would suggest that he cooks something more healthy than noodles with the fish balls. Maybe some beans and rice, or even... lentils?

.

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Steve5380

[feedersmiracle]

First post

Carrot cake

Fit hunk 

 

How can dis b allow

[Guest Hunk4life]

Those with bad genes and ugly face aside, majority of gay men who gym and look after their complexion will look good even up to their 60's. 

 

Example korean hunk daniel hanney who is 40 and living "alone"..

Those with handsome boyish face will look better as they age, turning into a hot daddy. Usually will have boyfriends and extremely rare to find/date.

 

The worst are men who don't gym or look after and give up on themselves. Just go to grindr and you can see 99% of them loitering there.

[Guest Try and see]

20 minutes ago, Guest Hunk4life said:

Those with bad genes and ugly face aside, majority of gay men who gym and look after their complexion will look good even up to their 60's. 

 

Example korean hunk daniel hanney who is 40 and living "alone"..

Those with handsome boyish face will look better as they age, turning into a hot daddy. Usually will have boyfriends and extremely rare to find/date.

 

The worst are men who don't gym or look after and give up on themselves. Just go to grindr and you can see 99% of them loitering there.

 

I've always had the hunch that Daniel Henney is gay but very closeted  

[Guest Try and see]

Wow!! 46 still look like that!!  

 

[Guest Guest]

56 minutes ago, Guest Try and see said:

Wow!! 46 still look like that!!  

 

 

 

This is what moisturizing your face 12 hours daily over steams of soup can do for you.... 

 

 

[Guest SibayHyeow]

23 hours ago, Guest chicken Rice , anyone ? said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&feature=emb_logo

Make me cum

[Innocentguy]

1 hour ago, Guest Try and see said:

Wow!! 46 still look like that!!  

 

Yeah hot like his fish ball soup 

Edited November 19, 2019 by Innocentguy

[Guest Hawker]

He is straight and had a "bad reputation" as an air steward. 😁

 

 

[angel_dust]

On 11/18/2019 at 11:22 PM, starlight_87 said:

Anyone tried? 

 

Yes. Maybe 3 years ago or so before he took over haha

[Guest Really Ah...]

I'm amazed that in spite of the fact that Mr Walter "scrimped and saved" to pay off his debts as he claimed so, he can still afford to wear branded Calvin Klein undies... So many of his Instagram posts reveal him posing top naked with the undies he wear.

 

On 11/19/2019 at 10:43 PM, Guest Hawker said:

He is straight and had a "bad reputation" as an air steward. 😁

 

 

 

[fab]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:43 PM, Guest Hawker said:

He is straight and had a "bad reputation" as an air steward. 😁

 

 

 

Must be many stewardesses got pumped and dumped.

 

[Ben Ben Ben]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:43 PM, Guest Hawker said:

He is straight and had a "bad reputation" as an air steward. 😁

 

 

Straight guy got that charms 

damn it 

[fab]

On 11/18/2019 at 9:19 PM, Guest chicken Rice , anyone ? said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=COck4lC7_Q4&Reminfeature=emb_logo

 

Remind me of Kurt superstar Tay

[Guest guest]

On 11/19/2019 at 10:43 PM, Guest Hawker said:

He is straight and had a "bad reputation" as an air steward. 😁

 

 

He said he has a bad name when he was air steward because he sleep around! Omigod!

[Ben Ben Ben]

1 hour ago, Guest guest said:

He said he has a bad name when he was air steward because he sleep around! Omigod!

A lot of straight admit openly they sleep around while a lot of gays shy to admit. That’s the charm of straight guys! 
 

straight guys only need to fuck while gays need to drama mama whether to fuck or To be fucked. Damn it... 

[bodybuildMLY]

Oh please! I have known some gays who claimed to be straight and shouted they slept around as well. No biggy! Sometimes you have to use your GayDar to detect, unless its rusty.

[Guest guest]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:50 PM, Ben Ben Ben said:

A lot of straight admit openly they sleep around while a lot of gays shy to admit. That’s the charm of straight guys! 
 

straight guys only need to fuck while gays need to drama mama whether to fuck or To be fucked. Damn it... 

