Som Tam Thai Kub Koong Mae Naam Yang (Papaya Salad with Grilled River Prawn)

Although there can be a certain delight in discovery, the joy of travelling to visit friends is that privileged insider knowledge is at your fingertips, unadulterated by the narrow perspective of guidebooks and overwhelming array of local listings.

With an upper deck overlooking the Chao Phraya River, the in-house restaurant of the Arun Residence boutique hotel serves traditional Thai and french bistro cuisine as delighted diners look out on Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn).

Although the green papaya salad’s atomic seasoning rather defeated my delicate taste buds, milder options like the Tom Yam Koong Mae Naam (Grouper and River Prawn Soup with Thai Herb, Chilli Paste, and Mushroom) and the Mango with Black Sticky Rice and Coconut Milk Ice Cream are the perfect complement to open-air enjoyment.

Details: 36-38 Soi Pratoo Nok Yoong, Maharat Road, Rattanakosin Island, Bangkok 10200, Thailand (+662221 91589)

Fried Sea Bass with Green Mango Salad and Sweet Tamarind Chili Sauce

I’ve mentioned in the past that to cook is to show love. Implicit in this act is the the idea that one takes care of those we love. However, loving doesn’t have to be defined by something quite so hands-on. Indeed, for the most part, caring alone is more than enough.

From the sleek modern design to the breathtaking views of the Bangkok skyline, not to mention the exciting modern Thai cusine, the Long Table of  Krungthepmahanakornamorn-ratanakosinmahintarayutthayam-ahadilokphopnopparatraj-athaniburi-romudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamorn- phimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit (correct name of Bangkok or “City of Angels” in Thai) is exactly the sort of environment I (guiltily) enjoy best.

Because I know such places are not her preferred hangouts nor do they serve the kind of food she likes best, when my oldest friend Calla planned an evening that was all about me, the mango salad was all the crunchier and the spring rolls far more delicate, for they were scrumptious reminders of just how much she cares.  

Details: 25th Floor, 48 Column Building Sukhumvit Soi 16 Bangkok, Thailand (+66 2 302 2557-9)

Mango Sticky Rice

Like the oranges, Thai mangoes are also rather unique. Although there are a myriad varieties,  my favorite is the sweetest strain, Nam-Dok-Mai. Yellowish green on the outside, oblong, and with a flavor more subtle than that of larger green and red mangoes from the Phillipine of Mexico, it was and still is a favored practice of mine to peel one by hand and eat it greedily over a sink, juice dripping down my chin and all. This treat is made all the sweeter when accompanied by glutinous rice cooked in a mixture of sugar and coconut milk.

Som Bangmot (Thai Tangerine) Juice

I can say without any fear of exaggeration that orange juice in Thailand tastes better than equivalents in any other country in the world. Sweet without being sweetened, pulpy without being fibrous, and deep orange in color, it has none of the acidity of the thin, chemical-heavy versions so disappointingly found in US supermarkets.

In Bangkok this ambrosia is sold by street vendors all over the city, but my experience was even more special because it was served in a home of my dear hosts, the Videt family.

Whiskey Green Tea

Preferably made with Macallan Single Malt Scoth Whiskey and Heaven and Earth Jasmine Green Tea, Whiskey Green Tea is the infinitely more palateable Asian version of the Vodka Red Bull energy cocktail fueling partygoers in Europe and the US. 

I’m seldom one to drink, but when something tastes this good, how can any self-respecting epicurean say no? 

Details: 1 Fullerton Road #02 02/03/04 Singapore 049213 (+6563338243)

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Cambridge has The Kong, London has Vignt Quatre, but the late-night spot that will always hold first place in my heart is Singapore’s Boon Tong Kee. After an evening on the dancefloor, nothing sates the appetite quite like a steaming pyramid of fragrant rice accompanied by tender, melt-in-your-mouth chicken breast liberally coated in sesame sauce. For essential rehydration, order the fresh young coconut drink.

Details: 425 River Valley Road Singapore 248324 (+656736 3213)

 Lychee Martini

With a Dutch father, a Singaporean Chinese mother, and an education in the US, “home” can be difficult to define. Yet, if anyone asks where I come from, my automatic answer is Singapore. Having been abroad since age 18, during my brief returns (mostly confined to the heightened atmosphere of holiday season) I often feel like a tourist in my own country. However, no matter how removed I sometimes feel, it is places like Zouk nightclub that remind me that Singapore is home after all.

