Having been in Singapore for three months now, my wife and I recently joined the German Association a meeting point for some of the more than 5,000 Germans living and working in Singapore. The club was founded 1856 and is one of the oldest foreign clubs in town. Beside guided tours through various interesting areas of Singapore like Chinatown or Little India, there are coffee mornings, inline skating and Doppelkopf events (next to Skat probably the best known card game in Germany). The club also offers the preparatory classes required for those who wish to change an existing, valid international driving license to a Singaporean licence. Personally I see no reason for an extra test but it is mandatory for all foreigners and I will let you know when I pass it.

Last Friday the club organized an evening out to celebrate the ultimate event for fans of beer and group jollity: the Oktoberfest. Traditionally, Oktoberfest takes place during the 16 days up to and including the first Sunday in October. This year, the ‘real’ festival started in Munich on September 22. In Singapore Oktoberfest only runs from October 3 to October 9, although the city has plenty of places where thirsty people can meet at “belated” beer-festivals.

Our destination was the Paulaner Brauhaus, established in 1999, and located at the Millenia Walk – opposite Suntec in the city centre. This microbrewery offers freshly-brewed beer and traditional Bavarian cuisine. Beside the bar on the ground level it has a restaurant on level two with a traditional Maibaum (Maypole) in the middle of the room. Brew meister Alex makes two signature beers; Munich Lager - a bright, golden brew with a smooth taste and 4.7% alcohol and a Munich Dark which contains 4.8% alcohol with a full body, intense malt flavour and a deep dark colour. Additionally customers can get special seasonal brews like Salvator beer (in March), Maibock beer (in May) as well as the world-famous Oktoberfest beer. All the beers are brewed according to “The German Law of Purity” using only 4 natural ingredients; water, hops, malt and yeast. There are no chemicals or artificial enzymes added – and the only beer sold is freshly brewed in the onsite microbrewery.

Once our group arrived in the restaurant the first half litre Oktoberfest beer arrived ….. hmmmmm what a great taste. The waitress – definitely not Bavarian – was handing out the “Oktoberfest Dinner Menu”. We really enjoy the Asian food here and the more spice the better, but after three months my body was crying out for a real portion of meat. The menu was reassuringly familiar and wonderful - Wurstsalat (sliced Regensburger sausage), Leberknoedelsuppe (liver dumpling in clear soup), my favourite Schweinshaxe (grilled pork knuckle with sauerkraut and bread dumpling) – and Wiener schnitzel (breaded veal schnitzel and steamed asparagus and potatoes). Decidedly not for vegetarians …. but just the job for Bavarians and beer drinkers and there are many of both here in Singapore. 

My wife went for the Schnitzel and I ordered Haxn (knuckle). Seasoned drinkers already know this, but for novices I will repeat the one simple rule of Oktoberfest - “eat properly before you start drinking the beer”. With the right ‘preparation’ you can have one or two beers more …. if you can afford it - half a litre of beer costs 16.90 SG$, which is around 8 Euros. I am reliably informed that the average cost in Munich was this year between 7 and 8 Euro per litre!

As the evening progressed we learned that most of the other expats at the table were from southern Germany and familiar with Oktoberfest and Schweinshaxe. So it was no wonder they were completely at home when the Munich based “Scharivari Sextett” from Munich started with their oomph-pa-pa music . It felt just Oktoberfest in Munich – the food, the beer and the toasting “Oans, zwoa, drei – gsuffa” which means “one, two, three – toast and drink”. After each song and “Oans, zwoa, drei – gsuffa”, drinking a mouthful of beer lifts everyone’s spirits higher. The packed restaurant (half Germans and half Singaporeans) was turned into a Bavarian beer tent by the music and the toasting. Prost! is easy to understand and pronounce in most languages. Many guests were inspired to dance and some even attempted to join the band.

What a great atmosphere. Up to this point the Singaporeans I had met had been reserved and quiet but this was very different. It was ”Oans, zwoa, drei – gsuffa” PROST, until  early Saturday morning. Thank goodness I had swapped my early shift for a later one.  That reminds me not to forget the planning for Maibock beer days off ….  the brauhaus sells 30 litres kegs for home consumption. Break out the BBQ.