A small but enthusiastic Singapore crowd got its first taste of professional eating as the sport's two titans-Takeru Kobayashi and Joey 'Jaws' Chestnut-made their debut in the city-state.

About 300 competitive eating fans roared as local favorite Kobayashi of Japan slammed home 11 pounds (5 kilograms) of grilled Singaporean chicken "satay" in 12 minutes. California's Chestnut was a distant second, munching down 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms).

The professional eating circuit, known as Major League Eating, was organizing its first contest in Asia, one of about 80 competitions a year in which "gurgatators" wolf down foods such as grits, sticks of butter, oysters, jalapenos and cow brains, all the while hoping to avoid the dreaded "reversal."The competition forms part of Singapore's bid to fashion the city-state as a more hip and attractive place to live. The event was part of the Singapore Food Festival, which sought to present "unique dining experiences with a host of interactive events.""Singapore rarely gets events like this so I think it's good," said Rachel Tan, a 21-year-old student. "It's entertaining, but I also feel a little sick after watching that."At least one Singaporean was left ecstatic by the event.

Rosalind Sim, 52, won the amateur contest by scarfing down two double cheeseburgers in 12 minutes.

titan (n.) 大人物;巨人debut (n.) 初次登台;处女作competition (n.) 比赛竞赛to fashion (v.) 包装，做成hip (n.) 时尚流行unique (adj.) 唯一的，独特的ecstatic (adj.) 狂喜的;入迷的amateur (adj.) 业余的to scarf down 吃下;吞下cheeseburger (n.) 汉堡