The trip was nice given the weather, though I would definitely like to see it again in clearer weather and try to book a JSA tour as well!

After sorting through the rest of the laundry left from the previous night, we headed out to breakfast at nearby Donsubaek. The restaurant specializes in the namesake dish, which is a rice and pork soup (dontangban) served in stoneware with pork on the side. The restaurant is open 24/7 and is actually busiest during breakfast. We both ordered the donsubaek which was a very delicious and savory way to start out the day.
It was yet another rainy day but we headed off to Ihwa anyways since it was our last day in Seoul. Ihwa is known for its decorative murals that have attracted large crowds, much to the annoyance of the residents. It was so contentious, in fact, that residents painted gray over the famous fish stairs. However on this wet day it wasn't particularly crowded and we only saw a handful of people in the neighborhood. There's a bit of a guide you can follow to go through the neighborhood to see most of the murals.
After walking around the neighborhood, we stopped at The Twosome Place at the bottom of the hill for a quick snack. We shared a chocolate strawberry cake, though we ended up with something that was basically a chocolate cake with some strawberries on top, though the cake was still really good.
Previously when we were in Insadong we had stumbled upon the Museum Kimchikan (kimchi museum) but it had already closed for the day so we decided to visit earlier in the day. The museum itself is actually really small and also offers kimchi-making classes which need to be booked four days in advanced. The museum itself doesn't have that many exhibits and the ones they have tend to be more interactive. Without booking a kimchi-making session it's good for spending maybe an hour or so exploring the different types of kimchi out there.
Feeling peckish again after leaving the museum I bought some dragon floss candy filled with peanuts to hold me over.
It was still raining so we called and audible and headed indoors to the National Museum of Korea since it was between the kimchi museum and the following destination. The museum comprises numerous buildings and seeing the entire museum would probably take the better part of the day. Unfortunately we showed up an hour before closing so there was only so much we could see. We only were able to see the most ancient exhibits on only one floor of one building before the museum closed for the day.
Once the museum closed we headed further southeast in the pouring rain to Noryangjin fish market. The fish market actually has two buildings, with the new building opening up a few years ago to create a modern fish market experience and the older building first being occupied as the fish market in 1971. The move to the new building was very controversial at the time and was met with fierce resistance by many of the vendors, though as time went on almost all the vendors have left the old building and as of our visit it seemed that utilities had been cut to the old building. Despite that there are still the last few vendors in the old building holding out. The new building has multiple floors of stalls and the seafood you buy can be sent to the restaurants upstairs and prepared.

The easy way to go to the new building from the subway station is to go to the road at street level and take the underground passage to the building. There are some instructions going around to take the overpass to the roof of a building, which turns out to be the older building, and go down some stairs into the old building and then outside to the new building. While it may have been viable earlier, there's a lot of rubble piled up everywhere and access can be a bit tricky. It's good fun for derelict urban exploration, but overall it wasn't a great idea.
Once we got into the building we had some difficulties reaching the ground level since there was a lot of debris piled on many of the stairs. We also happened to run into a small group of confused businessmen and we had some adventures try to get to the ground. Once on the ground we saw the poor state of the building and the few vendors that are left. There were also piles of debris around some of the entrances and exits, so we basically ended up walking all the way to the far side to exit before walking by the highway over to the new building.
The new building is much more modern and clean, though the stalls are noticeably smaller, which was one of the chief complaints of the vendors. We wandered around for a while and just bought some shrimp that we had fried as we already had dinner plans.
My friend really wanted to get tofu while in Seoul so for our final dinner we went to Delicious Steamed Tofu and Kimchi (yes that's the restaurant name) to have...tofu. The restaurant is pretty small and each table has a basket of eggs to add to your tofu soup. I ordered a delicious clam tofu soup with a side of pork, both of which had a good amount of kick to it.

