Lovely Lion City - Singapore, January 2018

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Lovely Lion City



Singapore, January 2018



Fun Factoid about Singapore: it’s nickname is "the fine country". That's because you get fined for lots of things like littering, feeding monkeys, spitting on the floor, sticking gum below the chair/table and more. Is this a great country or what? And don’t get me started on their draconian legal system…..these folks do not pussy-foot around.



Time for me to head east and stick my tootsies once more into a fish tank…..yes, I did say fish tank. This city-state in southeast Asia is where I first experienced the dubious thrill of fish spas a few years ago, and I’m more than ready for new water sessions. More about this fun stuff later. First, it’s 3 flights across the Pacific via Seattle and Tokyo, before touching down at Changi in tropical heat and humidity just before midnight, and 45 minutes early. Aching head and back with a numb ass are familiar symptoms, but after 27 hours of virtual non-stop flying, what else can I expect? Thankfully we were the only international flight arriving this late – the airport was virtually empty, and I was thru customs/immigration and into baggage claim in less than 15 minutes, where my limo driver was waiting.



I was checked in, showered and face down on a wonderfully comfortable bed within an hour….first time I’ve been horizonal in almost two days. My hotel is ideally situated, within walking distance of the subway, bus stops and shopping opportunities galore. The next morning, it was breakfast first around the pool area, and then a few more hours of solid sleep before I begin my exploration of this fascinating city.



I’m checking out another Hilton property on this trip…the Hilton Garden Inn in Little India, one of my favorite Singapore neighborhoods. Little India once had a racecourse, cattle herders and brick kilns, but while these places and people are long gone, time stands still in pockets of this historic district. Olden-day trades sit next to newer businesses: flower-garland vendors, modern eateries, boutique hotels, as well as arts groups.



In the 1840s, Europeans lived here mainly for the racecourse, where they met and mingled. When cattle trading took root, it became a mostly Indian trade as traders hired Indian migrant workers. Certain goods and services took off, and mosques and Hindu temples were built. Little India today is one of the city’s most vibrant districts.



Fun Factoid about Little India: the streets are named after its 19th-century residents: Dunlop Street for an European family, Belilios Lane for cattle importer I.R. Belilios (where the hotel is located), and Campbell Lane for British soldier Sir Colin Campbell.



I intend to dine on South Indian vegetarian food, North Indian tandoori dishes and local fare like round pancakes and pulled tea. Watching the brewers ‘pull’ the hot milk tea – it’s amazing showmanship. And of course, I won’t forget to shop. The 24-hour shopping mall, Mustafa Centre, offers everything from electronics to groceries, or dive into the open-air Tekka Centre, goldsmith shops and sari stores. With its proximity to the city and a bohemian vibe, many artists also call Little India home.



During the month of January, there is a festival called Pongal being held across the city. Pongal is celebrated mostly in South India over four days, by farmers who give thanks to 'Surya', the Sun God and giver of life, for the blessings of a rich harvest. In Singapore, Pongal is celebrated on the commencement of the auspicious month of Thai. Celebrations begin with worship of Lord Indra, the Ruler of Clouds and Giver of Rains. Oil lamps are lit, new clothes are donned and colorful designs in rice flour are created on the floors of houses. Preparations are also underway for the upcoming Chinese New Year, which is celebrated in February.



A little bit of history:



Founded as a British trading colony in 1819, since independence Singapore has become one of the world's most prosperous countries and boasts the world's busiest port. Combining the skyscrapers and subways of a modern, affluent city with a medley of Chinese, Malay and Indian influences and a tropical climate, with tasty food, good shopping and a vibrant night-life scene, this Garden City makes a great stopover or springboard into the region. Singapore is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world for a lot of reasons. One of which is the less stringent entry requirements.



It’s a small island country just one degree north of the equator, which guarantees heat, humidity and a lot of sunshine year-round. With a population size of over 5.5 million people it is a very crowded city, second only to Monaco, as the world's most densely populated country. However, unlike many other densely populated countries, Singapore - with more than 50%!o(MISSING)f its area covered by greenery and with over 50 major parks and 4 nature reserves - is an enchanting garden city. Large self-contained residential towns have mushroomed all over the island, around the clean and modern city center. The center of the city is in the south — consisting roughly of the Orchard Road shopping area, the Riverside, the new Marina Bay area and the skyscraper-filled Shenton way financial district known, in acronym-loving Singapore, as the CBD (Central Business District).



