[Video] Lay Zhang Shows Us How He Used To Eat Chilli Crab

There are few stars as bright as Chinese pop star Lay Zhang. Well, maybe except the sun, which is coincidentally the colour of the 31-year-old’s hair now.

It’s Monday and 8days.sg is meeting Lay at a villa located in Equarius Hotel on Sentosa. He is in town for his first Singapore solo concert, Grandline2: Infinite Lands, at Resorts World Sentosa tomorrow (Oct 19).

Even without his incandescent hair, you can easily spot him in a room full of people. It could be how he looks even better in person than he does on screen. If that’s even possible. But it is. Or maybe it’s how everyone orbits around him, like he is the centre of a solar system or something. 

When Lay sits down in front of the local media for the chat, where he speaks in either Mandarin or English, depending on the language the question is posed to him, he is cheerful and chummy.

You would expect a celebrity of his stature to be distant and cold, but not at all. He is like the sun, remember?

Yes, we were this close to Lay. Next to the singer is 933 jock Kunhua, who facilitated the interview.

Someone asks him what he misses most about Singapore, since the last time he was here was six years ago with Exo, the K-pop band he’s been part of since his showbiz debut in 2012.

“Chilli crab and [my] fans,” he smiles, without missing a beat. He then raves about how the Singaporean dish is “so delicious” and that its level of spiciness is very “friendly”. He likes that it’s a “little bit sweet” too.

We ask Lay if he has had chilli crab since touching down in Singapore a day ago.

“I ate it on the first day!” he beams. “[My team] ordered takeaway and it came in a round dish. The first time I had chilli crab, I wore plastic gloves. And I like to eat the pincers most. But I didn’t manage to crack the shell open so I had to hold the pincer in my hand and smash it open on a hard surface and then eat the meat. I didn’t know we could crack the shell using a crab cracker. They gave it but I didn’t know. I thought [chili crab] was really hard to eat but it’s so yummy that I’m willing to put in effort for it.”

“But when you smash the pincer, the sauce will get all over your clothes. It gave my stylist a headache but I didn’t care,” he laughs.

When we ask if he has had pandan cake, another one of Singapore’s most famous culinary exports, he says he had the “soft green cake in [the shape of] a circle” on the way to this interview.​​​​​​

Click play on the video to watch our chat with Lay. Our story continues below.

Later, when another reporter asks how he keeps fit, he says: “First of all, you must train every day. That’s basic. Apart from that… don’t eat. Try your best not to eat.”

933 jock Kunhua, who is here to facilitate the interview, says Lay has already had quite a bit of food this trip.

“It’s not easy for me to come to Singapore, so of course I had to eat,” laughs Lay. Getting up close and personal with Lay

He is known for incorporating eastern and western elements into his music. If his use of traditional Chinese music and instruments over hip-hop beats is not an indication of that, well, how about this? His EP last year was titled East, and his latest, West.

We ask Lay if there’s something about Singapore and our mix of Asian cultures that fascinates him or can inspire him to create new music. 

“Singapore is a multi-cultural country so there’s a lot blending of cultures… Be it English or Mandarin or Korean or Malay or whatever language. I think it can all be merged to create a different… something that can please listeners from different countries.  And if you have something you want to relate, like a special traditional story, you can present it visually or with lyrics. I think that’s great.

Is there any Singapore tourist spot that can inspire him?

“I think there has to be a guide to take me around ’cos I’m just not familiar [with Singapore],” he sighs. “Usually, we just go from one point to another. Like we travel from the hotel to the concert venue then back to the hotel. And if the hotel is just five minutes away from the concert venue, that’s where we will be. We won't go anywhere else."

Turns out, what Lay really wants is a tour guide. When we ask if there’s any tourist spot he has to see on this trip, he says he wants to go places with “cultural and historical significance”, before adding: “I hope you all will take me there”.

After everyone offers locations that might interest Lay, he turns to his team and says, with hope simmering in his eyes, “Can you all take note of all this, so if we have time after rehearsals, we can go take a look?”

Lay is performing at Resorts World Sentosa on Wednesday (Oct 19). Photo: Kelvin Chia/ Mediacorp Photo Unit

Lay’s concert tomorrow marks his 10th year in showbiz. We couldn’t help but wonder what would he be doing now if he wasn’t a star? His answer surprised us.

“I think being a reporter is not bad… I can ask more questions... I feel I can get to know more about another person and can also make more good friends,” he says.

So would he want to be an entertainment reporter? “Not necessarily,” he chuckles.

What about a gossip journalist, we probe.

“Any type of reporter actually. I like all types. I find this occupation very respectable as you are bringing news to others.”

Want to switch places, Lay?

Catch Lay Zhang at his Grandline2: Infinite Lands Concert Live In Singapore at the Resorts World Ballroom, tomorrow (Oct 19) at 8pm. Tickets are available for purchase via Ticketmaster’s website. Click here to find out more.

Photos & Video: Pyron Tan
Main pic right: Kelvin Chia/ Mediacorp Photo Unit