Singapore
- Tara Larkai
- Dec 24, 2014
- 4 min read
Our last stop on this tour was Singapore. Now, we were only in Singapore for two nights and we spent majority of our time there doing our pre-wedding shoot so we did not explore as much as we wanted plus we were tired,in other words this blog is not going to be as touristy lol. Our way to Singapore was via Silk Air, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. It is a budget airline therefore everything was very basic even the customer service. I expected more from a Singapore airline. Langkawi to Singapore was about an hour and a half,very short. Singapore airport is huge and very crowded. It took us about an hour to get through the immigration line. The immigration officers were not friendly at all and didn't even acknowledge you. They were so routined they looked like robots. lol ( I'm sure you can tell by now I can't stand immigration officers) So straight from the start you can tell everything is controlled and organized. It was nothing like Bangkok or Langkawi, it was more modern and reminded me so much of the United States except it was cleaner lol. Not to mention that the Singapore dollars are equivalent to the American dollars. 😁 (oh how I miss Bangkok) One thing I found interesting and really enjoyed was the taxis. First of all, all the taxis have meters and GPS. The meters are enforced therefore no room for bargaining or rip off. I even heard that drivers that fail to use the meters are fined a hefty fee. Each taxi has a tag on top that lets passengers know whether or not the taxi is available for hire. For example, if the top is green it means that it is available and if it is red it means its occupied. I thought that was so neat because I had never seen anything like that before.
Driving through the city, all I can see was a cleaner version of a city in the United States. Even though it is a city, it does not feel as crowded or dense as NYC. After check-in and all that good stuff, we headed to Chinatown in the city, a predominantly Chinese neighborhood in Singapore. Chinatown is located in the larger part of Outram. Even though Singapore is small as a whole, it feels big because it is broken down into several sections and neighborhoods. I have been to so many Chinatowns in the world (well mostly the U.S) and this is by far the cleanest and well organized of them all. The Chinatowns that I have been to in the past were dirty and overcrowded with hawkers harassing every passerby to purchase from them. It wasn't like that there. There's plenty to enjoy at the Singapore Chinatown such as souvenir stores, herbal stores, temples, museums, plenty of restaurants that feature local ethnic foods. There's a section called Chinatown food street where all the goodies are located. lol This is a haven for both locals and tourists. It features authentic chinese cuisine for reasonable prices. The set-up is like a food court except it is outdoors but covered on top. Picture below.
So this is how it works, you will find numerous food stalls selling different types of chinese foods and desserts. You simply go to whichever one you want purchase from them, they make it for you usually about 10-15 minutes before it is ready. You find a seat and enjoy it. We sampled several foods and found a 7-11 store right next to it that sells wine so of course we bought a bottle of wine to go along with our food. The food was delicious to say the least. My favorite was the black pepper crab. I am not usually a crab person but this crab hit the spot and had me wanting more.
Lucky for us the Heineken Cities festival was going on in Chinatown that night. The festival was so much fun. It featured rock bands, chinese dancers, caribbean carnival style dances, British models, international Djs and of course the discounted heineken beers. It was so crowded but made for a great first night in Singapore.
Although, we did not get to explore like we wanted to due to our photo shoot, we were able to visit some popular attractions during the shoot. Our photographer first took us to the Marina Barrage where you could pretty much get a 360 view of the city such as the gardens by the bay, Singapore flyer, Marina bay etc. The barrage was a bit crowded in the early afternoon with people flying kites, hanging out, picnicking and taking pictures. I was not able to get a lot of personal pictures of this because we were busy being shot. Our photographer was such a perfectionist it became exhausting after a while. This place is a great place for a date.
We then went to the Bay. It was such a beauty!
After a couple hours of shooting here, our photographer could tell we were beat. We kept begging him that it was enough but he was still looking for his "money" shot. lol He took us to the Marina bay mall for an ice cream break. We ended our last night in Singapore at Chinatown after wrapping up our shoot. We had an early flight back home the next day so it was an early night for us. Overall, we enjoyed Singapore but we didn't get to see a lot like we wanted. I really wanted to go to Sentosa Island but time was not on our side. We shall definitely return to see the real Singapore. Out of the three countries visited, I would definitely return to Singapore and Thailand. I had the most fun in Thailand in terms of night life and local activities. I enjoyed Malay food the most because it was different and new to me. But overall, they were all very enjoyable. Oh and you guessed it!!! Chloe and I are back at it again next week. Stay tuned for those tales.
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