Capitalizing on its melting pot of cultures, Singapore is finally getting some spark, and is fast becoming one of Asia’s hit-list destinations. Whizzing around the city can take a matter of minutes, thanks to one of the world’s most efficient and widespread public transport systems. Hankering for a roti prata breakfast in Little India, but want to visit the temples in Chinatown before lunch? No problem, you’ll be there in a jiffy using the sparkling MRT system – and why not stop at Marina Bay for a spot of shopping on your way? Plus, with new metro lines opening practically every two years, this tiny island just keeps on becoming easier to explore.



Food here is taken very seriously. From cheap hawker fare to Michelin-starred fine dining, food-enamored Singaporeans will line up for it, Instagram the hell out of it and passionately debate whether it is ‘die, die, must try’ – Singlish slang for ‘to die for’. Don’t fret about finding a place to chow down, as each neighborhood is home to local hawker centers and coffeeshops dishing up some of the island’s best meals for just a couple of bucks. Simply follow your nose or join the longest queue – whatever morsels lie at the end, they are almost guaranteed to be scrumptious.







The concrete jungles that once dominated Singapore’s skyline are slowly giving way to green skyscrapers, which look more like living ecosystems than business hubs. Fervently working towards its ‘City in a Garden’ dream, the nation is ploughing money into becoming more sustainable and well, green. Head out of town a little and you’ll find plenty of walking trails, treetop jungle bridges, wildlife galore and the city's green jewel, the UNESCO World Heritage–listed Singapore Botanic Gardens: these are the lungs of Singapore.







When the sweltering outdoor heat gets too much, Singaporeans love ducking inside for a spot of retail therapy and a good dose of air-conditioning. Orchard Road is the queen of shopping malls: with all the high-street brands, plenty of high-fashion houses, and a few discount outlets thrown into the mix, everyone’s needs (and more often wants) are catered for here. If you prefer your shopping a little less mass-market, head out to local neighborhoods for independent designers, quirky art galleries, bustling markets, Chinese medicines, Persian carpets and maybe even a sari or two.



My first day of exploration begins with a short 5-block stroll thru the center of Little India to the nearest HOHO bus stop, outside the Tekka Centre. This is a fascinating place, being a landmark in the neighborhood, serving up large dishes of fresh food to visitors and locals, only steps away from the Little India MRT subway station. This bright yellow and orange warehouse was renovated a couple of years ago and has quickly become a hub for anyone in search of decent food at honest prices. There is no way anyone could miss this massive warehouse, as it’s currently painted a vivid orange and yellow - it gets repainted every so often (previously it was a bright emerald green).



Inside it is set up like any other hawker center, with rows of individual stores and tables around them on the ground floor, where an incredible variety of dishes are available to try. A genuine local shopping experience is to be had upstairs, where the higher floors sell everything from Bollywood music to silk for saris. There is plenty of food to suit all palettes, whether its rich curries or a simple dish of duck and rice. There are plenty of stalls to choose from, just follow the crowds and delicious smells. It may not have all the frills of some of the other hawker centers in Singapore, but it does offer a great choice, including some rather unusual dishes, and a visit here is a fantastic way to experience Little India on a plate. Open daily from 6:30am to 10pm, I plan on returning later in the day for a late lunch or early dinner, depending on how long I spend riding the HOHO bus routes, exploring as much of Singapore as I can, in the next two days.



I had selected Hippo Tours which runs the most HOHO routes in Singapore. Having purchased my 48-hour ticket online before leaving home, I got a 15% discount on an adult unlimited use ticket for less than $23. This gave me access to their 7 lines (63 actual bus stops at all points of interest) covering the entire city. The four major routes (red, blue, brown and yellow) overlap at some locations, but each offers a different exploration section of the city. The red route encompasses Little India and by 8:30am, I was boarding the first bus and heading upstairs to the open-air deck with unobstructed 360-degree views – perfect for photo opportunities. For the next 8 hours, I roamed the length and breadth of Singapore – from Marina Bay Sands to the Raffles Hotel, from Little India to Chinatown, from the Botanic Gardens to Orchard Road and just about everywhere else these tourist buses went. Even the weather cooperated, with brilliant sunshine for most of the day and yes, plenty of heat and humidity as well. It had been raining on and off since I arrived, but today the climate gods decided to give me a break – didn’t see a single raindrop.







