Tuesday, February 9, 2010

My World Tuesday - Chinatown - Chinese New Year 2010 - Long Queue at Bak Kwa Store

Bakkwa, or rougan is a Chinese salty-sweet dried meat product similar to jerky, made in the form of flat thin sheets. It is normally made from pork. (You can read more about it from wikipedia.

It is a very popular snack especially during Chinese New Year. People can queue for hours just to buy them. It dont come cheap and can cost from S$45 per kg. Although it is a snack, people do eat them with rice and even pizza now comes with BakKwa toppings.

Lim Chee Guan Bak Kwa Stall is very popular, every year during Chinese New Year, queues are formed and they can numbered more than 50 people. Lim Chee Guan Bak Kwa has a long history since 1938. My late mother in law is a loyal customer of his stall ever since the stall started...lol.

I have no idea why people would queue at the head office of the bak kwa stall. Lim Chee Guan has two other outlets, one opposite this head office i.e. People's Park Complex #01-25 (Chinatown MRT Exit C) - that's where I got my bak kwa without queuing. The other outlet is at ION Orchard #B4-37 (Orchard MRT).

You can visit his website.

A short video of the queue. Those at the front of the queue seems so happy that their turn is coming soon to purchase the Bak Kwa...hahaha.



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12 comments:

Photo Cache said...

Standing in line for hours must be part of the total Chinese NY experience for some. With all the technologies, I'm sure that this company also has online store where you can purchase said goodies and have it shipped to your house, right?

My entry is at http://ewok1993.wordpress.com

alicesg said...

PC, yes they offered free delivery service but subject to terms and conditions. I think there's a fee for delivery service but am not sure cause I never use their delivery service before.

Most of the customers are old folks and they dont have computers or they dont know how to use the computers.

And you can see some in the queue are young people too, I guess they must be feeling good that they are buying from the head i.e. the original stall or their parents insisted that they buy from the head office.

Unknown said...

Hi Alice, I think we have the same price about 40 - 45 per kilo..only thing it is in RM, so when you pop over, you can buy a few kilos :)

Indrani said...

Interesting! Makes me want to taste this item.

alicesg said...

M Kate, we are not allowed to bring certain food products back to Singapore due to Bird Flu,Swine Flu, etc So Bak Kwa is definitely a no no.

LadyFi said...

Must be good stuff if people are queuing for it!

L. Neusiedler said...

it's amazing what people would do for their favourite foods :))

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I saw this queue once, and wonder if it is so good. I think MEI CHEN HSIANG is more famous.

KUNG SEE FA CAI.

Alexander said...

That's my favourite store! Aces for you Alice!

Alexander
Alex's World! - http://www.kakinan.com/alex

Kcalpesh said...

Looks like a very busy place....

Pixellicious Photos

escape said...

i can just imagine how grand it will be there. i just learned from our singaporean counterparts that they will have one week holiday! wow!

my pleasure to promote singapore!

alicesg said...

Dong Ho, your Singaporean Counterparts are so lucky...lol. My hubby only have 3 days off. The offical public holidays are only 2 days ie. 15th and 16th February. Chinese New Year lasted for 15 days from 14th February.