Shi Hui Yuan Hor Fun Specialty

Food is inspirational. At least for me it is. It can inspire me as a lazy single (more than 4 years ago) to switch off the idiot box that had been consuming my life to drive half an hour to have a simple hawker meal, from Ang Mo Kio to Geylang or Bedok- that's what a car is for.
In the days when I had too much time on my hands- read: before my daughter was born- food was not a necessity, it was an event.
"What are you going to do tonight?"
"I'm going Old Airport Road for dinner."
Okay so it's not exactly the stuff that will get me featured on any lifestyle magazine but it had its day in the sun.
So it would come as no surprise that I think about food all the time. From street food (hello Frog Leg's Porridge) to foreign cuisine (maguro sashimi for me please), count me in.
Yet few stalls or restaurants occupied a place in my heart- and this blog will eventually prove there's quite a bit of competition- like Shi Hui Yuan Specialty Hor Fun located at Mei Ling Market.
 My first encounter with SHY was roughly 10 years ago, when I went along with my church friend and his wife after a church service for brunch. It blew me away, the succulent, silky hor fun and the slurp-able goodness of the chicken feet was divine (okay wrong choice of word for a Sunday activity).
Subsequently, I frequently hoped we would go again- after all we met virtually every Sunday- but unfortunately his wife (who makes the decisions) never suggested that place again, at least while I joined them.
I never forgot the taste though but unfortunately it was a little inaccessible for me without a car, I never went back until I got a car. Even so, I was to discover things weren't always so smooth sailing.
Firstly, they were open only 4 days a week. And when they did, their official opening hours were only from 8am to 2pm and they usually start selling around 9 and are sold out by 1230 or so, just about my lunch hour. Then there's a full year renovation and their proclivity to close every other fortnight. In local speak we say 'tan gao liao'- 'they have made enough money'.
It was not an easy romance to be sure but it was worthwhile. Every time I ate it, it was a moving experience. Flavorful without MSG, you could eat oodles of it without feeling guilty. And nothing on your plate was there in a perfunctory manner- i.e. the vegetables were crunchy and fresh, the mushrooms were fat and juicy, not something thrown in to complete the dish. And I haven't got started on the hor fun and the main dish yet.
There may well be better tasting food out there but nothing quite touches my heart like Shi Hui Yuan Hor Fun Specialty.