Sweaty Singapore & A Big Fat Indian Wedding (SQ F, EY F (Jetihad), Park Hyatt HYD)
Oct 30, 2015, 3:55 pm
#32
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Eating Singapore Part 1 - Flowers, Supertrees, and a River Safari
Our time spent in Singapore can basically be broken into two buckets - the times when we were eating, and when we weren't eating. It's probably a 50/50 split. Let's start with the non-eating portion.
It's funny to hear that many people argue that Singapore isn't really "real" Asia, whatever that might mean. To them, a trip to the "real" Asia probably involves navigating the sea of scooters in Vietnam, climbing pagodas in Bagan, or visiting rice paddy fields in Bali.
Sure, Singapore doesn't exude culture or history as those cities do, but to me it's actually a great way to get exposed to Asia. Along with Hong Kong, it's probably one of the least intimidating Asian destinations for Western tourists to visit and was incredibly clean, orderly, and safe. Oh, and literally everybody speaks English.
In other words, its basically the Disneyland of Asian cities. Who wouldn't want to go to Disneyland?
We started our first day of sightseeing by walking along Marina Bay, which took us over to the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay which was incredibly unique from an architectural perspective with its durian shape.
The Singapore skyline was beautiful, even more so at night.
Across the bay was the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel. We planned to visit the rooftop bar at some point during our trip couldn't find the time.
We stopped at one of the iconic Merlion statues around Singapore for a photo op.
And one last stop on the way to lunch at the Fullerton Bay Hotel lobby which has one of the best looking hotel lobbies I've ever seen.
In the late afternoon we went over to the Gardens By The Bay, located near the Marina Bay Sands hotel. It was recommended to go a couple hours before sunset so that we could visit the gardens, and then move over to the Supertree Grove after sunset.
Apparently weaher in Singapore is perfect for growing flowers, and orchids in particular. Although I'm pretty sure that the Lego flowers at the entrance could grow in any climate.
There were two primary exhibits at the Gardens by the Bay, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The Cloud Forest provided a nice escape from the heat, and the mist from the waterfall was an added bonus. Starting from the ground floor, you'll make your way up about a three-story walkway surrounded by unique flora from all over the world.
The Flower Dome also had flowers from all around the world, and featured several different types of orchids.
The other big exhibit was the Supertree Grove, where we camped out starting about half an hour prior to sunset. The light show started at 7:45 and was really cool. It's definitely a unique experience and something you're not going to find elsewhere in the world.
On the way home we walked along the Helix bridge back to the hotel, which provided a great night view of the Singapore skyline.
The next day we were off to see more flowers at the National Orchid Garden. There's no fee to enter the park, and from the park entrance it's a 15-minute walk over to the Orchid Garden. This took us along a beautiful and picturesque swan lake that looked like it was out of a painting.
There is a $5 SGD fee to enter the National Orchid Garden but it's definitely worth it.
From the entrance, you'll walk through a flower-lined arched walkway leading into the gardens.
I'm far from an amateur botanist so I'm not going to pretend like I really knew much about the flowers here, and in particular how special or rare any of the orchids were.
But some of the orchids were really cool, including a couple of my favorites below.
Afterwards we decided to punish ourselves for being so gluttonous on the flights over and walked back to the hotel. This ended up being a 5-mile walk, and in the process I'm pretty sure that I lost half my body weight in sweat.
The walk started along Nassim Road, which contained a number of gated homes and mansions. Many of them were flying flags from various countries around the world, so we surmised that this is where the diplomats and ambassadors lived.
Along the way, we had to take a break to give our howling feet some rest. We ducked into Kenko spa for some reflexology.
Our final sightseeing adventure took us on a half day-trip to the Singapore Zoo and River Safari. I'd plan to buy tickets online in advance, as the night safari that we wanted to also do was already sold out.
For those that are planning to visit both, I'd recommend starting with the River Safari.
There's no doubt about what the main attraction is here - it's the giant pandas, Jia Jia and Kai Kai. The panda-life of sleeping and eating all day looks pretty appealing if you ask me.
You can't blame the zoo for trying to monetize on their star attraction.
You have to buy an extra ticket for the Amazon Riverquest but it was worth. This takes you on a 10-minute ride where you have a front-row view of many different exhibits.
