Retrenched Jetstar Asia Air Steward Turns Hawker, Sells Tasty Ipoh Curry Mee At Quiet Ubi Kopitiam

Retrenchment prompted hawker journey

Aviation was not a short chapter in the Singapore citizen’s life. He first joined low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia in 2017, where he earned his “first wings” as part of the cabin crew. In 2020, shortly before the pandemic, he swapped airlines to fly with homegrown budget airline Scoot. When flights screeched to a halt in the thick of the pandemic, Kalvin pivoted again, working as a swabber to get through those uncertain times.

By 2022, he had returned to Scoot, but the constant red-eye flights and irregular hours began to take a toll on him. “I preferred going back to Jetstar [Asia], where there were less red-eye flights and all my ex-colleagues [who I’m closer to] were,” he tells 8days.sg about his decision to return to Jetstar Asia in late 2024.

Declined offer to join Scoot again

About eight months later, Jetstar Asia announced its closure.
 
“I felt very sad,” Kalvin says. “What I couldn’t understand was why they were still hiring new staff when senior management would have known what was coming.” 

Retrenchment at 40 hit differently. Kalvin told 8days.sg that he had declined an offer from Scoot, who had offered to hire him and some of his other colleagues back. “I asked myself, if I return to flying, I’ll probably have to do more red-eye flights again,” he says. “What’s the point if that’s going to drain me?”  

He returned to the airport on Jetstar Asia’s final day to watch his colleagues touch down on their last flight, before opening his noodle stall in Ubi weeks later.

Why sell Ipoh noodles?

Kalvin is the youngest of four siblings, and food has always been part of his family’s livelihood. Back in Ipoh, his parents once ran an entire coffeeshop (and a young Kalvin would scurry around to help his parents) before downsizing to a noodle stall, selling Ipoh-style noodles till today.

“I have been thinking about opening my own noodle stall for a while,” Kalvin says. “In Singapore, there's a lot of Malaysian food, but it can be difficult finding Ipoh noodles that taste right.”

He had also tried bidding for a stall at an NEA-backed hawker centre but was unsuccessful. Eventually, he came across a Facebook listing for a stall in an industrial coffeeshop in Ubi. He chose this spot because of its affordable $700 monthly rent - he shares half the space with a ban mian hawker. Before setting up the space, Kalvin went to Malaysia to brush up on his parents’ recipes.

“I recall freezing some of the chilli paste I made with ingredients from Singapore’s supplier, checked them into the plane, and took a flight home to let my parents try it,” he shares. “Ahead of the opening, my parents also flew to Singapore to help set up my stall.”

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Kalvin’s years as a flight attendant show up in the way he puts customers at ease. He greets older customers warmly and addresses the younger ones with the occasional “shuai ge” (handsome guy in Cantonese) or “leng lui” (pretty lady in Cantonese).

Sluggish biz

Even so, the transition to hawker has been anything but smooth. With little experience navigating Singapore’s food scene, he is learning as he goes, from sourcing suppliers to managing the realities of a location with no residential crowd.

Mornings can be slow. Business depends almost entirely on the lunch rush from nearby factories and warehouses. “If I’m lucky, I sell maybe 10 to 15 bowls before lunch,” he admits.
 
Kalvin, who lives in a rented HDB room with two cats, tells 8days.sg that in his first month running OnlyMee, he took home about $3,000 after deducting rent and operating costs. He earned about 20 percent more as a flight attendant.

He invested about $15,000 to get the stall up and running, and says he is hoping to break even within six months.
 
Still, there are no regrets. Kalvin does not see himself returning to flying. “I don’t think I will go back [to aviation],” he says, matter-of-factly. Even though hawker work, he admits, is harder. Running the stall alone means dealing with heat, long hours, and lunchtime rush, all while cooking and managing orders at the same time. Flying, he says, was physically easier, and he enjoyed talking to passengers and serving them. But despite the grind of hawker life, Kalvin says: “I can see myself doing this until I’m old”.

Shredded Chicken Hor Fun, $5.80
 
The shredded chicken breast is slightly dry, and there isn’t a lot of it, but the smallish prawns add a touch of sweetness. The hor fun is silky, if a little clumpy in some places. None of that is memorable, but the lovely broth ladled over it uplifts the entire dish. Built on chicken bones and ikan bilis, then finished with prawn oil that Kalvin makes with prawn heads weekly, the light but umami soup is delish. Kalvin tells 8days.sg that he simmers it for four hours.
 

Dry Curry Noodles, $5.80 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Yellow noodles generously littered with shredded chicken, along with tau pok, crunchy blanched long beans, slices of char siew and sio bak draped with sweetish dark soy sauce-spiked thick curry gravy. The noodles are slightly springy, and the punchy curry sauce infused with spices such as star anise and clove, clings well to the strands. We found the roast pork belly fatty and satisfying, but loved the smoky-sweet char siew more. Pretty appetising.

Curry Noodles, $5.80

Think mild, soupy curry. Kalvin uses slightly less coconut milk, so it’s not too rich. We especially enjoy the tau pok here, which soaks up the curry nicely. The rempah is fragrant and gently spiced. Pretty good, but we prefer the dry version for its more robust flavours.

The details

OnlyMee (Taste of Ipoh) is at #01-03 Food Tyrant Coffeeshop, 50 Ubi Avenue 3, S408866. Open Mon to Fri 9.30am - 2.30pm; Sat 10am - 2pm. Closed on Sun. More info via Instagram and Facebook.

Photos: Dillon Tan

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