Singapore: The Lion City

Singapore, rapid development into one of the world's largest container ports!



Singapore. I have heard so much about it and my whole 19 years of life while I was still in the Philippines, I never once set my foot in the Lion City. Each class I took in Uni on Asia, there was always so much to learn about Singapore. The 3rd largest port in the world, fast rising, fast developing, Switzerland of Asia... I only had 1 day and a half. Not nearly enough.

We stayed in the loveliest boutique hotel called Scarlet. It was a long row of old chinese shophouses, converted into a luxurious boutique hotel. Not too pricey either! The standard rooms were quite tight, but the attention to detail made up for it. The other rooms, the executive and the suites were absolutely fabulous. And of course, asian service at its finest.

I have to say I was rather disappointed. Upon arrival, we were all too hungry to eat properly and everyone had something planned. (The boys wanted to go electronics shopping... Not my cup of tea) So my sister, my mom and I ate on Smith Street in whatever place we saw was open. To our surprise, the tofu and pork was really good. A bit greasy though, but good.

Raffles Hotel

My sister and I took the famous metro. Much cleaner than in Paris! We took 30 minutes to shop then had a little walk around the old colonial area. The padang, the anglican church, the cricket club and of course had a little drink at Raffles. I could just see William Somerset Maugham drinking a Singapore sling thinking up more Far Eastern Tales...

I must have spent days researching on where to eat in this fab city. But when we got there, either there was no time or not to everyone's taste. It was also friday night, and impossible to make reservations for eight people.

Some Chinese Tapas!

We did however find a really great singaporean/chinese cuisine resto, in an old black and white house. They served us some chinese tapas: crispy eel with sesame, chicken strips fried spicy and some other little things. For dinner we had an excellent crab in chili garlic sauce. With lots of champagne, wine and spices, my tummy was in a whirl.

That night, I had so much wanted to see the singaporean nightlife. Unfortunately during the cocktail hour, I had one too many asian oysters before dinner. I love oysters and can easily scarf down a dozen. But oysters in asia aren't as sweet and fresh as those in europe. They also serve it to you already cut from the shell. This isn't good, you can't tell if it's still alive under a squirt of lemon. Well I had a poor one and spent the night hugging my toilet.

The next day all I had was gatorade for breakfast. For lunch my dad and mom discovered the best and the cheapest place to eat hainanese chicken rice! Perfect for a queasy stomach. For 2 singaporean dollars, you had a yummy yummy meal. Don't expect the best of service though. It took three different guys to take our orders while all the hustling and bustling was going on in the kitchen. It's all part of the ambiance. And that hainanese chicken rice was worth it!

Hainanese chicken rice and my gatorade bottle...

We then quickly whisked off to the boat and headed out to the high seas!

Now that I'm moving back to Manila, I must do several singaporean weekends. Too many places to eat in...