Charm of straight guys who admitted that they sleep around? I do not think so, whether straight or gay who sleep around definitely will give yourself a bad name. Anyway, quite surprise that walter tay is such a person who sleep around, a bit discounted on his character no matter how cute and fit body he is.

[Guest Try and see]

On 11/21/2019 at 9:50 PM, Ben Ben Ben said:

A lot of straight admit openly they sleep around while a lot of gays shy to admit. That’s the charm of straight guys! 

 

I kind of agree with this.

 

Somehow, society throughout history tends not to judge straight guys who openly say they sleep around.

 

But for girls and gay guys, they are judged more severely.

 

It's something like: 

Straight guy who sleeps around = stud

Girl or gay guy who sleeps around = slut

 

I remember someone who says the rationale behind this seemingly double standard is:

 

A key that can open many locks is a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a cheap and worthless lock.

[Guest anti mosquito detergency]

1 hour ago, Guest Try and see said:

 

A key that can open many locks is a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a cheap and worthless lock.

 

LOLOL

[Guest Guest]

On 11/21/2019 at 5:25 PM, Ben Ben Ben said:

Straight guy got that charms 

damn it 

 

Sadly, I don't really see his charms at all ... 

[Guest Disclosed Yourself]

On 11/21/2019 at 1:18 PM, fab said:

 

Must be many stewardesses got pumped and dumped.

 

 

LOL! Wanna suck Walter Tay's cock so bad

[Guest guest]

23 hours ago, Guest Try and see said:

 

I kind of agree with this.

 

Somehow, society throughout history tends not to judge straight guys who openly say they sleep around.

 

But for girls and gay guys, they are judged more severely.

 

It's something like: 

Straight guy who sleeps around = stud

Girl or gay guy who sleeps around = slut

 

I remember someone who says the rationale behind this seemingly double standard is:

 

A key that can open many locks is a master key, but a lock that can be opened by many keys is a cheap and worthless lock.

You mean straight guys who sleep around show that he has the charm to let so many women to sleep with him? Or show that the guy bed skills very good, that's why many women willing to sleep with him? So i believe Walter Tay's bed skills must be super good?

[Guest Guest]

On 11/21/2019 at 8:25 PM, Guest guest said:

He said he has a bad name when he was air steward because he sleep around! Omigod!

 

Actually I don't find him that goodlooking or charming at all. 

[Guest guest]

15 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

Actually I don't find him that goodlooking or charming at all. 

not your type, so you don't find him good looking.

[Guest Guest]

Omg...hawker still say hot..cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant, walter do not even think if asking me out!

[Guest Guest]

5 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

Omg...hawker still say hot..cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant, walter do not even think if asking me out!

 

So are so obviously stoooooopid... You know hawkers can easily earn a lot more money than office workers?? You only say they "cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant" because you didn't see them do so. I remember one of the hawkers I knew has a Merz and another BMW, live in a private bungalow, and even saw two of his sons through their medicine degrees without taking any loans. And all he did was to fry kwayteow all the time. 

 

And by the way, in one of the clips, Walter mentioned he owed people $500k, which he paid back working as a hawker, OK? So don't underestimate hawkers earnings.   

[Guest Chinatown]

2 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

So are so obviously stoooooopid... You know hawkers can easily earn a lot more money than office workers?? You only say they "cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant" because you didn't see them do so. I remember one of the hawkers I knew has a Merz and another BMW, live in a private bungalow, and even saw two of his sons through their medicine degrees without taking any loans. And all he did was to fry kwayteow all the time. 

 

And by the way, in one of the clips, Walter mentioned he owed people $500k, which he paid back working as a hawker, OK? So don't underestimate hawkers earnings.   

The economy beehon/yam cake/ porridge/bak chang/ chee cheong fun stall at chinatown, the one always with queue one, stay in condo too ard pearl hill area. But they work really long hours. And standing long hours too. But at least own business and no need to see boss faces. 