By late afternoon I had had enough of sightseeing and was ready to explore the culinary side of this fabulous place. Within a 3-block radius of the Hilton is a plethora of restaurants….on one short city block alone I counted 9, lined up side by side like little pretty maids all in a row. You are simply spoilt for choice. Most are Indian cuisine, but a couple offered Nepalese and Thai dishes - works for me. I decided on a very non-descript looking joint on the corner, with the somewhat grandiose name of New Everest Kitchen…..Sherpa mountain climbers who can cook maybe? The place was packed with locals, but I able to grab a small empty table next to the window overlooking the street. Being the only westerner in the place, I expected to be an object of attention with this crowd, but they barely glanced my way. The owner/waiter presented me with a very extensive menu with very exotic names – thank god each dish came with a color photo, or god-only-knows what I would have ended up eating! I settled on Chicken Jazfredi, a spicy dish of tender chicken cubes, smothered in onions, cauliflower, peas, potatoes, cooked in a rich tomato sauce and loaded with spices. Realizing it was probably going to be a little more than “spicy” (read this as HOT), I also ordered a sour yogurt dip containing onions, tomatoes and cucumber with liberal amounts of lime juice, accompanied with a basket of cheese naan. What a fabulous meal. The jazfredi was definitely hot, very flavorful and loaded with large pieces of chicken. The sauce was thick – I would rate it as 5-alarm-fire hot, but that’s where the yogurt dip loaded on cheese naan came to my mouth’s rescue. My bill came to S$13.60 ($10.30), such a deal. No credit cards here but as cheap as the food is, who needs plastic to pay such a low restaurant check? I waddled back to the Hilton, I was stuffed.







Next day it was time for my fish spa experience. For those who have yet to visit Asia and/or participate in this activity, let me enlighten you as to the benefits and sheer sensations of doing this. It involves placing both feet into a tank of warm water, where a multitude of small silver fish known as Garra rufa (also called doctor fish or nibble fish) have just one mission in life: devour all dead skin cells as quickly as possible. Think of an all-you-can-eat buffet at McDonald’s and you get the picture! These little rascals are toothless carp that use their mouths to scoop up the dead skin and eat it. In the wild, they’re found in Turkey’s rivers and hot springs. They can survive in fairly hot water and are credited with alleviating psoriasis symptoms. It’s a completely natural and organic form of exfoliation. No, they don’t chow down on healthy skin…. they only go for the dead and callous variety, leaving behind much softer-feeling and cleaner-looking tootsies. It’s a leap of faith when first faced with up to 100 or more of these little guys, just swimming around in a tank waiting for your feet to arrive, but even the most timid eventually stick a toe or two into the water.







Kenko Spas are the largest chain in Singapore with 9 locations across the city mostly in shopping malls, but I selected a standalone spa called Alleviate. Kenko is a full-service spa with facials, massages, herbal treatments and fish tanks, but Alleviate only has one location and only provides fish tanks…. that makes more sense to me, as fish is all I’m currently interested in. Located in another fascinating ethnic neighborhood (Chinatown), Alleviate is open daily from 9am to 8pm and offers either 30-minute sessions for S$30 ($22.73) or 60 minutes for S$50 ($37.88). I arrived around 10am and was immediately ushered into the tank room where my feet were washed by a staff member, to remove any oil or lotion which could be harmful to the fish. They also check that no open cuts, broken blisters etc., are present, as this would prevent having the session. Then the fun begins. Sitting on a slatted wooden bench directly in front of the occupied fish tank, the staff member assists in lifting and lowering my legs into the water. No sooner are my feet immersed, when the doctor fish swarm like bees to honey on every visible skin surface. The effect of these multiple mouths “sucking and kissing” between my toes causes an immediate toe-curling, tingling sensation sending bolts of electricity up my legs – it is so weird! You really have to grit your teeth to keep from pulling out and running for the door, wet feet and all. Even though I knew what to expect from my previous experience, it still made me cringe for the first minute or so, but once I forced myself to relax, I began to enjoy it immensely. 30 minutes passed before I knew it and now I had feet so smooth and silky, it was better than any pedicure I’ve ever had. Just walking out of the spa in flip flops, I could feel the difference, with so much of the hard skin and callouses from the soles of my feet gone. Worth every penny I spent.







