Last hours in Singapore: Time for one more meal

We awoke early on Wednesday to pack up all the stuff we had strewn about our room at the St. Regis. Karen’s bag (nicknamed R2D2 because it is a silver hard case with four wheels, making her C3P0 when she’s pushing it around) was dangerously close to the weight limit for Vietnam Airlines. So she offloaded some items into Eric’s as yet unnamed suitcase.

Motivated by the idea of getting in one more delicious meal in Singapore before having to catch a cab at 11am for the airport, we made quick work of packing and set out for Ion Orchard’s Food Opera, the sight of our original Singaporean food triumph. We were basically there when they opened the stalls at 10am but we didn’t care that some of the vendors were still setting up for the day – we were hungry!

Tempted by the ducks hanging in the window, Eric chose roasted duck with noodles and bok choy. 

Karen chose beef and noodles, a dry version of the pork soup Eric had on the first day. She also enjoyed a blended orange, carrot and green apple juice. 

Tummies full, we trouped back to the St. Regis, for one last seat in the elevator (seriously, there’s a bench in there), to grab our bags, check out and head off to the airport. When sitting down to check out (there’s seating there too), Melissa, the same woman who greeted us at check-in, approached us hesitantly to say the hotel’s records had us scheduled to check out the previous day. We were also puzzled until we realized that while the original reservation was in Karen’s name, we had added one more night in Eric’s name when our itinerary for the trip changed. Melissa checked, and sure enough, there was the second reservation under Kerensky. Because our late-night check in at the St. Regis had been so seamless, we had never visited the check-in desk and established this confusing fact about our stay. Melissa consolidated our records and bid us a fond farewell. We promised to visit again.

At the Singapore Airport, we visited the ghetto lounge for airlines with no lounges of their own and no affiliations with other carriers that do have lounges (note to Sky Team – fix this) and found it to be pretty unimpressive. We were interested to learn that each airline is responsible for its own security screening, with metal detectors and baggage screening at each gate. We boarded the pretty teal plane and took off for Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon if you want to be like the locals. 

Stay tuned...

Day 2 in Singapore: The Eating Continues and We Walk Among the Animals

We had technically allowed 3 days in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, but the timing of our flight left us with only 2 functional days in Singapore. As you can see from the prior post, Day 1 in Singapore was a super full day of eating and touring. Day 2 followed with similarly aggressive schedule to pack in as much as possible into our limited time allotted.

We began the day with our traditional Starbucks coffee and then continued our walk towards Ion Orchard. Our plan for the day was to skip brunch at Ion Orchard and head instead to another hawker center, Makansutra (Makan is Malay for “eat”), for lunch. That didn’t work out so well (the eating part at least, but more on that later). In addition to the aforementioned yumminess that is the Food Opera, Ion Orchard is an MRT stop (mass transit) and a traditional mall in the vein of Tysons’s Corner, with Gap-level stores mixed with Hermes. Karen had forgotten the white tank she likes to wear with one of her sundresses, and anticipating the continued heat and humidity in our next destination of Vietnam might warrant sundress-wearing , we stopped at Japanese retailer Uniqlo. While Karen shopped upstairs, Eric headed to the men’s level. There, Eric was befuddled as 80% of the clothing was fleece and winter-wear. This threw Eric because the coldest it gets in Singapore is 60 degrees, and even in “winter” during our visit it was 80 degrees or warmer. We inquired about this to the guy who checked us out, and his response revealed more about Singapore’s international nature. According to the employee, the clothing is sold with the intention that it will be packed and taken to locations afar that actually experience weather requiring such clothing. In our eyes, that illustrates the international and commerce driven nature of modern Singapore. 

With a new tank top in hand, we headed down to the MRT Station and purchased our tickets for our ride on the MRT. The MRT is somewhere between the MTR in Hong Kong and the Metro in DC, but much closer to the former than the latter. First, the trains run every 5 or 6 minutes, max. Second, the technology on which the platform is built seems far more advanced that Metro. The MRT is vastly preferable, if for no other reason that the ticket machine allows you to push a button on a computerized map and the system automatically shows the fare. This avoids the experience of most DC tourists of staring blankly at the unending list of stops trying to determine what it all means. The MRT also doesn’t use disposable paper tickets. Instead, one time users are dispensed a plastic card containing a smart chip. All fares are charged a $1 SD deposit, which can be returned by inserting the empty card at any farecard machine.

