The annual pilgrimage to sweat-soaked tents has officially begun, as Singaporeans flock to exchange their dignity for food they usually ignore.

This year’s highlights include a $15 slice of Venezuelan custard that tastes remarkably like unearned hype and a $28 horseshoe-shaped cake designed specifically for Instagram’s graveyard.

One local enthusiast, a professional line-stander, explained the irresistible magnetic pull of the bazaar.

"I don’t even like taupok one, but I see the queue long-long then I must join lor, if not I lose out big time sia!"

Experts note that paying $15 for nine pieces of stuffed tofu is the highest form of economic masochism currently available in the tropics.

Nothing says spiritual reflection like shoving a psychedelic-coloured sugar bomb down one's throat while trapped in a humid human cattle-grid.