For this year, after
contemplating a trip to Japan (a country which, if you regularly read
this blog, you'll have realized we are somewhat taken with), in the
end we decided to head over to South-East Asia for our Easter
holiday. The plan was to spend 1 week in Singapore, and 1 week in
Thailand. After an eventless and comfortable flight in an Airbus A380
(my first flight in one!), we arrived in Singapore on schedule.
After a quick and
efficient immigration procedings, we picked up our bags, jumped in a
taxi and made our way to our hotel, located near the Botanical
Gardens of Singapore. The hotel, or bed and breakfast, rather, was
quite an interesting place in itself. An old mansion of sorts, it
resembled more the residence of some eccentric hermit or something
(the building is laden with antique furniture, old photos, and a
rather strange swimming pool, located in the basement, with some
horse statues located around it). Having unpacked our bags and
showered, we hit the road, eager to explore Singapore.
It was late afternoon
already, and we were mindful of our long journey, so decided to walk
down to nearby Orchard Road. Orchard Road is the main shopping street
of Singapore, with shopping malls, one huger than the other, lining
the road. (apparently, people used to say that the only things there
were to do in Singapore were shopping and dining – so no surprise
there – I can assure you there are plenty of other things to do in
Singapore, though!). After spending a couple of hours checking out
the various shopping malls, it was time to try that second favourite
pastime of Singaporeans, eating. Trusting our guide, we decided to
head to
Din Tai Fung, a Taiwanese chain of restautants specializing in
Dim Sum, famous for their dumplings and Wantom soup. And justly so,
it must be said. The 1 hour wait to get a table (thankfully we were
in a shopping mall!), was more than worth it. I believe I've never
had as good dumplings in my life – not sure what magic ingredient
they put in the sauce, but those dumplings are just to die for... (we
later found out a couple of the outlets in Hong Kong actually have 1
Michelin star each).
The next day, after a
filling breakfast, we headed off downtown to the Colonial district.
It's the part of Singapore where “modern Singapore” was built
after the arrival of the British. We started our tour at the famous
Raffles hotel, one of the great, historical hotels in the world. And
an impressive place it is, with its colonial architecture, the
impressive gardens and (this being Singapore...) the fancy shops
located right in the hotel. We then made our way to the Singapore
river, where we decided to join a river boat tour, apparently an
excellent way to explore this part of Singaore.
And it was quite a nice
experience – our short tour allowed us to take in the fringes of
Chinatown, with its traditional shophouses, the financial district
with its impressive skyscrapers, the historical Fullerton hotel, and
the jewel of the crown – the area around Marina Bay. The Marina Bay
is a true showpiece of modern architecture, dominated by the huge,
over the top, but undeniably impressive Marina Bays resort, surronded
by various other impressive works of modern architecture (concert
halls, museums, bridges....).
Our tour of the bay
done, we decided it was time for a bit of lunch. What better place
for lunch than one of the Hawker centres Singapore is so famous for?
And what better place to try a Hawker centre than Chinatown ? So off
we went, to explore Chinatown. Chinatown, of course, shows an
altogether different aspect of Singapore than the European-looking
Colonial District or the ultramodern Marina Bay and finanacial
district, but one that is equally (if not more so) quintessentially
Sinaporen. Being in the hustle of bustle of China town probably gives
you an idea of what Singapore was like all over the place about 30
years ago – before it was transformed into the financial business
hub it is today. It ticks all the boxes – shops selling cheap
Chinese stuff, naturally, delicious-looking street food sold
everywhere, temples tucked away here and there, and most of all, the
hustle and bustle and masses of people Chinatowns attract everywhere
in the world.
After taking in the
atmosphere for a while, we decided it was time to check out that
Hawker centre. Hawker centres (and the similar food courts, that can
be found all over Singapore), are brilliant inventions, in my
opinion. Basically, a Hawker centre hourses several stands
(dozens...) selling various types of cuisine (different regional
Chinese cuisines, Thai cuisine, Japanese, Indian, Malaysian, you name it
– Singapore is the perfect destination to try Asian cuisine in all
its forms...) for ridiculously good value for money (a very tasty
meal might only set you back by a couple of Euros...). You chose one
of the communal tables, buy your food, and just enjoy your food. So
practical (no need to try to come to an agreement about whether to
have Chinese or Indian food – each person just picks what they
want!), so cheap and most importantly, so good... We had some Chinese
noodles this time, yummie...
Our appetites sated, it
was time to continue our sight-seeing. We started off with the Sri Mariamman Temple, the most important Hindu temple of Singapore (there is quite
a sizeable Indian minority in Singapore, mostly guest workers). Next,
the most important Buddhist temple of Singapore – the aptly named Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, a rather impressive Buddhist complex.
The ground hall was most impressive, with a huge collection of 1000
hand-crafter Buddhas, and one huge one in the main prayer hall (where
an impressive number of devotees were seated in prayer...). We also
checked out the temple museum, which housed a number of important
religious relics (we weren't able to find the tooth the temple has
been named for, though!).