Our destination was the Fountains of Wealth at Suntec City. We exited the MRT station and began a nearly 20 minute walk, all underground. As we previously mentioned, the buildings in Singapore are all connected by tunnels that double as shops. In addition to protecting us from some rainy and humid weather, the tunnels are well marked and so finding our destination required just following the signs. 

The underground labyrinth; we walked for almost 20 minutes before emerging aboveground

Along the way there are some amusing distractions to pass the time. 

The year of the bunny starts January 28th

Lovely Koi pond

We arrived at the Fountains of Wealth set in the heart of Suntec City, an enormous retail and business complex consisting of five towers, like five extended fingers. Sitting in the middle of the towers, in the “palm” if you will, is a large fountain. Water signifies wealth in feng shui, so water in the hand is considered very fortuitous. The fountains are billed as the largest of their kind in the world. They are both impressive and large, but we found the claim disingenuous having been to the Bellagio in Vegas. We assume there must be subtleties to the various kinds of fountains according to Guinness. 

The scale is hard to appreciate; this is a view from about 20 feet above ground

Two of the fingers making up the hand in which the fountains serve as the palm 

From there we headed back underground to visit the Esplanade Theaters on the Bay and find the Makansutra food hawker area. We walked back underground for another 15 minutes or so and emerged at the Theaters on the Bay. You may have seen these large spiny-looking structures in pictures of Singapore’s architecture. Until the recent Marina Bay Sands structure’s completion, these items were a defining characteristic of Singapore’s skyline (and they still hold their own). 

The iconic design; this is a piece of one of the two spheres

The interiors are similar to a Kennedy Center complex, with multiple theaters and spaces to house art exhibits. We were particularly taken with this exhibit created out of thread on a series of stairs. 

This is nothing more than a single thread creating three dimensional imagery across a dozen or so steps

The Theaters are situated right on the bay and offer beautiful views of Singapore’s impressive skyline and architecture. 

View of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel

View of the rest of the Singapore skyline

From there we headed next door to enjoy the Makansutra food hawker area. We’d read all about it in our guidebooks and seen it on the finale of Top Chef, and we couldn’t wait to experience the food.

Remember one sentence ago when we said we’d read about it in our guidebooks? Well, had we read more carefully we’d have noticed it was open only for dinner (and till 2:00am). As a result, we experienced only the closed stalls and signage. 

Rejected!

We were hungry and undeterred…and still in Singapore, home of great eats on virtually every corner. We walked one block away and found another recommended lunch spot – Space @ My Humble House. My Humble House is this chic club and lounge that was closed during the day. But Space is the adjacent restaurant of “celebrity chef” (quotes because we’ve never heard of him) Sam Leong. The menu consists of his favorite comfort foods from childhood. The restaurant is located in the mall adjacent to the Theaters on the Bay but utilizes Chinese inspired design and architecture to break up the space, creating an intimate eatery with an exceedingly tranquil feel. 

Apples and dark warm colors define the space

For Lunch:

Claypot Beef Rice: Braised beef chunks and mushrooms in a clay pot with fragrant rice

Mama Leong’s Chicken Rice: Created and perfected by Sam Leong’s mother, her secret recipe contains succulent pieces of sow roasted chicken, fragrant rice accompanied by soup of the day and chili sauce and special dark sauce

 Our disappointment sated by a yummy lunch, and encouraged by the sun that had made its first appearance, we hopped in a cab and headed to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The Gardens occupy 158 acres on the outskirts of the downtown area (Singapore is tiny, so it is no more than a 10-15 minute cab ride from the Theaters on the Bay). We visited Swan Lake, the Ginger Garden and the National Orchid Garden.