Our stay in Korea had come to an end and it was time to go to Singapore. However it wouldn't be yet another day on this trip without another downpour. We managed to scamper to the same nearby Issac Toast where I ordered a delicious bulgogi MVP
After breakfast we left the AirBnB and took the all-stop train back to ICN. OZ does the ground handling for SQ and even offered to help my friend deal with her tax refunds after we had checked in. Since we had some time to spend before our flight to SIN, we hung around the the OZ lounge. The lounge itself is nice and airy, but otherwise there isn't too much of note in the lounge. The food spread is mostly just ok and I nibbled on some food for a second breakfast.
SQ611
ICN-SIN
B777-300ER
16A

After boarding we were greeted by a typically excellent SQ crew and we got settled into our seats. The 77Ws feature the new-ish J class seat that I reviewed more extensively on their new A350-900ULRs. Soon after an FA appeared with a tray of welcome beverages and I had a glass of water.
Menus were already in the literature pocket and I had forgone the book the cook option since none of them looked particularly appetizing.
After boarding was completed we were quickly on our way to Singapore. Unfortunately there was a good amount of turbulence early, including periods that interrupted the meal service when the FAs were asked to be seated. Once the lunch service began it was the usually lovely satay accompanied with a citrus delight and an iced Milo.
For the main I had ordered the braised chicken dish and overall I was not happy with the dish. The portion was small, and the chicken itself felt that it had either been battered and fried (like fish and chips) and the outside had gotten soggy and wrinkly or the skin had been allowed to crisp and then got soggy and wrinkly by sitting for too long. The odd textural element may have been a victim of the meal service being extended through the turbulence, though the plates of lamb I saw going down the aisle looked much better.
With all the stopping and starting, the meal service took over three hours, over half of the flight time. I spent most of the rest of the flight browsing the IFE and sampling all of the TWG teas.
Aside from the chicken it was another lovely flight on SQ, though we ended up arriving just after a giant school group from Hong Kong and immigration took almost 45 minutes. Once clear we were on our way to the city and the Hilton Garden Inn Seragoon in the colorful Little India neighborhood, where I had stayed on the aforementioned last trip to SIN. The hotel itself is a decent Hilton Garden Inn-perfectly adequate with nothing really standing out good or bad. This time we got a room in the main building instead of the satellite building across the street.
Since it was about time for dinner we headed over to Old Airport Road Food Centre, which is one of my favorites, especially given how many vendors remain open for dinner into the late evening. Once again I engorged myself on food because why not.
After our late dinner, we headed over to the Supertree Grove in the Gardens by the Bay. We wanted to go after the last music show was over and the crowds had dispersed so we could do a little bit of night photography.
After shooting away, we headed over to the Shoppes at the Marina Bay Sands in my friend's quest to find some Irvin's salted eggs. Naturally I got sidetracked and ended up at TWG teas, and ended up buying a few teas to take home. After my small shopping spree we went and my friend got some Irvin's right before they closed for the night.

If you'd not said that was chicken in the batter, I would have really thought it was fish!

Great report. Enjoy the rest of the Trip!

Congrats on the PhD

So I had previously been to Singapore whereas my friend has not, so I decided to let her do some of the planning. Thus far I had basically executive decisioned the trip so far because she isn't good at planning. Basically her extent of planning is basically not planning and then last-minute reading/"researching" of tripadvisor lists and just putting things randomly down. This results in a proposed itinerary in Taipei of starting the day an hour east of the city and then going somewhere an hour and a half northwest of the city, so naturally I wasn't having it and took things into my own hands. So we'll see how this goes...

