asia
Winter 2014- SE Asian Trip Part 1: Singapore
It was December 23, months of careful planning and adjustments was coming to fruit as we embarked on our Southeast Asia trip. The trip spanned over 5 countries- Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Macau, and Hong Kong and 6 cities- Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Bangkok, Macau, and Hong Kong City.
As a result of short memory and procrastination, I've failed to write about the trip immediately upon my return and what was supposed to be a detailed account of my trip dwindled down to an overview with some sporadic exhaustive highlights.
In this post, I'd like to talk about Singapore.
Our friend took us to Clarke Quay for some drinks. Clarke Quay is an amazing concept. All of the country's bars and clubs are brought together and dumped into a range the size of a small college campus separated into 4 main parts with a bridge lighted up with red trees. If anything were to happen (aka: a scuffle in a club or a fight in a bar), they can just close off the entire area and deal with the matter. This also eliminates dodgy alleyways and wandering drunken individuals in between streets.
Clarke Quay offered a bit of everything, from a store boasting shots of multiple flavors to tapa places to live music bars, almost all of the trendy night- life scene exists.
Since we arrived to Singapore late on this day, we went back to our hostel immediately afterwards.
For lunch, we went to Maxwell Center, a hawker food stall lined with stores of amazing Southeast Asian cuisines beckoning salivating customers to try their food.
However, I had one purpose in mind when it came to food in Singapore and that is to try the chicken rice.
I found one chicken rice store with numerous newspaper clippings around the counter and a line that rounded around the corner. That was enough to entice me so I decided to pick this store.
Needless to say, the chicken rice was delicious! The chicken was tender and juicy and the sauce was spicy and tangy. The store turned out to be Tian Tian Hainenese Chicken Rice and it even has its own website- http://www.tiantianchickenrice.com/.
Please try this out if you want chicken rice in Singapore.
Afterwards, we went to Marina Bays to the Avatar Forest (my name for it haha) and Cloud Forest. When we got out of the station, we took a round- trip shuttle that took us directly to Cloud Forest. There was a beautiful man-made waterfall inside what I would call a greenhouse. Visitors were supposed to go to the top of the "mountain" and descend it by walking on a circular railway.
Next to Cloud Forest was the Flower Dome. It was so beautiful as it was decked out in Christmas decorations with fake snow and everything.
Following Marina Bays, we went back to Clarke Quay to try another famous Singaporean delicacy- chili crab. It's crab stir-fried in thick, savory, spicy sauce- a must- have if you're in Singapore. We went to a store called Jumbo Seafood.
There was a line and due to the abundance of customers, we had to share a table with another group of customers. It was hardly a problem as the moment we wore our plastic bibs and stuck our hands into the crab- all conversations stopped and eating ensues. The dish came with some fried dough that accompanied the saucy crabs. We also ordered seafood fried rice. It was delicious. I will definitely try to come back the next time I'm in Singapore.
It started to rain so we found a sports bar nearby and had some cake with some drinks.
Then we walked alongside Clarke Quay, looked over the murky waters in the river, and come upon a street performer.
Afterwards-we went back to Orchard Road. It was CROWDED with people all around us. We looked at the Christmas decorations one more time before heading back to our hostel.
We had a early day the next day for our on-land journey down to Malaysia and onwards to Thailand.
As a result of short memory and procrastination, I've failed to write about the trip immediately upon my return and what was supposed to be a detailed account of my trip dwindled down to an overview with some sporadic exhaustive highlights.
In this post, I'd like to talk about Singapore.
Singapore
December 23
We arrived in Singapore in the evening of December 23 and checked into our hostel (Five Stones) in Bugis, a road known for its Middle Eastern influence.Our friend took us to Clarke Quay for some drinks. Clarke Quay is an amazing concept. All of the country's bars and clubs are brought together and dumped into a range the size of a small college campus separated into 4 main parts with a bridge lighted up with red trees. If anything were to happen (aka: a scuffle in a club or a fight in a bar), they can just close off the entire area and deal with the matter. This also eliminates dodgy alleyways and wandering drunken individuals in between streets.
Clarke Quay offered a bit of everything, from a store boasting shots of multiple flavors to tapa places to live music bars, almost all of the trendy night- life scene exists.
Since we arrived to Singapore late on this day, we went back to our hostel immediately afterwards.
December 24
On Christmas Eve, we head to Orchard Road which was donned in festive Christmas lights. This street is known for being aligned with expensive, brand-name stores, but even if you're not in the mood to shop, I think it's still extremely enjoyable to just walk down and take in the sights.For lunch, we went to Maxwell Center, a hawker food stall lined with stores of amazing Southeast Asian cuisines beckoning salivating customers to try their food.
However, I had one purpose in mind when it came to food in Singapore and that is to try the chicken rice.
I found one chicken rice store with numerous newspaper clippings around the counter and a line that rounded around the corner. That was enough to entice me so I decided to pick this store.
Needless to say, the chicken rice was delicious! The chicken was tender and juicy and the sauce was spicy and tangy. The store turned out to be Tian Tian Hainenese Chicken Rice and it even has its own website- http://www.tiantianchickenrice.com/.
Please try this out if you want chicken rice in Singapore.
Afterwards, we went to Marina Bays to the Avatar Forest (my name for it haha) and Cloud Forest. When we got out of the station, we took a round- trip shuttle that took us directly to Cloud Forest. There was a beautiful man-made waterfall inside what I would call a greenhouse. Visitors were supposed to go to the top of the "mountain" and descend it by walking on a circular railway.
Next to Cloud Forest was the Flower Dome. It was so beautiful as it was decked out in Christmas decorations with fake snow and everything.
Following Marina Bays, we went back to Clarke Quay to try another famous Singaporean delicacy- chili crab. It's crab stir-fried in thick, savory, spicy sauce- a must- have if you're in Singapore. We went to a store called Jumbo Seafood.
There was a line and due to the abundance of customers, we had to share a table with another group of customers. It was hardly a problem as the moment we wore our plastic bibs and stuck our hands into the crab- all conversations stopped and eating ensues. The dish came with some fried dough that accompanied the saucy crabs. We also ordered seafood fried rice. It was delicious. I will definitely try to come back the next time I'm in Singapore.
It started to rain so we found a sports bar nearby and had some cake with some drinks.
Then we walked alongside Clarke Quay, looked over the murky waters in the river, and come upon a street performer.
Afterwards-we went back to Orchard Road. It was CROWDED with people all around us. We looked at the Christmas decorations one more time before heading back to our hostel.
We had a early day the next day for our on-land journey down to Malaysia and onwards to Thailand.
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