The Orchid Garden is the largest display of orchids in the world, with more than 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids. They are arranged in beautiful landscapes and amid bronze sculptures and water features. It is gorgeous. One section features hybrids developed for and named after various dignitaries who have visited the Orchid Garden. Did you know that Margaret Thatcher has an orchid named for her? Like the Iron Lady, it is severe and a bit prickly-looking.

We could try to describe our trip to the Botanic Gardens with words, but it seems pictures tell a more vibrant story.

We walked around for a few hours, had a drink and a delicious chocolate brioche at the Food Garden, then hopped another cab to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo (again, a mere 10-15 minute cab ride farther outside of town). Our cab driver, upon learning we were from the U.S., wanted to talk about Jared Loughner, the crazed shooter from Arizona. “So young,” he said over and over again. We were loath to tell him that most of our crazed gunmen in the U.S. are exactly that - “so young.” We learned that the penalty for having a gun in Singapore is death.

The Night Safari is billed as the world’s first. Those of you that know Eric know he hates zoos. It upsets him to see the animals in their small cages and glass enclosures. We were assured by several friends that this exhibit would cause no such discomfort, and we were not disappointed.

We had been advised at the Hotel the exhibit opened at 6:00pm. On arrival we discovered that the food area opened at 6:00, the exhibit at 7:00pm. We were momentarily disappointed as, we arrived at 5:30pm and didn’t really want to sit and wait for an hour and half. Our error was thinking about zoo food as bearing any more resemblance to U.S. zoo food as Singapore mall food does to the mall food court at Ballston.

At 6:00pm we headed with a group along a short path into the area surrounding the Tram and Night Zoo walking trails. We settled into a seat and ordered a Chicken Tika with Naan bread; an incredibly tasty chicken tika with naan bread. Seriously, this would have been an impressive dish served in an Indian restaurant. We even went back and ordered a second helping of naan to help suck up the remaining curry. We were blown away with the juxtaposition of the tasty meal smack in the middle of a zoo food court. 

As dinner was ending the sun was setting (a necessary prerequisite for a “Night Safari”). We headed over to the queue for the tram and boarded. Note that we avoided the area where one of the animal handlers was standing with a python draped over his shoulders, encouraging visitors to pet it. Uh, no thanks. 

The tram

Eric and Karen on the Tram

Did we mention it was a Night Safari? And they are trying to protect animals? Yeah, well that makes it kind of difficult to take pictures, so here you are going to have to take our word for what happened next. The tram winds through almost 100 acres of 41 habitats housing more than 1,000 animals and 120 species. The habitats are lit with a gentle light, like moonlight, and the guide on the tram speaks in hushed tone so as to not disturb the animals, who were all pretty active at this hour. We observed hippos bathing, hyenas prowling, big cats fishing and goats grazing.

After the tram ride, we attended the Creatures of the Night show in the zoo’s 700-seat outdoor amphitheater. The show was hosted by Jennie, one of the animal handlers and a real comedian. While the show was clearly geared towards kids, Jennie’s subversive humor was operating at a level better appreciated by us adults. The show included wolves, hyenas, civets and also three otters trained to juggle and sort recyclables (no joke). It also included a python, which the handlers proceeded to wrap around some poor dad from South Africa. Having suspected the python from earlier might make an appearance in the show, Karen was very glad she had insisted we sit in the upper part of the amphitheater.

It was after nine when the show ended but our visit was not over. We proceeded to walk the three walking trails of the Night Safari, to get a better look at some animals we saw from the tram and also to visit some not included on the tour, like the Malayan Tiger, Lions and Porcupines. We chose to avoid the sections of the trails with the Flying Squirrels and Fruit Bats, preferring our Night Safari animals to be of the grounded variety.

By 10:30, we were dead tired and hopped a cab back to the hotel. On the ride we talked of having the butler draw us a bath or some more tea, or stopping by the bar for a cocktail. On arrival at the St. Regis, we opted for……………………..sleep.

Day 1 in Singapore, Eating Our Way Through the City

Day one in Singapore found us waking up to a rainy day. Of course, since this is monsoon season in Singapore, we were glad it was only drizzling. And since it was 87 degrees and super humid, the lack of direct sun wasn’t an issue (until we got to the Marina Bay Sands, but more on that later).