[Guest Guest]

6 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

So are so obviously stoooooopid... You know hawkers can easily earn a lot more money than office workers?? You only say they "cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant" because you didn't see them do so. I remember one of the hawkers I knew has a Merz and another BMW, live in a private bungalow, and even saw two of his sons through their medicine degrees without taking any loans. And all he did was to fry kwayteow all the time. 

 

And by the way, in one of the clips, Walter mentioned he owed people $500k, which he paid back working as a hawker, OK? So don't underestimate hawkers earnings.   

The carrot cake industry so buzzin meh...

[fab]

饿婆之意不在粿。

[Guest guest]

16 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

So are so obviously stoooooopid... You know hawkers can easily earn a lot more money than office workers?? You only say they "cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant" because you didn't see them do so. I remember one of the hawkers I knew has a Merz and another BMW, live in a private bungalow, and even saw two of his sons through their medicine degrees without taking any loans. And all he did was to fry kwayteow all the time. 

 

And by the way, in one of the clips, Walter mentioned he owed people $500k, which he paid back working as a hawker, OK? So don't underestimate hawkers earnings.   

Hawkers confirmed earning a lot of money, esp they have been hawker for many decade. Most of them can buy luxury car and stay in private. Even those who stay in hdb, but they could full paid the flat or loan for little for the flat even not full paid.

[Guest guest]

9 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

The carrot cake industry so buzzin meh...

business good mostly due to good look of walter but food itself also cannot be too bad lah. Anyone here went to try out walter's carrot cake? Taste nice or not?

[Guest Guest]

18 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

 

So are so obviously stoooooopid... You know hawkers can easily earn a lot more money than office workers?? You only say they "cannot afford big car, big house, eat restaurant" because you didn't see them do so. I remember one of the hawkers I knew has a Merz and another BMW, live in a private bungalow, and even saw two of his sons through their medicine degrees without taking any loans. And all he did was to fry kwayteow all the time. 

 

And by the way, in one of the clips, Walter mentioned he owed people $500k, which he paid back working as a hawker, OK? So don't underestimate hawkers earnings.   

Please lah....pay back 500k in a few years by sellinh carrot cake? He work 24 hrs a day meh?? If yes where got tine to gym and take pictures...yeah right.

[Ben Ben Ben]

13 hours ago, Guest guest said:

business good mostly due to good look of walter but food itself also cannot be too bad lah. Anyone here went to try out walter's carrot cake? Taste nice or not?

My friend tried but it is very dry 

[Ben Ben Ben]

11 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

Please lah....pay back 500k in a few years by sellinh carrot cake? He work 24 hrs a day meh?? If yes where got tine to gym and take pictures...yeah right.

Could Walter work as gigolo before? He looks quite hot 

[Guest Guest 2]

4 minutes ago, Ben Ben Ben said:

Could Walter work as gigolo before? He looks quite hot 

 

LOL

[Ben Ben Ben]

8 minutes ago, Guest Guest 2 said:

 

LOL

Buy him For 500 dollars a night worth or not? 

[Guest Guest]

11 hours ago, Guest Guest said:

Please lah....pay back 500k in a few years by sellinh carrot cake? He work 24 hrs a day meh?? If yes where got tine to gym and take pictures...yeah right.

 

You so underestimated the earning of a hawker. Even if a hawker is to sell each plate at $3 and he sells 500 plates a day for breakfast, lunch (and maybe dinner), he can make more than $500k in a year, Even if half his earnings goes to payment of rent and other ingredients, he can still get $500k in 2 years. 

[Guest Guest]

21 minutes ago, Guest Guest said:

 

You so underestimated the earning of a hawker. Even if a hawker is to sell each plate at $3 and he sells 500 plates a day for breakfast, lunch (and maybe dinner), he can make more than $500k in a year, Even if half his earnings goes to payment of rent and other ingredients, he can still get $500k in 2 years. 

 Please lah...use common sense. 500plates a day??? Lol...if he works 12 hrs a day, its 1plate sold every 1min 40sec. To have a profit 500k a year? Staff cost? Rent? Raw materials dun need $$? You need at least double of 500k to earn 500k hor...