Something clicked in my wife's mind at this exhibit. She's been calling me a manatee ever since, and I'm pretty sure that's an insult.
The Coca-Cola Polar Bear was on loan as a special exhibit, and he did not disappoint with all his dancing and swimming.
I was enjoying a nice quiet day at the zoo until these little punks cut in line as I was trying to pet the iguana!
We moved over to the zoo afterwards which was just next door, and spent another hour or so there. There was a lot to see, highlighted by the big cat exhibits.
And my favorite one of the day, the baboons. Apparently during mating season, the female's butts get extra red and swollen. My wife and I had a good time trying to figure out which ones were most in heat.
It's funny to hear that many people argue that Singapore isn't really "real" Asia, whatever that might mean. To them, a trip to the "real" Asia probably involves navigating the sea of scooters in Vietnam, climbing pagodas in Bagan, or visiting rice paddy fields in Bali.
Sure, Singapore doesn't exude culture or history as those cities do, but to me it's actually a great way to get exposed to Asia. Along with Hong Kong, it's probably one of the least intimidating Asian destinations for Western tourists to visit and was incredibly clean, orderly, and safe. Oh, and literally everybody speaks English.
In other words, its basically the Disneyland of Asian cities. Who wouldn't want to go to Disneyland?
We started our first day of sightseeing by walking along Marina Bay, which took us over to the Esplanade Theatres on the Bay which was incredibly unique from an architectural perspective with its durian shape.
The Singapore skyline was beautiful, even more so at night.
Across the bay was the iconic Marina Bay Sands hotel. We planned to visit the rooftop bar at some point during our trip couldn't find the time.
We stopped at one of the iconic Merlion statues around Singapore for a photo op.
And one last stop on the way to lunch at the Fullerton Bay Hotel lobby which has one of the best looking hotel lobbies I've ever seen.
In the late afternoon we went over to the Gardens By The Bay, located near the Marina Bay Sands hotel. It was recommended to go a couple hours before sunset so that we could visit the gardens, and then move over to the Supertree Grove after sunset.
Apparently weaher in Singapore is perfect for growing flowers, and orchids in particular. Although I'm pretty sure that the Lego flowers at the entrance could grow in any climate.
There were two primary exhibits at the Gardens by the Bay, the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest. The Cloud Forest provided a nice escape from the heat, and the mist from the waterfall was an added bonus. Starting from the ground floor, you'll make your way up about a three-story walkway surrounded by unique flora from all over the world.
The Flower Dome also had flowers from all around the world, and featured several different types of orchids.
The other big exhibit was the Supertree Grove, where we camped out starting about half an hour prior to sunset. The light show started at 7:45 and was really cool. It's definitely a unique experience and something you're not going to find elsewhere in the world.
On the way home we walked along the Helix bridge back to the hotel, which provided a great night view of the Singapore skyline.
The next day we were off to see more flowers at the National Orchid Garden. There's no fee to enter the park, and from the park entrance it's a 15-minute walk over to the Orchid Garden. This took us along a beautiful and picturesque swan lake that looked like it was out of a painting.
There is a $5 SGD fee to enter the National Orchid Garden but it's definitely worth it.
From the entrance, you'll walk through a flower-lined arched walkway leading into the gardens.
I'm far from an amateur botanist so I'm not going to pretend like I really knew much about the flowers here, and in particular how special or rare any of the orchids were.
But some of the orchids were really cool, including a couple of my favorites below.
Afterwards we decided to punish ourselves for being so gluttonous on the flights over and walked back to the hotel. This ended up being a 5-mile walk, and in the process I'm pretty sure that I lost half my body weight in sweat.
The walk started along Nassim Road, which contained a number of gated homes and mansions. Many of them were flying flags from various countries around the world, so we surmised that this is where the diplomats and ambassadors lived.
Along the way, we had to take a break to give our howling feet some rest. We ducked into Kenko spa for some reflexology.
Our final sightseeing adventure took us on a half day-trip to the Singapore Zoo and River Safari. I'd plan to buy tickets online in advance, as the night safari that we wanted to also do was already sold out.
For those that are planning to visit both, I'd recommend starting with the River Safari.
