Owodog, 25, Prince, 19, Fabien, 22, Lil Jay, 21, A-Wei, 22, and William, 22, were in town for a whirlwind three-day promotional tour starting Thursday afternoon.
Famous for their can-do attitude on Channel [V]’s variety show Lollipop, the boys were keen to try the Singaporean dishes provided by Life! on their first visit here.
A-Wei pronounced the chicken rice “fragrant and mouth-watering” and the two plates of rice were wolfed down within a few minutes of the taste-test session in a function room at the Ritz-Carlton hotel.
A-Wei said: “The Hainanese chicken rice doesn’t look the most enticing, but when I ate it, I was pleasantly surprised. It is really delicious and very different from the chicken rice we have in Taiwan, which is much saltier.”
SUGAR HIGH: It’s meal time as the Lollipop boys (above, from left) Prince, Fabien, Lil Jay, Owodog, William and A-Wei tuck into local fare. Some of their fans had started queueing (below) from as early as midnight on Wednesday to get to meet their idols at Lunar Club (last picture below).Prince agreed: “After a bite, I feel like finishing the whole plate of chicken rice by myself.”
Also appealing to the boys’ tastebuds was the pandan cake, which Lil Jay declared was “light and fluffy”.
William said: ” I like the sweet aroma of the cake and how it melts in my mouth.”
The one dish that disagreed with them was a Singapore hot favourite: laksa. Only Fabien and William tried the dish as the others could not take spicy food and coconut milk.
Fabien’s verdict: “It is not too hot and the coconut gives it a distinctive richness, which is nice.”
William agreed with him, saying that the coconut milk made the dish “very fragrant”.
Owodog, who had wanted to try the dish after hearing from Life! that it is a Singapore delight, said: “I would love to try it, but I don’t dare to eat coconut.”
Despite a packed schedule and countless interviews in the three days that they are here, the boys said they would like to spend more time in Singapore and try more food.
Lil Jay said: “I would like to visit Sentosa again and see how much has changed over the past decade.”
Lil Jay and Fabien had been here on holiday when they were 10 and 9 respectively, but they could not recall much of their visit. Fabien remembers taking photographs in front of the Merlion, while Lil Jay recalls having dinner with his parents at Clarke Quay.
On this trip, the deepest impression the boys have of Singapore is its food and cleanliness.
Owodog said: “We were quite impressed with how clean the city is.”
Even more impressive was Lollipop’s huge fan turnout, which caused a human traffic jam at Clarke Quay. Besides a 300-strong crowd which greeted them at the airport, there were some 1,200 fans who showed up for the group’s showcase performance at Lunar. Some of the fans had even camped overnight in order to be the first through the club’s doors.
Owodog said: “We are very touched by the overwhelming support from the fans here and we just want to say that we love you all.”
The fans certainly love the group, which were formed in November 2006 after being chosen on the Lollipop variety show. The programme sees boys between the ages 16 and 27 performing challenges such as break-dancing on each episode.
The group, all dressed in white, showed off their smooth grooves and candy-coated vocals at the 30-minute showcase, singing two songs from their debut album, Gya Shan, which was released in January this year.
They also met excited fans, including five winners of a Life! and Channel [V] contest who got a chance to meet their idols in an exclusive session. Student Yong Shi Ya, 22, said: “I am very happy that I won the contest as I really like the Lollipop boys for their humour and good looks.”
Student Sophie Tay, 15, had waited at the airport to welcome the band and headed to Lunar to watch them in action: “I’m very excited that they finally came to Singapore and I got the chance to see them. I like them a lot because they not only have the looks, but they also have the talent.”
Another fan, student Zink Soh, 19, camped outside Lunar with friends from midnight on Wednesday so that she could stand closer to the stage and see her idols clearly.
“They can dance and sing well and they are very humurous. It is fun to watch them on TV every night, and finally see them in real life today.”
Lollipop are leaving Singapore this morning, but fans can still catch them on Channel [V] Taiwan (Starhub Channel 102) every night at 11.[by mayning@AF]
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