Naturally this meant a late start because she didn't plan anything until the morning and even then spent half the time browsing reddit and not planning. So I already made an executive decision to go to the nearby Tekka Centre for breakfast. I stopped for the tried and true masala dosa from Sri Tiffin and settled in while my friend kind of wandered aimlessly and eventually showed up with some food.
Her first plan was to go visit the Marina Bay Skypark and the Cloud Forest and Flower Garden at the gardens by the bay. Now this is something that could be done in an afternoon, but...
The Skypark was relatively uncrowded and we were able to get to the observation deck with minimal wait. It was pretty hot up top so it was relatively peaceful to overlook the city. It was also nice that it wasn't raining, something we had been hoping for all trip.
After returning to ground level we went to visit the Cloud Forest and bought tickets to see both the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. Upon entering the Cloud Forest you come face to face with the waterfall, and then proceed to take the elevator to the top and gradually make your way down to the exit.
With this plan it was already getting a little late for lunch by the time we left the Cloud Forest. Naturally my friend didn't have a plan for lunch, so I more or less executive decisioned lunch at Maxwell Food Centre. Naturally my friend really wanted the chicken rice from Tian Tian, even though I much prefer Ah Tai. Naturally I was the one waiting in line at Tian Tian while my friend went exploring because she didn't know anything about Maxwell. welp.
After lunch it was...back to the Gardens by the Bay to visit the Flower Dome. Unfortunately the line snaked way out the building and the interior was equally as crowded. Turns out there was a wedding that closed down part of the exhibit. While the Flower Dome is nice, the Cloud Forest was definitely the better of the two.
Afterwards I also indulged my friend and we went up to the OCBC Skyway, which is the elevated walkway in the Supertree Grove. We managed to get tickets right before the line exploded and were able to spend some time above the crowds at the Gardens.
Afterwards since we had no plans I executive decisioned my shopping of the trip with a stop at Bugis Street for some kaya balls on the way there.
After a quick 20-minute shopping trip we dropped our stuff off at the hotel before I led us to Chomp Chomp Food Centre for dinner. Chomp Chomp is a little out of the way compared to some of the others but it just as busy as the other ones. As usual Chomp Chomp delivered a lovely dinner and we were left very full and satisfied.

Me too-SQ J isn't exactly the place where I'd be expecting mystery meat :o

Thank you Nomad98. I've already started my job, but the rest of the trip was great fun.

I love lychee Juice. Hope it wasn´t to heavy sugared.

Awesome report on SQ J and various hawker stalls in Singapore, very looking forward to be there in December. However, double thumbs down with that piece of meat, BTC is the best solution.
Just a quick question, do you prefer extravagant hotel breakfast buffets (especially in Asia) or just find a local shop to have a bite to eat?

For our last day in Singapore, I had my friend plan part of the day again. Of course this mean a late start for...brunch. She wanted to stop by Sungei Road Laksa for brunch since the late Anthony Bourdain went there (more on that later...) accompanied by an otak from another nearby stall. Overall it was good but not great.
After brunch we went to the Bontanical Garden, one of the several large green areas of Singapore. We essentially aimlessly wandered around, and I ended up taking a nice nap on the amphitheater hillside.
The other main entrance at the opposite end of the garden naturally lead to Orchard Road, which is lined with...malls and shopping...which is naturally what my friend wanted to do.
After a bit we were feeling hungry, so my friend took us to D'Good Café at Takashimaya. This is only really notable because my friend ordered a lobster roll...in Singapore. My friend is the type who always wants the "local" and "authentic" experience with a strong case of FOMO though seems to rely entirely on TripAdvisor and Google reviews. Which is also why we ended up at that laksa place.
After some more shopping and lots of indecision on dinner, I executive decisioned dinner back at Tekka Centre. I got a lovely chicken biryani from Allaudin's Biryani accompanied by a couple of vadai from Sri Tiffin and teh tarik from Ar-Rahman.
After leaving Tekka Centre we stumbled into The Great Indian Food Festival. One of the already crowded streets in Little India was closed to traffic and numerous stalls were set up throughout selling food items of all kinds including fresh produce and prepared dishes. We navigated through the crowd for a while, sampling a variety of foods.
After our little adventure it was time to head back to SIN for our flight to Berlin. At the airport we stopped by the Plaza Premium Lounge for a shower. However the line for the shower was multiple hours long and we were only able to get a shower slot because another group in front of us gave us their slot since they had to leave for their flight. Otherwise the lounge is your typical PPL and I had a snack before the 00:25 departure.
TR734
SIN-TXL
Boeing 787-8
9D

