Beer, satay, ice-kachang and the beach

I've just come home from supper instigated by a friend who's recently returned from Australia after having completed his flying studies there. He's still very much getting reacquainted with local food, and to our detriment, has been egging us on to eat out with him every other night. Gainfully unemployed because of his unfortunate distinction of being a Muslim pilot, something not in great demand on the open job markets these days, he's nonetheless been chirpy and energetic, though probably owing to the fact he doesn't do much during the day. So we went to East Coast Lagoon Food Village, which used to be the East Coast Hawker Centre. I think, now, they've (our 'garment')started to think that "Hawker Centre" isn't a very glamourous term. I remember my GP teacher in JC telling us not to use the term in our essays for the GCEs, because the examiners in Cambridge wouldn't have the faintest why there would be food sold at Hawker Centres, even if just for the hawks (and how 'killer litter' would be misunderstood as being a clutch of man-eating kittens). Anyway, the place looked great! You'd (especially Malaysians, poor thing, still trying to pretend that your roadside stalls have great ambience and the dirt in your food makes it taste better and is actually good for you) have mistaken it for Club Med's food court, if they had one. It was spacious, it had a nice boardwalk linking the seating areas, lightly dusted with sand for effect. And the food was not bad either. We had an ice-kachang, some satay and two beers. The ice-kachang was topped with ground peanuts, to distinguish it from other ice-kachang sold at mere hawker centres. It also caused me to be accused of having dropped the ice-kachang on the sand before bringing it to the table. So, if you're feeling peckish and want to eat something by the sea. Go there. And three cheers for the hawker centre upgrading project (HUP. As in Hup, Hup Hooray).