Singapore!
I know it's a bit belated but...
What a huge difference from Ahmedabad. We really couldn't have picked a more opposite place to visit (especially for still being in Asia). Even as we stepped into the airport, we noticed such a huge change...Gloria Jean's Coffee in the entrance, beautiful plants and landscaping, clean, etc. Now, granted Ahmedabad is not a 1st class city and therefore has no reason to aspire to greatness in their own airport but even with that - it has a lot to be desired.
Our hotel, the Quincy, arranged airport pickup for us as part of our stay, although we still didn't expect a brand new Mercedes S Class (that was our first taste of how amazing our hotel was). We noticed on the drive to our hotel that the city took very great care of landscaping everything....the median, bridges, and the tops of buildings even all had plantings with trees, hanging flowers and so much greenery. Constant heat and humidity keep things beautiful all year there. Everything was so clean, well-kept, a great metro and...did I mention green?
The hotel itself was only opened 2 months before our stay. It's very modern, has a sweet 12th floor infinity pool with a see through bottom, and the staff was amazing. We were in love. Little did we know that the room rate (which we splurged a bit on) was all inclusive; 3 meals a day, evening cocktails, all day access to the coolest coffee/espresso/etc machine ever and they even encouraged us to use everything in our mini-fridge and the snacks provided. It included beer! Bradd was very happy. We were kind of bummed, though, because our main focus while in Singapore was to tackle a list of food items, hawker centers, and restaurants. (Singapore is well known as a food capital with a blend of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian influences).
the Quincy Hotel / The pool overlooking the city
Our hotel was situated in the Orchard Rd. district which is a uber-rich area. We took a stroll to Orchard Rd. and our first views were of Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Cartier, Ferragamo, etc. We knew it was a huge shopping area but had no idea at what level. But the great thing was, there was still plenty of less lofty options...even peppered with a few risque' skin clubs along with your expected McDonald's. Malls abound, one after another with amazing food courts that I really can't do justice explaining but...bright, clean, fresh, exotic treats of all kinds, and even the mundane foods are done with stylish efficiency. During our research before leaving, we found a location of this awesome dumpling restaurant that we'd had in Taiwan and we psyched to eat there again, Din Tai Fung. It was also in one of those amazing food courts but as a stand alone restaurant. Everything was just as good as we remembered and they even had Taiwan Beer!
Orchard Rd. / Din Tai Fung (I think Bradd could do a Taiwan Beer commercial)
Something that did stand out was the amount of very pregnant ex-pats strolling about so most likly not traveling but living in Singapore. Turns out that because the city is so cosmopolitan, clean, plethora of great food, one of the financial centers of the world, world-class medical care and top notch schools, it is a veritable mecca for ex-pats. There are a huge number living and working in Singapore. -And they have to making pretty good money to live comfortably there because the cost of living is very high.
The only thing that was pretty cheap were the hawker center/ food centers all around the city. They're well known for having cheap, fast, and great food. It's basically like a stand-alone food court with numbered stalls selling all the favorites...again, the major influences so Chinese, Malay and Indian. We had to check out one of the official dishes of Singpore, chicken & rice, plus some random deep fried wonders and exotic juices to wash it down. All that for about $10 US. Since the hawker center, famous Maxwell Rd Food Center, was in China Town we wandered the busy streets a while with all the stalls selling trinkets and crazy food.
Chinatown / Maxwell Rd Food Center
Bright and early, we headed North by subway to the end of the line to Changi Village to take a ferry to the island of Palau Ubin. It sits in the Straights, a channel/river that separates the island of Singapore from Malaysia proper. The ferry's were called Bum Boats with their faded paint and diesel exhaust pumping out black smoke (thank god I don't get motion sickness!). We wanted a taste of rural, undeveloped Singapore and we got it. The island itself is preserve, of sorts, that has a very small population and is quite wild. There are trails for hiking, or roads to bike or walk - we opted to walk the roads. If you're lucky, you can see wild cocks, horn billed birds, monitor lizards, and other types of exotic birds. We noticed right away the large amount of blood-thirsty mosquitoes, a mangy dog, and some huge spiders that flipped over and squirted Bradd as soon as he got close to photograph. It was beautiful though, with bright flowers and the sounds of so many birds (we did hear the wild cocks but didn't see one). We were also rewarded with a close sighting of a large monitor lizard who was just slinking off the road as we approached. Pretty cool! After a lovely trek (and lots of reapplications of bug repellent), we headed back to town for for Straights cooking, and the famous chili crab dish. We ended up getting the black pepper crab instead but man, was it delicious! With some greens and fried rice on the side and a dock-side view of the water, we were set. As a bonus, we also had front row seats for a storm blowing in over the water and a healthy wind that made us forget how bad we had been sweating minutes before. By the time we finished eating and headed back to the boats, it had blown over and the waters calmed. Perfect!
Bumboats / Little town of Palau Ubin
We checked into our new hotel in China Town later that day, already missing the Quincy Hotel (and kind of regretting the move) but the Scarlet was still an interesting, swanky boutique hotel. Kind of vampire chic meets French-Louis the 14th opulence. The room was small and all amenities were additional BUT they has a great roof top lounge where Bradd was finally able to try the Singapore Sling cocktail, created by the Raffles Hotel in Singapore. First in line of business, a reflexology foot message. Our feet and legs were killing us from all the hills in the city and our hike the day before so China Town was the place for that. Last morning we headed back to the Maxwell Rd Food Center for some banana fritters and bubble tea along with a tour of the Red Dot Museum. The museum showcases modern art, inventions, and technology that have won their awards in the past...really cool stuff. Thus ended our trip which made us very sad. Goodbye green and clean Singapore!
View from roof top / Bubble tea (in a bag, of course)