I chose Scoot for this flight since it's the only airline that operates a nonstop from Singapore and Berlin, and I was looking to pay cash since I basically had drained the rest of my points for this trip. (That, plus I was traveling with someone who doesn't really do points...) The good news was that I was assigned a bulkhead seat at checkin, which has an excessive amount of legroom. The bad news was that the bulkhead was the only passage between the two aisles of the plane and at door 2 there was only one lav on the right side of the plane. Naturally that meant I got stepped on the entire flight as everyone would cross at the bulkhead to reach that lav.

Aside from being one of SQ's LCC arms, Scoot also likes to have its own (silly IMO) cute branding. FA's are called Scootees, the BOB menu is the Scoot Café, and the duty free catalog is the Scootalogue. Even all the announcements were a bit over the top with the cute-ness. Naturally, aside from announcements advertising the BOB/duty free, all service was only carried out on demand.

We had multiple mechanical delays, and our original 00:25 departure time eventually became around 02:30. Soon after take-off and all the various announcements/advertisements, the cabin darkened and I slept on and off for the flight to Berlin; being woken multiple times by passengers crossing to and from the lav. What I never understood is the instinct of many passengers to only look for lavs in front of them when there are sometimes more behind them (like the 4 lavs around door 3). We eventually landed in Berlin an hour late and were bussed to what seems like a satellite immigration area that was basically a warehouse and waited another half an hour for our bags before heading into the city.

I don't remember what the name of the stall that sells that one is, but it's become my go-to since it's relatively not sweet.

Thank you antebellum. It's the first time I've been truly let down by SQ's food so I hope it's just a one-off. As for breakfast I enjoy both, though as a (former) grad student the budget (both cash and points) doesn't quite go as far for those big hotel buffets all the time especially for longer trips like this one. I generally would prefer to do the local breakfast since you can do something different every day, but if the circumstances are right I really appreciate the nice hotel breakfasts.

From Tegel we took the bus to the Intercontinental Berlin, which is just a short walk from the Berlin Zoo station. Despite our early arrival a room was ready and we dropped our stuff off before heading back out. The room itself it pretty nice but definitely not fancy, reflecting its relatively cheap cash rate. What was interesting about the room is that the bathroom was one of those sliding doors but had no lock, and the handle cutout meant there was a small window into the bathroom through the middle of the door.
Since we hadn't eaten our first objective was to find breakfast, and we stopped at the Curry 36 at the Zoologigischer station. I had one each of the currywurst with and without the casing. I always enjoy a nice sausage tasting, but I was also pleasantly surprised by the texture of the one without casing.
Our first stop was to east Berlin to see the East Side Gallery, but I ended up getting hungry again so we stopped somewhere along the way for Germany's national dish: the doner kebab.
The East Side Gallery is a mural installation over a 1300m stretch of the Berlin Wall, and is entirely an open air gallery which marks a new hope after the fall of the Berlin Wall. There's definitely a lot of beautiful and thought-provoking artwork and I'm sure there's a piece for everyone. While certain parts (particularly the east side of the wall) is protect, empty spaces, and even some of the artwork, is marred by vandalism.
After walking the length of the East Side Gallery, we came upon the Oberbaum bridge, which served as an important pedestrian bridge crossing between east and west Berlin.
We then backtracked to Alexanderplatz with the aim of going up the TV tower. Unfortunately the line for the elevator was over an hour and we didn't quite have the patience for that at the time, so we wandered around into a fair or market of some sort.
After exploring the fair we headed over to Hackescher Markt, a district known for its shops, especially local shops. Since it was still really hot outside we first stopped for an elaborate and delicious gelato at Amorino Eisboutique.
Gelato in hand we went and explored Hackesche Hofe, a small pedestrian area with numerous small boutiques. I was most intrigued by the original Amplemann shop, which designs goods based on the crosswalk signals.

