Culinary Tour of Singapore

---

Singapore became a stop on our trip in large part because Wes had heard tales of tasty chili crab. We had planned a day and a half in the city, which seemed reasonable for fitting in the sites, but not as reasonable for sampling all the food. I am sad to say that it was a hawker stand free trip.

On arrival we had to rush to the Lion Air office to purchase our tickets to Bali, as we were going to lose our reservation in 4 hours if we didn't pay. So by the time we got to option A for a hostel, Sleepy Sam's in Kampong Glam (the Malay/Arab district) we just took the dorm beds and decided that at least we'd save some money. That being said, for a bunk bed, internet and cereal for breakfast we had to pay 25 Sing$ per night. Not cheap. But we really like Kampong Glam. We were about 10 feet from Sultan Mosque, one of the best religious sites in Singapore. We were also close to a lot of cafes, so our first order of business was to finally try some chicken rice. We were feeling adventurous so ordered two different variations on it.

To work off all that food we wandered by foot from our hostel through the colonial district and on to the Esplanade. We skipped the Singapore Slings on this trip, as I'd already been to Long Bar and Wes felt underdressed. Not to mention the money involved in such an outing! Instead we spent roughly the same amount as one drink for a seat on the Singapore Flyer, a giant “observation wheel” with views all the way to Malaysia and Indonesia. When I was in Singapore in March I'd seen it under construction, but the enormous wheel didn't open until April 15th and I missed out. It was worth the wait. The views were amazing. We hadn't quite timed it right for sunset, but we were still in awe. From there we wandered the Esplanade and watched the sunset. Singapore's skyline is most impressive at night I think. We took a boat ride up the river to Clarke Quay and then back to the harbor, and managed to get the 45 minute tour after only paying for the 30 minute tour. Not bad!

We were still full, so we stopped in Clarke Quay to scope out the nightlife and have some Tiger beers. By the time we were done we were ready to just catch the MRT back to Bugis station and head to bed.

We had a lazy morning on Friday, knowing that our dim sum plan required waiting until at least 10 am to find an open restaurant. We wandered Chinatown in search of the best, finally deciding on the location we'd first heard about, Yum Cha. It was probably the best dim sum we've ever had. It was definitely the best BBQ pork bao, with well done meat filling and a perfectly fluffy dumpling. Orchard Road was next, and despite our best efforts to spend the hottest part of the day in a movie theater, we could not find a theater showing a decent movie we hadn't seen. So instead we went back to the hostel for internet and reading time.

The evening was the crown jewel in our Singapore experience: a trip to East Coast Seafood Center for some chili crab at Long Beach Seafood. We arrived on the early side and walked around East Coast park, putting our feet in the ocean and watching the sun sink from a park bench. Then it was on to dinner. We went all out and got a pitcher of Tiger beer and the set menu, a feast which included bamboo clams (with garlic and glass noodles, my favorite!), drunken shrimp (live shrimp boiled in brandy and chili), an entire chili crab, fried rice with silverfish, and black sticky rice with ice cream that came sitting on top of a glass bowl full of dry ice. It was worth the money.

Sadly we didn't make it back in time to return our MRT passes for a $10 Sing refund, so we went all the way out to the airport to get our money back. By that time it was after 11 pm and we called it a night, anticipating a 3:45 am alarm to catch our 6:20 am flight to Bali.

---

Photos

Fountain of Wealth
Wes wishing for world peace.

Comments

[bert]

restaurants in Singapore
You were very close to one of Singapore's best restaurants, Le Pont de Vie, at 26 Kandahar Street just across from the Maloay Heritage Village.