Speedrun Through Singapore
Allen’s high school friend and his wife had a trip planned to Southeast Asia, and we all decided to meet up in Singapore! We live 40 minutes apart in the Bay Area, yet often fly halfway around the world to hang out. It’s become our thing :)
This weekend getaway also came with side-benefits: we visited a new country for me, renewed our 30-day Thai visas, scored a crazy cheap flight deal, observed Lunar New Year festivities, and enjoyed a “city” getaway from beach life.
We only had 3 days and two nights, including travel time, and I think we did a good job packing in as much as possible.
In the spirit of the trip, here’s a speedrun through our highlights:
Jewel — Aptly named, this is the jewel of the airport. It boasts a 40-meter waterfall, butterfly garden, walking trails, and daily light shows. Jewel sent a clear message that set the tone for our trip: Singapore is a country that takes everything over the top (airports included). No other airport can compete.
Orchard Road — Malls, malls, malls. I counted at least six mega-malls on this strip. There were THREE Louis Vuitton stores within a 10-minute walk of one another. Every brand imaginable jostles for a location on Orchard Road. And where there’s shopping there’s food, and the food court restaurants were great.
Night Safari — The Singapore Zoo has a special program for nocturnal animals. And we saw them all! Tigers, lions, tapirs, elephants, bats, hippo, hyaenas, and more. We actually spent a good 4 hours walking around here, and exhausted all the zoo had to offer. Well worth it.
Esplanade — Beautiful performance hall that looks like durian or bug eyes, and lights up like a jewel at night. Didn’t have time to catch a show, but there is plenty of free programming available.
City Hall — Not just a city hall, but also Singapore’s supreme court, and a museum. These buildings are connected within a building that was built OVER THE BUILDINGS, forming a SUPERBUILDING. Another lowkey feature of this place is the two rooftop bars that offer a clear view of Marina Bay Sands.
Merlion — Can’t go to Singapore and not get a picture with the Merlion.
Chinese (Lunar) New Year Festival — We were lucky to be here for New Year. The festivities last two weeks, allowing us to catch the tail end. Singapore goes BALLS TO THE WALLS for holidays. The city erected a New Year theme park and inflated giant animal statues along major roads. Most shops and restaurants offered creative New Year specials. People wore lots of red. The atmosphere was palpable.
Light Show and Fireworks — Another benefit to coming during New Year’s is the firework show over the water. And amazingly, the fireworks went off during the regularly scheduled Marina Bay Sands light show. We were lucky to get this two-for-one show and the view from an amazing vantage point from across the lake.
Clarke Quay — Singapore’s nightlife scene! Cute restaurants, bars, clubs, and arcades lit up the river. Too bad we were all too tired (and too old) to make the most of it. Still, we very much enjoyed walking through such a lively night scene.
Gardens by the Bay — Of course we had to visit the major attractions: Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. Marveled at another(?!) indoor waterfall and enjoyed the flowers.
Chinatown — Fun area with good food. If you want fresh durian, this is the spot. I tried durian for the first time and enjoyed it! (Allen’s still a hard no. No stinky tofu, no durian.)
Jewel waterfall at Changi International Airport.
Happy Year of the Mouse! Animal statues and New Years decorations were all over Singapore. This one was grown out of a flowering hedge.
Chinese New Year fireworks happening alongside the laser light show.
Part of the magical Cloud Forest in the Gardens by the Bay park.
And of course, the FOOD. We deffo over-indulged this weekend because Singaporean food is frickin irresistible:
Our haul at La Pau Sat! Memorable hawker meal experience. Amazingly, the four of us finished it all.
Al Alzhar’s — Calling all midnight snackers! This local hotspot never closes and was PACKED at midnight. Their menu was over 300 items long, but you honestly can’t go wrong with a roti prata.
Joie — Vegetarian/Vegan fine dining. Food looks and tastes great. Their creativity took the menu and plating over the top. We were stuffed after six courses.
La Pau Sat — Came for the hawker stalls and ate it all: satay skewers, hokkien mee, fish, chicken rice, carrot cake, dried noodles, stingray.
Maxwell Food Court — More hawkers, more food! And a trip out to Hawker Chan for the now commercialized version of the first hawker stall to get a Michelin star.
Lasting impressions:
For Westerners, Singapore makes for a great intro to Asia. It’s got culture, food, ease of transportation, and great English. (Of course Allen is partial to Taipei, but can’t deny Singapore either.)
Singapore gives flight to fancy. It’s a beautiful, classy country that emphasizes art. The architecture, sculpture, and design is incredible. Even something as mundane as a skywalk is artistically designed to make getting from point A to point B a transcendent experience. Creativity has free rein to make anything possible -- a man-made waterfall in an airport? Supertree light-up sculptures with a restaurant on top? Construct an indoor cloud forest? Import sand from Indonesia to build a man-made resort island? Why the hell not!
Food is great. It’s a fantastic mish-mash of Indian, Malaysian, and Chinese cuisine, as well as other cuisines around the world.
“Shop, Eat, Repeat” could well be the mantra of Singapore! Malls are everywhere, and retail is ubiquitous. The commercial-ness felt jarring compared to Phuket, where the entire island’s daily GDP might not equal the daily revenue from one mega-mall on Orchard Road. It really put things into perspective when we returned to Phuket.
We left with eyes, bellies, and hearts full. As great as Singapore is, having great company makes the whole experience even better. Many thanks to Baofi for being such amazing hosts.
The international hangouts must continue lah!
----
Singapore Protips:
Bring a layer. The outdoor climate might be a sweltering tropic, but the indoor A/C is polar. Coming from Thailand, we actually found the outside heat bearable, but were surprised how chilly it felt inside, and nearly caught a cold between the dramatic temperature swings.
Getting a 3 day tourist pass at an MRT station makes getting around very easy, as all the public transportation is covered. Don’t be scared to try the buses; they’re just as easy as the MRT, and nearly as frequent.
Grab is the preferred rideshare app in Singapore, rather than Lyft or Uber. The app makes getting around very easy!