Eric explored the hotel a bit while Karen got ready. By the time Eric returned to the room he had pumped the staff for food suggestions and we were on our way to Ion Orchard. Karen always travels with an umbrella, and the St. Regis was kind enough to ply all guests with them upon leaving the hotel, so the drizzle didn’t present an issue.

Rainy day view outside the St. Regis

The prime shopping and tourist area in Singapore is Orchard Road. The St. Regis was only two blocks off of Orchard Road so we were a brief walk from our destination – Ion Orchard. Much like Hong Kong, Singapore has dumped billions of dollars into mass transit, and, as part of that investment, developed underground connections between buildings that go for 10 blocks or more. And, much like HK, the connections under streets and buildings aren’t so much tunnels as meccas of high end malls and shopping. Ion Orchard is a high end mall (Gucci, Celine, Luis Vuitton, etc.) But it mixes the Singapore mall culture with the Singapore food culture. In Singapore, mall food courts are the next generation of the street markets (more on those later). Mall food in Singapore bears no resemblance to mall food in the U.S.  Singapore is at the avant garde of the world's trendiest dining movements. Ion Orchard has four different food areas. We chose to dine at an area called the Food Opera (located on B-4; four floors below ground), and it does sing a lovely tune. The Food Opera is filled with 40 or 50 different stalls selling a variety of food choices. We split up to search out our own ways and here’s where we ended up: 

Eric had the Bee Hoon Mee Soup, a yummy broth with pork balls, pork filled wantons, noodles and assorted veggies and spicy peppers ($5 Singapore)

Karen had the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee. Short noodles stir fried in a seafood and garlic broth with giant prawns ($5.50 Singapore Dollars). 

Singapore is a melting pot of lots of regional cultures and ethnicities. If all you know of the country is that they cane obnoxious American tourists, then forget what you know. It tolerates a variety of cultures and seems to embrace them all. However, you cannot chew gum (recent exceptions have been made for Nicorette) and you cannot carry a gun. In Singapore, the penalty for possessing an unlawful gun is death. Seriously, they have zero tolerance in a way that really gets your attention. 

After late breakfast we hopped a cab to a section of town called Little India. 

Little India is exactly what you expect; shops of all sorts selling wares from India and Hindu temples. 

 

We weaved through some stalls and happened on Little India Footwear. Unlike Temple Street in HK, this time we both hit paydirt, as Karen bought some jeweled strappy sandals and Eric scored a pair of leather sandals. The purveyor genuinely liked us and, as such agreed to “make us good price”. We were quite sure that we were the only shoppers ever to receive such a discount. No seriously…

At this point we split up. Karen visited one stall and purchased some Indian peasant blouses, while Eric meandered into a fabric store and had some shyster woman try and sell him a handmade suit for more than it would cost to buy one at Brooks Brothers. We guess Eric just looks like a sucker.

Fresh off our shopping success (Karen more than Eric), we walked about 10 minutes away to Arab Road. 

Arab Road is the Muslim section of town, with some great Malay and Middle Eastern food and beautiful mosques. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the Englishman who founded modern Singapore in 1819, “generously” allocated the area in 1824 to Sultan Hussein, the Malay king who had been in charge previously. We tried to visit the Sultan Mosque, where Sultan Hussein had built his original mosque in 1824 (the current one was built in 1924) but the nice gentleman outside explained that it was currently the call to prayer and asked us to return in a bit. It having been hours since our last meal, we headed down the street in search of lunch. The Insight Guide (no Eyewitness was available) directed us to Alaturka, a Turkish restaurant in the heart of Arab Road. Here’s what we ate for lunch: 

Borek: Phyllo pastry stuffed with feta cheese

Moussaka: Sauteed sliced eggplant and potatoes, layered with lamb, topped with melted cheese

Turkish black tea

Tavuk Sis: Grilled chicken on skewers with rice and vegetables

Our tummies filled with Turkish goodness, we walked back down the street towards the mosque.