There is so much to see and do here, it’s hard to identify the places and events I consider outstanding, but there is one which definitely goes on my must-visit list. That would be the Singapore Botanic Gardens, which is a 158-year-old tropical garden complex located at the fringe of Orchard Road shopping district. It is one of three gardens, and the only tropical garden to be honoured in 2015 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Botanic Gardens has been ranked Asia's top park attraction since 2013. The Botanic Gardens are open daily from 5am to midnight with free admission. The idea of a national garden started in 1822 when Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore and a keen naturalist, developed the first ‘Botanical and Experimental Garden’ at Fort Canning. It was only in 1859 that the Gardens, at its present site, was founded and laid out in the English Landscape Movement style. Today, this 203-acre property is home to more than 60,000 varieties of orchids and the conservation scientists who work here, successfully re-introduced an endangered species commonly known as the Tiger Orchid. It is the world's largest orchid and a mature clump can weigh up to a ton. It is the first species to be re-introduced in 1999 and bloomed for the first time between February to March 2013 in the National Orchid Garden. You can easily spend an entire day wandering around this incredible garden and still not see even half of what it has to offer.







My second “must-visit” candidate choice would be Clarke Quay which is a unique, conserved historical landmark complex located along the Singapore River and at the fringe of the Central Business District. Clarke Quay and the surrounding Riverside area presents Singapore’s most exciting nightlife scenes, as well as a handful of excellent restaurants, good for dining by the waters' edge any time of day. Lining the two riverbanks just upstream from the administrative and financial districts, old colonial shop-houses and moored Chinese junks of Clarke Quay and Boat Quay have been converted into chic pubs, restaurants and nightclubs.







Robertson Quay, slightly west of Clarke Quay, has more of the same but is generally more relaxed and tranquil. Wander down to the mouth of the river and delight in the splendid architecture and monuments of colonial Singapore. Many major buildings and places of interest are located within walking distance of Clarke Quay. There’s also a statute of Sir Stamford Raffles made in pure white poly-marble, standing at North Boat Quay to mark the spot where he first landed on the island in 1819.







If night life isn’t your thing, check out Hong San See Temple while in the Clarke Quay area. This 100-year-old Chinese temple is located on Mohamed Sultan Road. The temple is comprised of a series of buildings, courtyards and statues, making for a tranquil place of worship for Buddhists, as well as an interesting photo-op for the ever-growing number of tourists who pass by. Hong San See has been recognized nationally and internationally, being designated as a national monument of Singapore in 1978.







For my last day here, I decided to spend a little time on Sentosa Island, which is Singapore’s premier island resort getaway, visited by some twenty million people a year. Singaporean wags like to quip that "Sentosa" stands for "So Expensive and Nothing to See Actually" — however, Sentosa's attractions have received some much-needed upgrades in recent years, with the worst of the lot unceremoniously demolished. It lies off the southern coast of Singapore, and can be reached via subway, cable car, tram or shuttle bus via the bridge. Attractions include a 1.5-mile-long sheltered beach, Fort Siloso, two golf courses, the Merlion, numerous hotels, and the Resorts World Sentosa, featuring the theme park Universal Studios Singapore. There are residential areas on the island but overall, it’s a giant theme park complex. The HOHO shuttle bus gave me a bird’s-eye view of the entire island in less than 45 minutes, but I was under-whelmed – probably because I’m not a theme-park fan at all – it’s been years since my last visit to Disney World. Kids would adore this place but it doesn’t get my vote….I’ll take Chinatown or Little India any day of the week. By midafternoon as I was about to make my way back towards the hotel, the skies began to darken rapidly with black clouds rolling in from the Strait, heavy mist descended blotting out visibility, and the heavens opened in a deluge. Tropical storms in this part of the world arrive and depart swiftly and can be ferocious, but thankfully they don’t generally last too long. The HOHO bus dropped me a couple of blocks from the Hilton, and I made it back without getting too wet….the rain had eased but the skies were still very dark and threatening.







And so another adventure draws to a close. The airport shuttle will transport me to Changi at 4am tomorrow and then its 24+ hours of non-stop flying once more. Where to next? Stayed tuned….the next planned journey is going to be new territory for me. Cheers…..

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