Our original flight had us staying in the Philippines, but after trying to figure out logistics we decided to bail on the idea and try for something different. Grant having watched Crazy Rich Asians on HBO for the twelfth time as we are deciding our substitute spot made the decision pretty simple. Everything portrayed in the movie was pretty spot on from a non-crazy rich Asian perspective.
Upon landing in Singapore, we made our way through customs. Having just endured Manila we were not too sure what to expect. However, Singapore has it together. Not only was entering easy, but each border patrol officer’s station had mints for incoming individuals. The notion of this not being torture was just one-way Singapore has made itself into one of the premier destinations for individuals all over the world.
The airport arrival gate contains the largest indoor waterfall in the world, the Jewel, which was conveniently located in Terminal 3 where we landed. A bit of a bummer as the waterfall was not fully operational as it was being cleaned. (Correction: it’s open from 9am to Midnight so we missed it both ways). Even though it was only partially going the surroundings were spectacular. It was the size of an amphitheater designed solely for this waterfall, plants and walking trails. After gawking for a bit we grabbed a “Grab” ride, which is the Southeastern Asian equivalent of UBER. Prices were really reasonable and the whole operation was very well organized and laid out.
Since the flight from the city that shall never be mentioned henceforth got us in at around 1 in the morning we hit the head and fell right to sleep. The next morning I was up way before Grant but kept quiet until I may have inadvertently woke him up from his slumber. I had printed out places to see within walking distance of the hotel and Chinatown was first up. We began walking and quickly ran into the Maxwell Food Center, which locals or travel bloggers call Hawker stations. Essentially it’s a food hall or farmers market for Eastern cuisine with no frills. Not being into Seafood and not wanting our first food experience to be catastrophic for the remainder of the trip—we ate things we knew or could reasonably identify what it was made with/from. All of it was delicious and probably had the best-steamed pork bun ever.
For whatever reason, Tarina, our good friend who we love and adore, began blowing up my phone as she wanted us to pick her up a tea set from a local place in Singapore. I had gotten her list of demands before we left, but she made sure we followed through with her order. So we stopped and picked her up some tea and an amazing tea set with a lion. The attendant was extremely helpful and provided us a tutorial as to how to utilize the set, which just highlighted its uniqueness.
From there we made it to the heart of Chinatown. Unlike other Chinatowns were they are usually dilapidated or had a noxious smell—this one was spectacularly clean, well laid out, and of course, had more shops and restaurants then you could ever want. I, of course, ran from gift shop to gift shop looking for souvenirs and gifts for others. If I have learned anything from traveling its if you see something buy it because you probably will not get a second opportunity. This is probably why we have so many tacky and weird souvenirs in our house.
Our thought for exploring was to take the Hop-On/Hop-Off Bus tour to get a good sampling of the area in a controlled environment. The bus had 4 lines that went to various parts of Singapore and did a sampling of the best places to go. Once aboard we re-visited parts of Chinatown, Little India, Kampong Glam, and then to the Bay. There are a million things to see at the Bay, but the three things we wanted to see was Marina Bay Sands (MBS is what locals call it), Garden by the Bay, and the Merlion.
Some of the best moments in Crazy Rich Asians happened on the rooftop of the MBS so we knew we had to find a way up. Grant’s mom, Carol, had recently visited Singapore and learned of a trick to “buy a drink” at the rooftop bar as a way of getting up there. The restaurant that we choose was Cei La Ve and was in Tower 3 of MBS. There is an attendant that is at the bottom of the stairs and you buy a $22 food/drink voucher to go up. Even if you don’t use this…by why wouldn’t you…this was still cheaper than the observation deck that cost $26 and as we found up from the top…had a worse view!
Having been able to look out at the surrounding skyscrapers and look out on the Garden by the Bay we knew we wanted to look at the weird living plant-based sculptures next. So we walked from the MBS to the garden and were amazed at the sculptures and the plant life. Best of all it was free minus upcharges for a few of the exhibits. This is clearly the most crowded space in all of Singapore but is large enough to navigate without feeling claustrophobic.
The main downside, if I had to nitpick, would be that Singapore is hot. 85 degrees does not sound too bad but mix that would humidity and beating sun and it’s a sure recipe for needing to change your shorts three times a day. We found out from one of our driver that this weather is actually cool compared to what it normally is like.
After a quick refresher at our hotel, we headed back to the MBS for the night shows of their Supertrees. We wanted to get a bird’s eye view of the show and since we didn’t use the food vouchers they let us back up to the rooftop again for free. There are two light shows in this area, one being the Supertrees at the garden, but the bay itself had a light show that was displayed reminiscent of World of Color at Disneyland.
If our action pack day was not enough we booked an immersive theater show to top us off. It was Vallhalla and the Asgard…it was based on Nordic stories…the story was thin…the audience was abysmal as people either were not paying attention, did not understand, or just plain refused to follow instructions. I ended up being the Champion after wacking a kid in the head three times with a pillow so props for me? I won a shot of honey mead, which I did not want, but drank it just to be done with it. Overall, I had fun, but the theater in the east hasn’t matched that of the West.
Day 1 done. 2 Days to Go.