There's no doubt about what the main attraction is here - it's the giant pandas, Jia Jia and Kai Kai. The panda-life of sleeping and eating all day looks pretty appealing if you ask me.
You can't blame the zoo for trying to monetize on their star attraction.
You have to buy an extra ticket for the Amazon Riverquest but it was worth. This takes you on a 10-minute ride where you have a front-row view of many different exhibits.
Something clicked in my wife's mind at this exhibit. She's been calling me a manatee ever since, and I'm pretty sure that's an insult.
The Coca-Cola Polar Bear was on loan as a special exhibit, and he did not disappoint with all his dancing and swimming.
I was enjoying a nice quiet day at the zoo until these little punks cut in line as I was trying to pet the iguana!
We moved over to the zoo afterwards which was just next door, and spent another hour or so there. There was a lot to see, highlighted by the big cat exhibits.
And my favorite one of the day, the baboons. Apparently during mating season, the female's butts get extra red and swollen. My wife and I had a good time trying to figure out which ones were most in heat.
Oct 30, 2015, 3:57 pm
#33
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
Oct 31, 2015, 10:49 am
#35
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
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Nov 1, 2015, 1:05 am
#37
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Nov 1, 2015, 3:45 am
#38
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Bargara Australia
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Posts: 1,530
The Orchid Gardens in Singapore are stunning, your photos brought back wonderful memories of my visit there.
I had high expectations of the Orchid Gardens in Kuala Lumpur BUT they are not worth the visit after the wealth of beauty in Singapore
I had high expectations of the Orchid Gardens in Kuala Lumpur BUT they are not worth the visit after the wealth of beauty in Singapore
Nov 1, 2015, 10:16 am
#39
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Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
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Completely agree, even for a flora layman like myself, I was very impressed with the beauty of the gardens. They do a really nice job with the exhibits.
Nov 1, 2015, 10:27 am
#40
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Eating Singapore Part 2 - Hawker Stands, Chili Crab, and Kouign Amanns
Now for my favorite half of the trip, the food! As I mentioned in the introduction, I'd rank Singapore as a close 2nd behind Japan as the best eating destination in the world.
One of the big reasons that I could never rank it first? For a big-sweater like myself, it's literally impossible to sit down and truly enjoy a meal at an open-air hawker center because of the insanely hot and humid weather. I'd literally shovel the food into my mouth just so I could get out of there faster and escape to an air-conditioned oasis.
Our eating tour actually got off to an unexpected start. We planned to briefly meet up with a friend who worked at Google and as our tour of the office took us through the cafeteria, it only made sense to grab a try and stay for a bite. There was a great mix of food including a tasty Indian fish curry, noodle bar, and delicious pork bone soup.
The plan had been to just stop by the office and then head across the street to Lau Pa Sat for lunch. Even though we were already quite full, I somehow convinced my wife to stick to this plan.
It was peak lunch time, so it was pretty crowded.
Here's something that I thought was particularly interesting about eating in Singapore. When you asked people who were knowledgeable about the Singapore food scene, they were very, very particular about only eating certain dishes at certain places. For example, Maxwell Road food center is the best for Hainanese chicken rice and Lau Pa Sat is known for satay in evenings, and on and on. In fact, it would be borderline blasphemous to eat certain dishes at the sub-optimal place.
If we had an unlimited amount of time then perhaps we would have tried to follow these recommendations, but that would have been incredibly impractical and we were short on time. Plus, for someone who can barely distinguish between chicken and pork, would I really be able to tell the difference?
Anyways, I bring this up since many people have mentioned that the laksa at Lau Pa Sat isn't the best. To me at least, it was still pretty darn good. We also got an order of fried carrot cake, which actually isn't make of carrots but instead was similar to turnip cake that you get at dim sum.
We actually came back that same evening since people kept raving about the satay. Outside there were several different satay stands setup, and we just picked one and ordered up a huge mixed plate.
The next day we made it over to the Maxwell Road hawker center for the famous Hainanaese chicken rice. Tian Tian is probably the more well-known place to eat that dish here, but Ah Tai was the only one open at the time. Apparently the chef here used to work at Tian Tian but there was some sort of falling out between them. Talk about the ultimate F-U to setup shop next door.
