MINI Habitat all abuzz at the crack of dawn

Waking up at 6.00AM in the morning for breakfast is not something I've done since my army days. So when the folks at MINI invited me to their Makansutra trail some weeks back, I hesitated for a whole 2 seconds before agreeing to a free breakfast, or to be more precise, a 10-course breakfast.

Armed with a MINI Cooper S, the guile of The New Paper's Yeoh Wee Teck, the driving prowess of Oneshift.com's Andy Hum, and yours truly as navigator, we were the first car off the startline for the MINI Makansutra Breakfast Trail, a cross between that food review program of the same name and a motorised version of the 'Amazing Race'.

But one wrong turn later, we were soon playing catch-up with some wily MINI owners.

Yes, blame the navigator.

Smooth and creamy pumpkin & yam cake

PICK-ME-UP PUMPKIN CAKE

First stop, Maxwell hawker centre for Soon Kueh, Yam and Pumpkin cakes.

At least 2 other MINIs were spotted in the carpark, so we probably weren't too far behind. Or so we thought!

The queue at the stall turned out to be rather chaotic, with the proprietors not quite ready to handle their regular breakfast crowd, in addition to some very competitive drivers.

But once the food arrived, it was quickly wolfed down. I enjoyed the very smooth and creamy Pumpkin cake which practically slid off my palate.

Minutes later, we were huffing and puffing as we decided to foresake our hot hatchback and ran to our next stop at Amoy Street Food Centre instead, where a sarabat stall stood in wait.

Andy gets a job offer

SARABAT STOP

In true 'Amazing Race' style, we were hit with a 'roadblock', where one of us would be required to 'pull' our own tea.

Andy gamely stepped up to the plate, and tarik-ed like a pro. In fact, the stall owner was so impressed that he offered Andy an apprenticeship.

Being the consummate journalist, Andy politely declined.

The hot tea was great for washing down our first course of the day, and we downed it gratefully before shuffling back to the car.

POWER PRATA

We then set off to discover a new dining experience in the Defu industrial district, which turned out to be a light, crispy prata with scrumptious curry that was chockful of chicken chunks.

With the three of us still going strong, the prata didn't stand a chance against our voracious appetites.

Three stops down, seven to go!

MINI owners enjoying some crispy prata