For dinner, we'd been
invited to visit our friends Pete and Anne's place. Pete and Anne
(and their daughter Jasmine, of course) used to live on the Cote
d'Azur, until they decided to move to Singapore about three years ago
(in fact, my aunt Tutta currently lives in their old flat). Judging
from their flat, they seem to be doing rather well. A nice view from
the balcony, a gym, jacuzzi and a swimming pool, not bad as far as
the facilities go... An American colleague and fellow-hockey player,
Sam, was there too. After having a rather glamorous aperitif at their
leisure pool/jacuzzi area, and a more sporty swim at their exercise
swimming pool, we headed upstairs for an excellent dinner.
Afterwards, Pete joined us for a drink at a nearby bar (located at
the outskirts of the notorious Gayland district – the place to head
for night life including the kind that many people find in
Thailand...). A very interesting evening indeed – very interesting
to hear about expat life in Singapore. And great to catch up with
Anne and Pete of course!
The next day, we
decided to head off to Sentosa Island. Sentosa island shows yet
another aspect of Singapore- it's kind of like a huge tourist resort,
offering all the services expected of a tourist destination. There's
the resort itself -a huge hotel complex with restaurants (including
some Michelin-starred options), rooms, swimming pools and shops. Then
there's Universal Studios Singapore, some beaches. Oh, and the
biggest aquarium in the world – which is where we were headed (we
ditched the idea of a lounging in the sun on the beach – it
rained!). The aquarium was certainly impressive, with a rather
impressive collection of sharks (including some hammerheads), a manta
ray and some dolophins. But we were a bit put off by all the tourists
posing for pictures in front of the fish (without wanting to sound
prejudiced, Asians seem to be very keen on posing for photos...). And
we were not that impressed by the typhoon simulator either (the
ridiculously poor dubbing and poor acting in the film was the most
entertaining bit of the experience...).
After another excellent
lunch in the Malaysian food court (we had, unsurprisingly, Malaysian
dishes mostly!), we headed off, since the rain showed no signs of
easing off. After a short shopping spree at the shopping mall at the
metro station on the main land, and due to the poor weather
conditions , we decided to do a museum, finally deciding upon the
National Museum of Singapore. A good choice, as it turned out, it's a
very interesting place, giving a very good overview of the various
stages of Singapore's history (from its early days as a poor fishing
village, to the British colony and trade hub, to the painful events
and the Japanese occupation of World War 2, to Independence and
Singapore's evolution to the utlta-modern financial centre it is
today. Very much recommended!
For dinner, we decided
on a Japanese restaurant in Orchard Road. This being Singapore, we
were expecting a real treat, but unfortunately, we were left a bit
disappointed. I mean don't get me wrong, we ate pretty well, but it
was just somewhat un-Japanese and a bit disappointing. I suppose
after two trips to Japan, we have pretty high expectations. Oh
well... We finished of a rather intensive but very rewarding day at
the 1 Altitude Bar, which has the honour of being the highest bar in
the world! (being on the 56
th floor of a skyscraper). The
360 degrees view from the top was certainly stunning – thankfully
the clouds that brought the rains during the day had largely
disappeared by the evening.
The next day was our
last day before heading off to Bangkok (well, we were coming back for
a couple of days after Thailand before heading back to Europe...) in
the evening. In the evening, we decided to visit the world-famous
Botanical Gardens, which are located just by our bed and breakfast.
It's quite an impressive place – a bit like a tropical version of
the Kew Gardens in London (not surprising, the gardens were of course
created by the Brits). We were as expected impressed by the orchid
collection (the biggest one in the world, of course...), but our
favourite bit was probably the rainforest walk (they have actually
managed to preserve a few hectares of rain forest in the middle of
the gardens). The cool rainforest walk provided a rather welcome
respite from the overwhelming heat as well...
For lunch, we headed
for Gardens in the Bay, where we were meeting Pete. Gardens of the
Bay is a rather stunning urban project combining modern architecture
with nature in a quite ingenious way. Basically the garden consists
of metallic structures, that resemble trees, which are overgrown by
rainforest vegetation. There's a kind of suspended ropeway footpath
that connects the “trees”. We had lunch with Pete in another
excellent food court, appropriately called “Satay by the Beach”.
We naturally had some delicious Satay for lunch...
After the lunch, we
headed off to another tourist attraction by the gardens – Cloud
Forest Dome – another stunning Singaporean urban project. As the
name suggest, it's basically a huge dome, and features a kind of huge
garden, replicating what a cloud forest could be like. The complex
contains overhead footpaths, exhibitions, and some pretty impressive
vegetation. Another brilliant way to combine nature and modern
architecture/technology. Bravo, Singapore. We were less impressed by
the nearby Flower Dome, a kind of big indoor garden contining various
plants, orchids, and flowers (too many flowers in one day, after the
Botanical Gardens, I reckon...). And then 'twas time to head off for
the airport, to catch our flight to Bangkok.
The impression we got
from Singapore after a few days was overwhelmingly positive. It's a
pretty cool place with something for everybody (very functional
infrastructure, amazing food, good night life, plenty of museum &
other attractions, a lot of greenery, modern architecture). You name
it, Singapore has it. A good introduction to Asia, I suppose,
Singapore has been called “Asia Light” - a way to experience
Asian without the “inconveniences” that sometimes come with it
(in a country like India, say, with its poverty, infernal traffic,
and food of sometimes questionable hygiene..). But of course, one
could argue that those “inconveniences” are part of the spice
that makes travelling in Asia so fascinating...
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