A Short Trip to Singapore - Final Part

Chinatown


Harbourlights is only 2 MRT stops from Chinatown. We spent an evening there visiting the Chinatown Heritage Museum, eating, shopping and browsing.

In the past, Chinatown was known as "Bullock Cart Water" or in Hokkien "Gu Chia Chui". This was the place where new migrants or "sinkheks" stayed, worked and played. They brought with them their culture, religion and lifestyle which eventually influenced and shaped the lives of Singaporean Chinese. Nevertheless, the place was also a melting pot of economic and social activities for various races like Arabs, Jews, Europeans, Indians and Malays.


Bargain hunt and dine along the streets of Chinatown.


One of the many, many outdoor carts/stalls selling local delicacies.


You can even select your dim sum menu on the shop house window shutters.


I love these Chinese inspired bedroom slippers.


Welcome to the dark side of "Gu Chia Chui"...

The opium pipe - Chinese migrants had a penchant for smoking this stuff.


And not forgetting gambling, gangs and prostitution (sorry I've no photos of "ladies of the evening" here).



Clarke Quay, Boat Quay and Merlion Park

Another must-see while in Singapore are the attractions along Singapore River.

Colorful shop houses along the Quay.


Odd-looking weaved people sitting on the bench.


Although it's the monsoon season, restaurants along the Quay were big on these Sri Lankan crabs. We gave it a pass. I would rather go to where the locals eat their seafood and I'm not telling. Haha!


I love this authentic turn-of-the-last-century sign on Cavenagh Bridge. It shows how far we've come from cattle and horses to automobiles and jet-planes.


More sculptures along the River...





Side track a bit here: People from the region I come from just adore eating durian. Durian - a seasonal thorny king of fruits with a very pungent smell (nice or not, depending on whether you like it or hate it). Personally, I am ok with it but I don't crave for it though. However, Adrian loves it to death.


Over-eating this creamy fleshed durian will result in weight-gain. Yes, I am not kidding! You can also make ice-cream, cakes, etc. out of it. Versatile.

So, it's no surprise that Singapore built an Esplanade in the shape of this "King of Fruit". Locals gave it the nickname "durian". Esplanade: home of the performing arts theater. Just imagine this headline - "Il Divo at the Durian" or "The Durian presents - Luciano Pavarotti". Hmm....


The durian...

And, the other "Durian"



Merlion Park

The Merlion - poster boy, national identity and mystical creature. Merlions are everywhere in the form of souvenirs & sculptures big and small. This is the first one (see below) at the Merlion Park.

I'm MERLION, see me spout water...


Merlion's mini-me. Looks a wee bit like King Tut to me.


And most recently, there's also the new mega size version by Sentosa Island. Told you so. He's the poster boy here.

A short trip to Singapore - Part 2

Singapore is so densely populated even mediocre food stalls have a long queue. This was my friend, Elaine's observation of most food courts there and it's true.

Our trip was filled with many gatherings with friends and relatives over dinners and lunches so I will be writing about what else? FOOD. There's not much difference between Malaysian and Singaporean food because we are of a similar root or as the Malays like to put it: "serumpun". I think the former is tastier while the latter tend to be sweet. Me, biased? Nah...it's the plain truth.

You won't get hungry in Singapore because food is abundant and yet 90% of the women there are stick-thin. Either they are bulimics, have super-duper high metabolism or spend 24 hrs a day in the gym.


FOOD REPUBLIC

One can get dizzy for choice in just seconds. It's like a shopping mall for food inside. I won't post pictures of the stalls because it'll take forever and ever...and ever.

My breakfast on the second day - Mee Rebus.

Elaine's breakfast - Lontong.

SOUP RESTAURANT

Soup Restaurant is immensely popular and they have many branches all over Singapore including one restaurant in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Their specialty - old cucumber soup with pork ribs; served in a cute clay pot, steamed fish and sweet potato leaves in sambal.

Their super delicious and famous "Samsui ginger chicken". Drool, drool!

Named after the "Samsui" woman from Kwang-tung, China. These women took up jobs at construction sites in Singapore during the 1920s. They were as strong as a bull or rather the men and a rare breed. Unfortunately, many are well over their 80s and live in poverty.

PENANG BUFFET at Copthorne King's Hotel

This buffet has been around for many, many years and is still going strong. They rely mainly on word-of-mouth advertisement. You have to go early to get a seat. Buffet starts at 12 noon but the crowd start pouring in by 11.45 a.m. Ironic, you might say - that I come all the way to Singapore to eat Penang food? Strange but true.

Locals and non-locals come here for satay. It's still the same (XL size like kajang satay and yummy) after all these years. So this was the first thing that I took. Forgot about soup and appetizers.

Push cart stalls serving teh tarik (foamed-tea) and many other Penang delights. Neat!

An old fashion dessert called "Apam bokwa".

Mini pulut (glutinous rice) cakes with kaya (coconut jam) and ang ku kuih. Sorry I haven't got the translation for ang ku kuih.

Cheng t'ng or clear sweet soup with longan, gingko nuts and sweet red dates.

I've more photos of food at the buffet but I'll spare myself and you the agony. Have I done enough damage to make you feel hungry? Well, I am rather hungry myself so I'm going to heat up some left-over chicken for lunch now. Bon Apetit!

A short trip to Singapore - Part 1



Adrian & I took a quick trip to Singapore while we were in Malaysia last month. X'mas was just round the corner so shops and malls were buzzing with holiday excitement. We stayed with a friend at Harbourlights Apartment opposite the latest mall to open in Singapore - VIVO CITY


Vivo City - "Singapore's largest retail and lifestyle destination". Not my choice of word but indeed their advertising catch phrase.


Here's Adrian inside Vivo City standing in front of some weird looking modern, spiraling and intertwining structure.

Since we stayed within walking distance to the Mount Faber & Sentosa Island cable car station, who could resist not going over to the island for a day of fun?!

Sentosa Island, here we come.

Ok, I admit I was a bit nervous sitting in the cable car. Why? In 1983, 2 cable cars plunged into the sea when a Panamian oil rig hit the cableway. I hate my selective memory sometimes. Argh!





I tried to keep myself busy by taking awesome pictures of the Lion City ("Singa" in Malay means lion; "pura" in ancient Sanskrit means city).


Felt much better when our cable car passed the mid-way point.


Underwater World










Siloso Beach

This is where the locals come to rest, relax, play and party during the weekend. There's limited beaches in Singapore unlike Malaysia. Sometimes you've to leave your country in order to appreciate the resources you have in your backyard.


I remember my Dad used to keep a small turtle in a huge salted egg jar at home and it would snap at us all the time; especially when she's hungry. So when I came across this warning sign, I couldn't help but let out a sinister chuckle.

Chomp!

Truly a force to be reckon with. What a beauty! Mother nature's pride and joy.