Even at this random hour there was still a line of people about 20 deep. Another thing I realized about eating in Singapore - the locals, many of whom looked like they were in work clothes, really had no issues standing around for up to an hour to eat at certain places. That just seemed crazy to me. I definitely don't have the patience nor the free time to cut out of work at lunchtime for that long.
Of all the famous Singaporean dishes, this was the one I was most skeptical about going into this trip. I mean, how tasty could boiled chicken and rice actually be?
The answer is AMAZINGLY delicious. Seriously, I was blown away by this dish. I'd had chicken rice in the US and this simply put it to shame. The chicken was so succulent, and the rice was incredibly fragrant and flavorful.
Later that evening after our evening at the Gardens By The Bay, on the way home we stopped by the Marina Bay Sands hotel for a snack at the Raspura Masters food center.
I forgot the exact name for what we ordered, but it was basically a form of cool and refreshing shaved ice dessert.
The next day we headed over to the Chinatown Complex food center which was the biggest one we visited. This also meant that there were way too many options for two indecisive eaters to choose from. We honestly spent about 15-20 minutes walking around, trying to settle on a place to eat.
I finally landed on some fried kway teow mee which was delicious. Another observation - no matter how busy a food stand was or how long the line got, even if they essentially only served one dish, they would never mass-produce the food. So even if the next 5 people in line all ordered the same thing, they'd never cook 5 orders at once then split it. Each order was cooked fresh specifically for that person, which wasn't the most efficient method that's for sure.
My wife opted for something lighter and went with a mixed meat soup.
Afterwards we went around the corner to Mei Heong Yuen for dessert. The green tea ice here was just OK, and we've definitely had better.
That afternoon we headed over to Haji Lane to do some shopping, which I didn't mind for once since I got to hang out in air-conditioned rooms all day.
We had seen the rainbow cakes at many different cafes around Singapore and finally decided to try one at Maison Ikkoku. For me, it's a style-over-substance situation and it looked better than it tasted.
For dinner we went to Red House Seafood specifically for one thing, chili crab. Jumbo Seafood is the restaurant that gets the most attention for this dish, but Red House was recommended by someone we trusted on the subject and it certainly didn't disappoint.
This dish just blew us away. First of all, the crab was incredible fresh and meaty. And the sauce? We were literally eating it by the spoonful and by soaking the bread in it. I know that you can get this dish at the hawker centers, but I'd highly recommend eating it at an air-conditioned restaurant since you'll sweat from all the effort it takes to eat it, and it gets really messy.
For our last day in Singapore we started with a visit to Tiong Bahru Bakery where I fell in love with a pastry that I didn't even know existed until that day, the kouign amann. It's the perfect mix of sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy. Just the thought of these makes me start to salivate.
There were three types available here - plan, chocolate, and apple.
We also got a green tea brioche cake but really we should have just ordered all three kouign amanns.
And lastly, a final stop before heading off to the airport where we grabbed lunch at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle. This was definitely the longest line we faced, which clocked in at 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The minced meat noodles were fantastic, although as one person pointed, apparently my bowl of noodles had a hair on the wonton. I guess that makes it more authentic?
One of the big reasons that I could never rank it first? For a big-sweater like myself, it's literally impossible to sit down and truly enjoy a meal at an open-air hawker center because of the insanely hot and humid weather. I'd literally shovel the food into my mouth just so I could get out of there faster and escape to an air-conditioned oasis.
Our eating tour actually got off to an unexpected start. We planned to briefly meet up with a friend who worked at Google and as our tour of the office took us through the cafeteria, it only made sense to grab a try and stay for a bite. There was a great mix of food including a tasty Indian fish curry, noodle bar, and delicious pork bone soup.
The plan had been to just stop by the office and then head across the street to Lau Pa Sat for lunch. Even though we were already quite full, I somehow convinced my wife to stick to this plan.
It was peak lunch time, so it was pretty crowded.
Here's something that I thought was particularly interesting about eating in Singapore. When you asked people who were knowledgeable about the Singapore food scene, they were very, very particular about only eating certain dishes at certain places. For example, Maxwell Road food center is the best for Hainanese chicken rice and Lau Pa Sat is known for satay in evenings, and on and on. In fact, it would be borderline blasphemous to eat certain dishes at the sub-optimal place.
