Singapore

We are pretty excited as our plane approaches Singapore. Not only do we get to see our friend Florence again (see Bangkok), but we also get to see one of our best friends from back in Brussels, Gaetano. We will spend a few days in Singapore, before heading to Bali together. In Singapore, we are so lucky because Florence can host us in her beautiful apartment, which has a direct pool access from its terrace. Now we’re not gonna lie – we spent our fair share of time on that terrace, as it was just too perfect for pre-dinner drinks, dinner, more drinks, and, of course, for swimming.

Despite this massive incentive to never leave the house, we still managed to explore quite a bit of Singapore. On our first morning, we have to sort out some visa stuff at the Indonesian embassy, which goes quite smoothly. We meet Gae for coffee (Singapore prices make our jaws drop a little after four months in the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia) and are ready to explore. We decide that our first walk shall take us through Chinatown. Singapore’s Chinatown is a lot less messy than, for example, the one in New York, or even the one in Kuala Lumpur. It is so colorful though, and we admire street art, Buddhist temples – but also Hindu ones – and shops selling traditional Chinese herbal cures and just about everything else.

As we walk on, hip restaurants, bars and cafes start to mingle with the traditional shops and restaurants. At lunch, we meet Flo at the Lau Pa Sat food court – what a place! There is so much choice of local cuisines (Indian, Malay, Chinese, Singaporean…), other Asian cuisines, pasta, bread… It takes each of us a while to settle on something.

After lunch, we are first too motivated and start walking towards the Gardens by the Bay, past the beautiful marina and its impressive skyline.

By the time we get to the gardens, the heat has gotten the better part of us and we have no more energy to actually visit them. We call a Gojek (a service similar to Grab) and shortly after find ourselves on the terrace with some cold Tiger beers. Gae has brought all sorts of beautiful cheese from Europe, so as soon as Flo comes home from work, we treat ourselves to a very non-Asian dinner: wine and cheese.

After a chilled start of the day by the pool, we venture towards Little India. We mosey through the Tekka centre, admiring colorful clothes and produce – which reminds us that it’s almost lunch time. We feast on Biryani and Kulfi and then make our way to Arab street. This is probably our favorite area of Singapore with its colorful facades, quirky shops and restaurants, and not to forget, the huge mosque.

In the early afternoon, we have to go back to the Indonesian embassy to pick up our passports with the visa. We then still have a couple of hours before we are supposed meet Flo for our evening programme. We choose to check out a mall – Singapore has plenty of them – before walking by the famous Raffles hotel and towards downtown to pick up Flo at her office. Big plans away from our pool terrace for tonight: we are headed to Sentosa island, Singapore’s very own slice of paradise; well, kind of.

And the evening is not over: we have a dinner planned at Din Tai Fung – one of our favorite places in Hong Kong. We stuff ourselves with dumplings until we can’t possibly fit another bite. It’s probably a good idea that we walk home from here, even though it takes us almost an hour.

On our last day in Singapore we still have one thing on our list: visit the Gardens by the Bay. We buy a ticket that allows us to see the cloud forest and the flower dome. We start with the cloud forest, which is absolutely amazing. a waterfall crashes down next to you as you gain floor after floor, to the top of the forest. On the ground, beautiful orchids show their pretty faces.

After this, the flower dome is quite frankly a bit disappointing. Yes, there are some nice flowers but it’s also pretty kitsch. While different parts promise to experience different smells, we mostly just get a citrussy whiff everywhere. If you decide to visit the gardens, definitely keep the cloud forest for last – it’s the best part.

We head back to Arab street for lunch and enjoy a yummy mezze plate. We want to run a few errands for the evening and decide to check out the famous Mustafa centre department store. We are quite overwhelmed by it and don’t really know where to start looking, so we move on to the City Square mall, where we find our happiness (in a Japanese supermarket, among others). For dinner, we share about 5kg of pasta between the four of us, on our beloved terrace.

We definitely had a great time in Singapore, it’s just a pity that it’s so very manicured – we were missing a little bit of chaos! But do not worry, chaos shall come again.

Activities

Singapore has plenty of things to offer when it comes to cultural activities. We enjoyed walking around in Chinatown, Little India, and Arab street. We visited the Gardens by the Bay in a couple of hours, but you can certainly spend more time (and money) here. We paid 28 Singapore $ to see the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest (around 19€).

Food

Singapore is a food lover’s paradise. The mix of cultures and presence of countless expats have led to just about any food being available in the best quality (that you may pay for!).

Lau Pa Sat Food Court

Find any food you may dream of. Good choice of vegetarian options.

Bismillah Biriyani Restaurant

An institution for the traditional Indian rice dish. Huge portions! Do like the locals and get a delicious kulfi to go as dessert.

Pita Bakery

Delicious Middle Eastern Food right behind Arab street.

Din Tai Fung

Several locations – just as delicious as in Hong Kong.

Shopping

Singapore is full of malls with all the international brands you may dream of. We went to Suntec City and City Square Mall. Arab street has more original and funky stores with clothes, accessories, and food. The Mustafa Center in Little India supposedly has anything you need – we were overwhelmed just by the size of it but definitely check it out if you’re in the area.