Exploring Singapore

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...