12/01/23-12/05/23
Ray and I were in Singapore 20 years ago and remembered it as a clean, crowded but efficiently run place. The weather was tropical so orchids proliferated everywhere. But the FOODS were the biggest attraction for us. With mixed populations of Chinese, Malay, and Indian, Singapore offers many unique ethnic dishes in food courts scattered all over the city. After we saw the popular movie “Rich, Crazy Asians” we decided to revisit this place with two main goals – food and gardens.
For the first two days, we stayed at the old Telegraph Hotel in the city center. Little did I know that the famous historical food court ‘Lau Pa Sat’ was half a block from the hotel. This food court was originally built in 1824 as a fish market. Now this Victorian structure is a landmark in Downtown Singapore among all the skyscrapers. We ate at the market for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and never repeated a single meal. Roast pigs, duck noodle soup, chili crabs, fresh fruit juices, and a Micheline-starred fishball soup (probably the only Micheline foods we can ever afford). At dusk, the short street next to the hotel magically filled up with hundreds of tables as well as a row of portable Satay grill stands. The whole street became an open restaurant with the air filled with the fragrance of grilled shrimp, satay sticks, and free-flowing beer. Tons of tourists poured in and the party lasted until midnight. I can see why Singapore was one of Anthony Bourdain’s favorite places to visit.
For the second half of our stay, we decided to live like Crazy Rich Asians and moved to the iconic Mariana Bay Sands Hotel. This hotel’s 3 towers have 2500 rooms (all with a balcony) and an infinity pool on the rooftop overlooking Singapore’s city center. This hotel complex includes a casino, a huge mall, an art/science museum, and a grand garden by the bay. We were early for check-in but the receptionist graciously put us in the room so we could enjoy the facilities as soon as possible. Now that’s what I call good customer service. Our balcony had a view of the ‘Supertree’ grove and ‘flower dome’ with ships lined up in the bay. We headed to the infinity pool immediately and the view was spectacular. Even with a gray sky and dropping of rain. we still enjoyed the warm water and the remarkable landscape. The pool measures 478 feet (three Olympic swimming pools in length) and is the world’s largest infinity pool at 600 ft above ground. The evening view from our balcony was even better than the daytime. The Garden at the Bay with special Christmas Winterland decorations all lights up under our window. The view itself was worth the price of the room. We walked around the whole complex, checking out the Casino, the mall, and the museum. We visited “Future World” in the museum, it’s another teamLab exhibition that pushes the boundary of Art and Science. There is a canal inside the mall and a water show in front of it at night. We ate more delicious meals at the food court inside the mall.
The other attraction of Singapore is the gardens. The first one we visited was Garden by the Bay since it was nearby. Little did we know that this garden encompasses 101 hectares (about 250 acres). Walking from one entrance to the other end was over 2 km. It has so many attractions, that we limited our visit to Flower Dome and Supertree Observation Deck. Flower Dome is a massive glass greenhouse, home to 3000+ plants from five continents, from succulent to Mediterranean. It also has an ancient Olive Grove, featuring olive trees up to 1000 years old. The building itself is an engineering wonder. With 16,000 square meters, it is also the biggest conservatory in the world. Supertrees are man-made towers covered with bromeliads. At night there was a light and sound spectacle show. We thoroughly enjoyed the mesmerizing color changes and the music from our balcony at night.
Singapore Botanic Garden is 164 years old and is free to the public. At its center is the world-famous ‘Orchid Garden’ which charges a nominal fee. The garden has a flagship orchid breeding program. Now It has over 1000 species of orchids and 2000 hybrids on display. I have never seen so many different types, shapes, and colors of orchids. Many of the garden’s hybrids were named for foreign dignitaries or heads of state. Those hybrids were displayed in a special VIP garden. We saw the ones named after VP Harris, Margaret Thatcher, and Nelson Mandela. This is a place any orchid lover would have to visit at least once in their lifetime.
Before we left Singapore for Taipei, we spent some time in the Jewel Changi airport garden. It features a 6-acre 5 5-story tall indoor forest, lots of walking trails, and the world’s tallest indoor waterfall. At 11 am, water pours through an oculus in the roof — creating the 130-foot-tall Rain Vortex, a mesmerizing waterfall sculpture and then it is recycled throughout the building. What a respite from the hustle and bustle of a very busy airport. The five enjoyable days in Singapore indeed fulfilled my goals of Food and Gardens.
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