View from the Alaturka towards the mosque

We weren’t really sure what to expect from the mosque. The structure is HUGE, taking up virtually an entire city block. It is the largest mosque in Singapore, and the prayer hall accommodates 5,000 people. There are 8 or 9 entrances, with visitors welcome at Gate 5. We entered and removed our shoes and a gentleman helped both of us into green robes (since we were both wearing shorts and our upper arms were exposed, that was expected). It was at this point that a most welcome thing occurred. A gentleman who we can best describe as a docent approached us and guided us into the hallway towards (but not into) the prayer hall and started explaining not just about the mosque, but about the religion in general. He encouraged questions and genuinely took a “no question is too dumb” approach. He then took our picture and encouraged us to walk around (again, not inside the prayer room). It was a wonderfully warm experience.

Next on our tour of Singapore was a stop at the Raffles Hotel (named for the aforementioned Sir Stamford). The Raffles is world famous as the place of birth of the Singapore Sling. The hotel is a wonderful example of British Colonial architecture and decor, similar to the Moana Surfrider on Waikiki where we had the pleasure of visiting in August

The Singapore Slings, however, were kind of nasty. They tasted either like cough syrup (Karen’s description) or Bubbalicious bubble gum (Eric’s somewhat ironic description in light of Singapore’s position on gum chewing). To top it off, they were CRAZY expensive. The two Singapore slings cost us almost $60 USD. That is more expensive than drinks in NYC clubs! On the bright side, they do give you free peanuts at the Long Bar at Raffles and allow you to throw the peanut shells on the floor, which in crazy clean Singapore is a freeing feeling. We also made a new friend - Canadian Dave who works for Fairmont Hotels.

From there we were off on a walking tour of Singapore sights in the Historic District, including St. Andrew’s Cathedral and the civic buildings: Parliament, the Supreme Court and City Hall.

Then it was off to find the newest Singapore landmark, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino. The building has redefined Singapore’s architecture and skyline. It casts an imposing figure from just about anywhere.

When we finally reached it (we won’t bore you, but next time we’d just take a darn cab) we were actually underwhelmed. Maybe it was because we expected so much, or maybe the building is not as impressive as it should have been, but it was…nice.

The casino was odd and the hotel…nice, but just so. Eric thought the hotel atrium looked like one of the Disney World hotels he visited as a child, 20+ years ago. We were very interested to visit the Sky Park, but it was unfortunately closed due to the bad weather. We wondered how it could be any more dangerous in the rain than on a clear day. Surely there’s a guardrail. We may never find out. At this point we were super tired and needed a rest before dinner at Newton Circus, so we headed back via taxi to the St. Regis and had the butler prepare some more tea.

At around 8, we jumped in a taxi to the Newton Circus Hawker Center. Frommer’s defines a hawker center as a grouping of informal, open-air food stalls, and the best way to sample every kind of Singaporean cuisine. Newton Circus is the largest and most famous hawker center in Singapore, and has hundreds of stalls selling seafood and rice and noodles and all other kinds of local food. We did a full lap before picking a seat at one of the numbered picnic tables, and starting the ordering process.

We had been well-prepped on the hawker center process by a few guide books, the most important lesson of which was not to be snookered by stalls selling seafood by the grams and not being precise about exactly how much you intend to buy. This proved an important lesson, as Eric soon began a negotiation session with a fishmonger selling giant prawns. The price was per 100kg. Eric asked how much they weighed, and the monger suggested we start with 4 each. Eric insisted on an answer to his question, and after a bit more persistence it was determined that each prawn weighed more than 100kg. The 8 suggested prawns would have cost near $200USD. In that moment the guidebooks more than paid for themselves. We settled on two prawns and were soon beginning our meal.

Having wet our feet, we followed that effort with beer and water and:

Satay sticks (chicken and beef)

Beef fried noodles with seafood

We finished dinner and by this point it was raining pretty hard. Much like NYC or DC, it was near impossible to catch a cab in the rain. Fortunately Newton Circus is around the corner from an MRT station so we trained it back to Orchard Road and walked the few blocks to the hotel, with brief stop at DQ (yes, that DQ) for a Blizzard and some soft serve. Don’t judge us- we don’t have DQ in DC.

And then we slept, very, very, very well.