Crowds spilling onto Jiak Kim St, the glow of a stamped wrist under blacklight, and bass beats you feel in your teeth. Memory washes over me as I slip past the red velvet rope into the Members bar and all the people I used to see are still there, a few years older but just as familiar. Dazzled by the laser lights and the gyrating bodies beneath, I am 16 and waiting for a boy to buy me a drink. Lychee martini in hand, I am a starry-eyed 17, talking about the future to anyone who will listen. 19, it is my first summer home from college and I ask for extra lychees, a fruit that can only be found canned in cold Cambridge, where I can’t imagine surviving another three years. 22, I am almost a graduate, absolutely terrified to cut the umbilical cord with mother Harvard. Tonight, toasting to Christmas 2009 at 23, I am reassured that home is where one’s memories reside, and in spite of infrequent contact, true friends will remain friends for life. 

An object as simple as a fruit-flavored cocktail can hold a lifetime of meaning. Something to think about the next time you pour your favorite drink.

Details: 17 Jiak Kim Street Singapore 169420 (+6567382988)

Katsu-kare (Deep-Fried Breaded Pork Cutlet with Curry Rice), Hiyaya-Ko (Chilled Bean Curd), Hijiki To Renkon, Tori No Nimono (Simmered Chicken with Black Seaweed and Lotus Root), Tori Tsukune (Grilled Chicken Meat Ball), Shake Onigiri (Salmon Rice Ball), Ebi Tenpura (Prawn Tempura)

You don’t have to be a fan of The Food Network to understand the visual  appeal of food and its connection to appetite. After watching not one but two cooking-themed Japanese films on Krisworld (Singapore Airlines’ unparalled entertainment service) during my flight home for the holidays, from touchdown onwards my single-minded focus was, “Must. Eat. Japanese.”

And eat I did! From The Chef of South Polar (film about the food fixations of a group of scientists on a 1.5 year posting in Antartica) I craved curry, and from Kamome Diner (film about a woman who opens a Japanese diner in Finland), I developed a longing for rice balls. Both of these desires and more were utterly satiated by Chiharu’s ‘Weekend Chef Treat Omakase,’ an ‘a-la-carte buffet’ that allows one to select any and all dishes on the menu for a fixed price of SGD$48 (~USD$35). I ate cold dishes. I ate grilled dishes. I ate deep fried dishes and much, much more! 

As both of the films that inspired this meal highlight, food is the cultural glue that binds a community together. It can also be something that binds a family together. In a multicultural land like Singapore, as the child of a multicultural family, I can think of no better way to have spent Christmas Day than in the shared appreciation of delightful, delicious international cuisine.

Details:  779 Bukit Timah Road Singapore 269758 (+6567691929)

Vegan Stroganoff (Shiitake Mushrooms, Root Vegetable, Soya Chunks, Sprouted Soybeans, Celery Stalk and Seed, Atlantic Sea Salt, Mixed Herbs, Soy Cream)

I’ve mentioned before that the people who run vegetarian and vegan restaurants often appear fairly malnourished: case in point Vitaorganic. If you ever wondered how hipsters fit into those skinny, skinny jeans, veganism is probably how some of them do it.

Nevertheless, if I were sentenced to a life without meat, sugar, or salt, (read: a living death) it might be the tiniest bit bearable on a diet of food such as this. With a selection of Indian-inspired raw and cooked dishes, such as spelt pasta and sprouted lentil dahl and even including creative dairy substitutes like soy cream, tastes are varied and unusual enough to keep me guessing.

Tread carefully past tables made up of rough-hewn tree trunks to approach the serving counter, where generous portions of the day’s offerings are sold at an affordable £1.30 per scoop.  

Details: 74 Wardour Street, Soho W1F 0TE London (+442077348986)

Chocolate Cupcakes

Although the uncharacteristic dryness of the cake suggests to me that this London-born cupcake chain may be expanding too far, too fast, who can resist a friendly sugar snowman?

Merry Christmas!

Details: 155a Wardour S London W1F 8WG, United Kingdom (+442074343003)