Looking fit and healthy comes in handy when running a health food kisok, say the co-owners of Wafuken, a two-week-old kiosk that sells healthy Japanese rice bowls.

Mr Jake Pang, 25, says it is much easier to initiate dining collaborations with gyms. He says: "Sadly, the world is superficial, but it is easier to sell a health- related concept when you look healthy and fit."

He and his business partner and former army buddy Edmund Goh are avid gym-goers who dabble in sports such as boxing, mixed martial arts and calisthenics work-outs.

Mr Pang, who is attached, took part in inter-gym boxing matches when he was an Information & Technology undergraduate at the University of Melbourne. He says being good-looking and eloquent helped in negotiating with food suppliers and bank staff when starting up the business.

The stall sells Japanese rice bowls topped with the likes of chicken breast seasoned with shiso salt and Australian wagyu with truffle oil. And business has been brisk, with about 200 bowls sold a day. Both he and Mr Goh spend most of their 15-hour work days in the kitchen, while their shop assistants tend to customers.

Mr Goh, 27, a culinary arts graduate from Shatec Institute, was an air steward with Singapore Airlines for two years before quitting to try his hand at his first business venture.

The 1.75m tall bachelor, who has a brown belt in taekwondo, says that when he was with SIA, some female Japanese passengers called him kawaii (cute in Japanese).

He adds cheekily: "I'd rather customers say that the food we serve looks good, but I wouldn't mind if they comment on our looks too."

http://www.herworldplus.com/lifestyle/food/singapore-has-hot-hawkers-too