We usually stayed in Little India when we went to Singapore, but the last time SM and I were in Singapore our usual hotel had raised its rates. Instead, we booked online a hotel that ended up being what, in the US, would be called a No Tell Hotel. The kind of place in the sketchy part of town that rents rooms by the night or by the hour. Almost anywhere else in the whole wide world* we would have cut our losses and found a different place to stay. But the “bad” section of Singapore was still okay. We shared our hotel with sex workers and European tourists on a guided tour. The streets were relatively safe at all hours, and the food stalls were some of the better ones we experienced in the city.
This time around we stayed atPark View hotel in the central business district. The rates were Singapore reasonable so, expensive for the clean, windowless room. Rooms without windows are not at all uncommon in Singapore. It’s all about maximizing space in a city where one can expect to pay a thousand US dollars and up for a single square foot of space. That said, you will also find wide boulevards and green spaces. Breakfast was included and the best thing to be said about it is that it was edible. I was up, so I ate, but it was not nearly enough to lure SM or LB from dreamland. Fortunately, there were many restaurants nearby.
As I mentioned last week, Asian street food kicks ass. Singapore, with its combination of cultures and strict hygiene standards is definitely near the top of any list. There are hawker stands in Singapore with Michelin Stars, y’all! We stumbled upon the Amoy Street Food Centre not realizing until I looked it up a few days ago that it is considered one of the top street hawker food halls in the city. Which stall you choose matters but we were perfectly content with our noodle soups. Even LB ate, so I guess we picked good ones. On another night SM took us to the Lau Pa Sat hawker stalls which were near the hotel he stayed in when passing through the city on business. One of the stalls had xiaolongbao! And we were almost surrounded by a variety of meats on sticks, which made LB deliriously happy.
SM also took us out to Jumbo Seafood for Singaporean chili crab, which, believe it or not, I had never had in Singapore. I thought it too costly for us when there were so many cheap and delicious choices. And I didn’t realize my last time in Singapore would be my last time for a number of years. At Jumbo you can choose Alaskan, Dungeness, or the local mud crab and we went local. We had two mud crabs, one with traditional chili sauce and one with butter sauce to share with LB. Believe it or not, with a couple of vegetable sides, it was enough. LB loves crab. One of my favorite memories is LB at about 18 months getting mad at her Uncle K because he wasn’t peeling the crab he’d offered her fast enough. The mud crab in a sweet, rich, thick sauce may well have lifted the bar for her. It certainly did for me! The chili crab was even better. If we’d had the time, I would have loved to have tried it in a few other places.
Because our friends have jobs we were on our own during the weekday. One day we spent at Universal Studios Sentosa. Almost all of our travel in Singapore was by Grab or taxi. Tickets were about $80 Sing (~$60USD) per adult and $60 (~$45) for kids. Under 4s were free. I’ve been to Universal Studios in LA, Orlando, and Barcelona (which no longer exists) and the one in Sentosa was pretty much what I expected: great rides, slick shows, and a true “theme park” atmosphere. The only downer was that the parade was rained out. (Considering it’s the tropics you’d think they would have figured something out.) It is absolutely fantastic for littles with plenty of rides and amusements aimed at the very young. LB got to meet both Minions and characters from Sesame Street!
We spent our last day at the Gardens by the Bay. The Gardens opened in June of 2012 and did not exist during our last visit because if they had I definitely would have sought them out. They are très cool. There is a lot to do. Like, way more than can be done in one day. The Gardens have three different sections: Bay South, Bay East, and Bay Central. Fees to the many exhibits vary and shuttle service is an additional $3. Tickets can be bought on site but, if you know that you are going, online in advance is probably better. Speaking of advance planning the Children’s Garden is closed every Monday, or the Tuesday if the preceding Monday is a public holiday. Happy Frog Travels explores deeply into the Gardens for those who would like more detail.
OCBC Skyway.
We went to the Outdoor Gardens and the Far East Organization Children’s Garden which were free and up to the OCBC Skyway. For the Skyway adult tickets (13 years old & above) were $8 while children (3-12 years old) were $5. Our time in the Gardens was limited but everything we experienced was impressive. The OCBC Skyway looks exactly like its photos. Which means it is not for those with height issues. That said, I was able to handle it with little trouble. The Children’s Garden was an unexpected delight featuring playgrounds and a splashpad.
That night we met up with our fiends one last time at the wine bar next to our hotel. Then we headed to the airport for our flight and the end of one hell of an adventure.
*It helped that we’d spent a lot of time at love hotels in Korea. They were inexpensive, ubiquitous, and often pretty cool with stylish (or outrageous) themes and other entertaining accoutrements.