Tales of an Amorphic Destiny

Singapore

April 18th, 2007 at 03:39pm James

Rather than the usual short stopover in Singapore airport on the way back to London, we’d booked a couple of nights in a hotel so we could spend a full day exploring the place.

Having lived there for a spell a few years back, Lou and Val gave us a few hints as to what we should see and do with our limited time. So after finding our hotel and working out a rough itinerary, we got a good sleep ready for a busy day.

We made an uncharacteristically early start and set out to see the sights, the humidity of the place meaning that it was shorts and t-shirts all the way.

We managed to take in a few temples, both Buddhist…

…and Hindu…

The temples were very tranquil places, especially when juxdaposed against the extremely busy city  around them.

Given that we had such limited time, we made sure that we sampled as many of Singapore’s culinary delights as possible. For breakfast we found a local food hall near the temples and after wandering around unable to choose for some time, we settled on a delicious laksa…

But the real gastronomic highlights were still to come at lunch time. Lou and Val had told us that we had to try the famous Chilli crab served by the restaurants down by the quay. There were plenty to chose from, but in the end we settled on this place where we selected a crab from the tank…

…which the chefs then transformed into one hell of a lunch.

We spent a bit of time wandering around the famous shopping districts and later on ended up at the famous Raffles Hotel. The place really felt like a last bastion of British colonialism, like something out of a movie.

One of the hotel’s many claims to fame is that it is the birthplace of the delicious Singapore Sling. The cocktail was invented by Ngiam Tong Boon in the hotel’s famous Long Bar in the early 1900’s.

We figured it’d be rude not to stop in for at least one of these historic drinks. They were expensive by Singpore standards but quite tasty, and the same colonial atmosphere of the rest of the hotel was particularly eviedent in the Long Bar.

Our last meal of the day was again on Lou and Val’s recommendation. The Banana Leaf Apolo serve delicious Indian-Singaporese food, which the patrons eat straight off real banana leaves! The dishes were very authentic and utterly delicious.

After our last meal we’d hoped to make it out to the Singapore Zoo’s nighttime safari, but a spot of iPod shopping meant we were a bit late. I’m sure we’ll get there next time though and judging by our first impressions of Singapore, there definitely will be a next time!

Entry Filed under: Asia