Of course as soon as we were back out on the street again it began raining buckets. While it was nice to not be in a heat wave, the rain theme would just not let up. We took refuge in a smoothie shop for a bit, which turned into the rest of the afternoon.
The rain eventually turned into a drizzle and we set out for dinner. My friend really wanted something "German" so I settled on the Munich staple Hofbrauhause. The Berlin outpost has a large airy indoor dining hall featuring live music that evening. We ordered a few dishes to share and while the food was good, I would say that the food isn't quite up to par compared to the one in Munich.
After dinner we headed to the grocery level of the Galeria Kaufhof and ended up buying a small basket of mystery berries that were really tart before heading back to the hotel. Interestingly the IC Berlin doesn't have fridges in the room or ice machines in public areas, so we had to call room service for ice buckets any time we bought beverages to the hotel. Upon returning we also discovered that the hotel had left truffels in our room during the day.

Nice TR! The berries are red currants. Very yummy and good for you. I agree the food at the Hofbräuhaus is not the best, but the one in Munich is also pretty disappointing. Much better locations in both cities for Bavarian fare. Interested to hear more!

Ice makers are very uncommon in German hotels, especially in 5 star hotels many would be annoyed by them. The berries (Träuble or Johannisbeere in German) are healthy but not everyones taste.
Hofbräuhaus is mainly for tourists, very few Germans would visit it voluntarily. In Berlin it's also not really local food, even what they serve is not really all Bavarian.

After a quick breakfast from the local lidl, we decided to check out the broken Kaiser Wilhelm church on the way out. The church had been extensively damaged during WWII and partially rebuilt and what remains has become a memorial.
Additionally a new church has been built, which is basically a metal octagon inlaid with blue stained glass. Walking in definitely felt like I was almost walking into a futuristic church.
Afterwards we headed towards the Brandenburg Gate. Unfortunately we did not reserve a tour through the Reichstag so we just made a quick pass through on the way.
After the photo op we went to the nearby Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The installation comprises 2,711 concrete slabs in a grid on a sloping field. It's an interesting abstract representation allowing everyone to have their own interpretation of the memorial.
On the way to the Reichstag earlier we had noticed the Siegessäule, or the Victory Column, in Tiergarten, a large city park. Since we had missed out on going up the TV tower, we walked through the Tiergarten to the Siegessäule.
The Siegessäule is located in the middle of a roundabout and is accessible through underground tunnels. The tower can be entered for a small fee, with an architectural exhibit on the first floor and two further platforms accessible by climbing some stairs. While it was a bit cloudy we were able to still see part of the city.
Since we were pretty close to the hotel we decided to stop by the recently opened The DAWG for a late lunch. The hot dog restaurant is a project from Björn Swanson, executive chef of the Michelin-starred Golvet in Berlin, and basically makes fancy hot dogs. My friend ordered the octopussy dawg and I ordered the special (bronx bomber) and French bulldog. Overall they were definitely unique and excellent hot dogs.
After lunch we headed to Charlottenburg Palace, which was built for Sophie Charlotte, who was the Queen consort to the Prussian king. However Sophie would die relatively soon after the palace was inaugurated in 1699, and Friedrich I would named the palace after her. The Palace today has been restored and serves as a museum to demonstrate how the palace would have looked in its time. There's an audioguide included to introduce visitors to all of the palace features. Visiting the palace is relatively easy, but there is an additional surcharge to be able to take photographs inside the palace.
After touring the castle we walked about the grounds, which is a public park with some nice gardens. We walked through the gardens before exiting through the other side and finding a nearby U-Bahn station.
Since it was time for dinner we headed back towards the zoo to the Gasthaus Krombach. I ordered a delicious spatzel with pork and mushrooms, and also ended up finishing my friend's pork knuckle as well.