8 bowls of tau suan in 5 days: Wu Chun flies to Singapore after 3 years and indulges in local food

Covid-19 may have built up an appetite for travel in some people, but for Wu Chun, he simply built up an appetite.

Wu Chun recently shared on Weibo pictures of himself and his family travelling in Singapore and spoke with Lianhe Zaobao on Monday (Jan 2) to share his experience.

"I haven't been to Singapore for over three years and I felt elated as soon as I entered the airport," the 43-year-old Bruneian actor said.

"Singapore is a country we're very fond of and we used to visit twice a year. But because of the epidemic, we unexpectedly didn't go for three years."

Wu Chun, his wife and their two children relocated to Shanghai in March 2022. This is their first family holiday since the pandemic. 

The four contracted Covid-19 in December and flew to Singapore soon after they recovered.

He had previously mentioned in a separate interview that his favourite dish when dropping by Singapore is tau suan — although this time the family's first meal was Hainanese chicken rice, which also happens to be their favourite.

But the menu also featured tau suan, and Wu Chun couldn't resist.

No matter the occasion or location, he always ordered a bowl of the dessert so long as it's on the menu, he told reporters. Ultimately, he consumed eight bowls of tau suan, all within just five days.

He said: "We ate a lot; we frequently visited food courts because we wanted to eat local food, and food courts have everything you want."

Other dishes they devoured included fried Hokkien mee, satay, grilled chicken wings, popiah and crabs.

'We mustn't forget to exercise'

While he had an eye on tau suan at all times, Wu Chun also explained that this trip wasn't just for him — in fact, it was so his 12-year-old daughter Nei Nei could meet her Singapore-based friend.

Nei Nei had met this friend in kindergarten in Brunei and learned ballet together, he told Zaobao.

The two have maintained correspondence since and they met up every year so far.

Wu Chun himself also caught up with friends in Singapore. While he played tennis at the Singapore Cricket Club with friends, his nine-year-old son Max played football.

"When eating a lot of food, we mustn't forget to exercise," he laughed as he told reporters. "And exercise is so you can eat more food!"

The family returned to Brunei last Saturday (Dec 31, 2022) after a 10-month stint in Shanghai that began back in March.

Prior to that, he had never been away from Brunei for such a long time.

"I'm really happy to be home. I get to spend new year's eve with my father, father-in-law, relatives and friends."

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khooyihang@asiaone.com