If we had an unlimited amount of time then perhaps we would have tried to follow these recommendations, but that would have been incredibly impractical and we were short on time. Plus, for someone who can barely distinguish between chicken and pork, would I really be able to tell the difference?
Anyways, I bring this up since many people have mentioned that the laksa at Lau Pa Sat isn't the best. To me at least, it was still pretty darn good. We also got an order of fried carrot cake, which actually isn't make of carrots but instead was similar to turnip cake that you get at dim sum.
We actually came back that same evening since people kept raving about the satay. Outside there were several different satay stands setup, and we just picked one and ordered up a huge mixed plate.
The next day we made it over to the Maxwell Road hawker center for the famous Hainanaese chicken rice. Tian Tian is probably the more well-known place to eat that dish here, but Ah Tai was the only one open at the time. Apparently the chef here used to work at Tian Tian but there was some sort of falling out between them. Talk about the ultimate F-U to setup shop next door.
Even at this random hour there was still a line of people about 20 deep. Another thing I realized about eating in Singapore - the locals, many of whom looked like they were in work clothes, really had no issues standing around for up to an hour to eat at certain places. That just seemed crazy to me. I definitely don't have the patience nor the free time to cut out of work at lunchtime for that long.
Of all the famous Singaporean dishes, this was the one I was most skeptical about going into this trip. I mean, how tasty could boiled chicken and rice actually be?
The answer is AMAZINGLY delicious. Seriously, I was blown away by this dish. I'd had chicken rice in the US and this simply put it to shame. The chicken was so succulent, and the rice was incredibly fragrant and flavorful.
Later that evening after our evening at the Gardens By The Bay, on the way home we stopped by the Marina Bay Sands hotel for a snack at the Raspura Masters food center.
I forgot the exact name for what we ordered, but it was basically a form of cool and refreshing shaved ice dessert.
The next day we headed over to the Chinatown Complex food center which was the biggest one we visited. This also meant that there were way too many options for two indecisive eaters to choose from. We honestly spent about 15-20 minutes walking around, trying to settle on a place to eat.
I finally landed on some fried kway teow mee which was delicious. Another observation - no matter how busy a food stand was or how long the line got, even if they essentially only served one dish, they would never mass-produce the food. So even if the next 5 people in line all ordered the same thing, they'd never cook 5 orders at once then split it. Each order was cooked fresh specifically for that person, which wasn't the most efficient method that's for sure.
My wife opted for something lighter and went with a mixed meat soup.
Afterwards we went around the corner to Mei Heong Yuen for dessert. The green tea ice here was just OK, and we've definitely had better.
That afternoon we headed over to Haji Lane to do some shopping, which I didn't mind for once since I got to hang out in air-conditioned rooms all day.
We had seen the rainbow cakes at many different cafes around Singapore and finally decided to try one at Maison Ikkoku. For me, it's a style-over-substance situation and it looked better than it tasted.
For dinner we went to Red House Seafood specifically for one thing, chili crab. Jumbo Seafood is the restaurant that gets the most attention for this dish, but Red House was recommended by someone we trusted on the subject and it certainly didn't disappoint.
This dish just blew us away. First of all, the crab was incredible fresh and meaty. And the sauce? We were literally eating it by the spoonful and by soaking the bread in it. I know that you can get this dish at the hawker centers, but I'd highly recommend eating it at an air-conditioned restaurant since you'll sweat from all the effort it takes to eat it, and it gets really messy.
For our last day in Singapore we started with a visit to Tiong Bahru Bakery where I fell in love with a pastry that I didn't even know existed until that day, the kouign amann. It's the perfect mix of sweet and salty, chewy and crunchy. Just the thought of these makes me start to salivate.
There were three types available here - plan, chocolate, and apple.
We also got a green tea brioche cake but really we should have just ordered all three kouign amanns.
And lastly, a final stop before heading off to the airport where we grabbed lunch at Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle. This was definitely the longest line we faced, which clocked in at 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The minced meat noodles were fantastic, although as one person pointed, apparently my bowl of noodles had a hair on the wonton. I guess that makes it more authentic?
Nov 1, 2015, 11:41 am
#44
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
Nov 1, 2015, 12:14 pm
#45
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: San Francisco
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 700
