6/20/19 – 6/22/19
Hello! I’m trying to blog more frequently now that I have more free time. This post is dedicated to a quick weekend trip in Singapore. Singapore has been a more mainstream destination in the last year or so due to the blockbuster movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” but I’ve been enamored with Singapore since taking a study abroad class there in 2013.
The city-state is a beautiful blend of western and eastern cultures. When I say eastern cultures, I mean Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, and so on. It’s an immigrant country, with four official languages – English, Mandarin, Tamil, and Malay. The Singapore government invests a lot into highlighting its colorful diversity, through magnificent public works, green spaces, and museums.
As an English-speaking, Asian-food-loving tourist, Singapore is perfect for me. My friend and I decided to meet up in Singapore over the weekend, as it was a 3 hour flight for the two of us (she’s in Bangladesh for work, and I’m in Hong Kong). Below is a day-by-day breakdown of what we did. I hope that our travels can be helpful for you if you decide to plan a trip to Singapore!
Day 1
We flew into Singapore at approximately 3 PM in the afternoon. Since I flew in from Hong Kong (terminal 4) and my friend from Bangladesh (terminal 1), we decided a good meeting point would be the newly opened Jewel Changi Airport, at level 1 of the Rain Vortex. This was a pretty straightforward ride from terminal 4, although not as seamless as I had expected. I took a bus to terminal 2, then walked across the link bridge to Jewel, so it took approximately 20 minutes from the exit door of baggage claim.
The Rain Vortex is definitely a must-see in my opinion. Gorgeous and incredible, it definitely was representative of Singapore and its penchant for large and green public works.
After meeting up and taking pictures, we hailed a Grab taxi to bring us to our hotel. I would definitely recommend using the Grab app, which is a ride-sharing app similar to Uber. Grab will only pick you up from the arrivals section, but it is otherwise very convenient and cost-effective to take it from the airport. It cost us about 18 SGD to get to our hotel in Little India, and the ride was less than 20 minutes. In comparison, taking the MRT would have taken us almost an hour.
Hotel – 2 nights at the Village Hotel Albert Court
We stayed at the Village Hotel Albert Court in Little India. I would definitely recommend this hotel as a good, mid-range hotel. For two nights we paid a little more than $220 USD on Trip.com. The Village Hotel Albert Court features an airy lobby, a restaurant/bar, a fitness center, and a cold/hot jacuzzi. Moreover, the hotel is in a nice, quiet location, but with easy walking to the MRT, restaurants, the Tekka food market, and shopping arcades.
Makansutra Gluttons Bay
After checking into the hotel, we took a Grab taxi to the Makansutra Gluttons Bay, which is located right next to the Marina bay and features a small but charming array of food and drink stands. We had ice kachang, which is flavored shaved ice with jelly and sweet red beans at the bottom, and black Singapore “carrot cake,” which is really actually a savory, stir-fried radish dish. In total we spent less than 10 SGD for the two items.
After our snack, we walked around the Marina Bay. All of the major features are within relatively easy walking distance – we could see in one panoramic sweep the Marina Bay Sands hotel, the Merlion, the Helical Bridge, the Singapore Flyer, and the ArtScience Museum.
We walked into the Gardens by the Bay after dusk. The Gardens by the Bay is a nature park located right behind Marina Bay Sands, and is free entry. The famous tree towers were lit up with changing colors, and there was a free Toy-Story themed light show going on every half hour.
We had originally planned to watch the show and then buy tickets to the Flower and Cloud domes, but then we learned that last admission into the domes was 8 PM. In a quick change of plans, we went to a spa and got full body massages at the Natureland Spa in Chijmes. For an hour, we paid about $50 USD, which in comparison to the States, is not a bad deal. The massage was so relaxing that afterwards we called it quits early and returned back to the hotel for the night.
Day 2
Chinatown
The next day we found ourselves in Chinatown for breakfast. Even though I live in Hong Kong, I was very excited by the options at the Chinatown Complex Food Centre. We got zhong-zi, or glutinous rice with pork wrapped in bamboo leaves; rice and yam cakes in oyster and chili sauce; fried dough sticks; and melon milkshakes. We then stumbled upon a Michelin-star soup dumpling stall, which officially opens at 11:30 AM, but we were able to put in an order at 11:20 AM and beat the long line of people.
Afterwards, we walked a short distance over to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which is very ornately decorated and includes short cards that you can read about Buddhist beliefs.
Gardens by the Bay
We then went to Gardens by the Bay, which is a very different place during the day. For access to the Flower Dome, the Cloud Dome, the Floral Fantasy, and a round trip shuttle ride, it cost about $35 SGD. This is definitely one of the must-see sights in Singapore. Each dome/conservatory was different from the next, and all were awe-inspiring. There’s really nothing else in the world that compares to the Gardens by the Bay.
Clarke Quay
After Gardens by the Bay, we headed to Clarke Quay for food and drinks. Clarke Quay is well known for its bar scene, but there is also a large selection of restaurants, including Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Indonesian, Spanish, etc. We arrived around 4:30 PM, which is a little bit early for most of the restaurants there, but Motorino Pizza was open, so we got a Margherita pizza, spaghetti rosé, and red wine. I always love a good fire-brick oven pizza, and this was no exception.
We also got pork-belly and carnitas tacos from Señor Taco, which were pretty decent and marked at happy hour prices.
LeVel33 Bar – sky-high views and Singapore Slings
We capped off the night back at the Marina Bay, at the LeVel33 Bar in Marina Blvd, tower 1. While the bar is based around its micro-brewery, my friend and I had to order the signature Singapore cocktail, the Singapore Sling. For about $25 SGD for a Singapore Sling, sky-high views, and sleek decor, we thought LeVel33 was a very nice and worthwhile bar to visit.
Day 3
Tekka Food Centre in Little India
For our second morning in Singapore, we headed to the Tekka Food Centre for breakfast. There were a dazzling number of mainly Indian food options, although there were some Malay and Chinese stalls as well. We got egg and cheese prata, a freshly made fried dough pancake with a cracked egg and slice of cheese inside. It also included a little curry tomato dipping sauce.
On our way to the hawker centre, we stopped by a small dessert shop, where they sold all kinds of Indian desserts, including peda cookies and gulab jamun (fried balls of dough drenched in rose syrup).
After eating, we headed back once more to the Marina Bay. We rented electric scooters from JoyScoot, a kiosk located inside the Singapore Flyer. The scooters were high quality; however, if you want a cheaper but similar option, I would recommend downloading the Neuron app. You can locate Neuron scooters and rent them at a very reasonable rate, and they’re located all around the Marina Bay. I’ve never used an electric scooter before, but I think these are a must-use in a place like Singapore! It was very thrilling to ride around the promenade on a scooter, and the area is well designed for both pedestrians and cyclists, so it was pretty smooth riding.
Last but not least, no trip to Singapore is complete without having the famous chili crab dish. We went to Jumbo Seafood Riverside, which admittingly is a very tourist restaurant, but still serves very delicious food. We ordered the Singapore Chili Crab – a beautiful concoction of chili sauce, egg, and stir-fried mud crab. Definitely order this and a side of bread and rice to soak up all the sauce after you finish the crab!
And that was pretty much the whole trip! There were probably more things that we wanted to see, such as the museums and some more bar areas, but we definitely will go back to Singapore in the future. Overall, we had a great time in Singapore!
Food and Miles 