Wow! What an amazing first day Kevin and I had in Singapore. Our hotel, the St. Regis Singapore, is absolutely beautiful. It is a very old-world feel to it. We started our day with an amazing buffet breakfast that had western and Asian food (omelette station, hash browns, sausages, an enormous bread and pastry section, cheeses, meats, lox, fresh juices, fruits (including dragon fruit, my new favorite), and dumplings, fried rice, a noodle station, some maki rolls, etc.
Afterwards, we decided to walk around an area called Kampong Glam and Little India. First we took a Grab and the driver dropped us off on Haji Lane. Which is a short, but very cute street in that area. It has colorful murals, and very hipsterish shops/cafes/restaurants. There was a cafe called #SelfieCoffee where you take your picture and then they actually put it on your iced coffee as a foam topper, so you can actually drink your face. It was really cool. Over on another street is a street called Arab street that sold many beautiful rugs and fabrics where you would make clothes for women. Another street over led you to shops for souvenirs and restaurants and down toward their famous golden Mosque. The Mosque is called Masjid Sultan and it is beautiful. Across from the Mosque is the Malay Heritage Center which has a garden and information about the Malay people of Singapore.
Next, Kevin and I walked over to an area known as Little India. This area was filled with gift shops, Indian restaurants, and a shopping mall called the Mustafa Center. By this time, Kevin and I were both drenched in sweat and so we called a Grab and headed back to the hotel and decided to go swimming in the pool. The pool is shaded as their are buildings on either side of it and so it was a nice way to relax after being so hot. After 2 hours we headed back in to change and get ready for our Hawker Center Food Tour!
We met our guide, named Gerry in our hotel lobby where he picked us up in a cab. Then we met 2 other travelers at their hotel ( a father-son) and another couple from Germany at their hotel. It was the 6 of us and our guide Gerry on this Hawker Center food tour. A Hawker center is similar to a food court at a shopping mall, except the government owns these centers and the people that make the food, many of them have been doing this for generations and generations. Each stall in the center pretty much specializes in one kind of food.
Gerry brought us to a very local one called the People’s Park. We were the only westerners there! He sat us down at a table and explained about the center and then he got us a big bucket of different Asian beers and glasses to try them all out. After he went to order all of the food! We had roasted duck and chicken, the famous Hainanense chicken rice, fried oysters, carrot cake (which is actually radishes!), 2 different kinds of dumplings, rice vermicelli noodles with seafood, and egg noodles. Everything was so delicious! While we were eating Gerry was very open about life in Singapore and encouraged us to ask him questions.
After all of this food, we took a walk from there to Chinatown. It was really nice, but touristy with lots of souvenir stalls. On our way to another hawker center, he stopped and bought durian for us all to try. Durian is a very smelly fruit! He also bought us a fruit called mangosteen. We got to another hawker center, where Gerry ordered us some other beers to drink, and I got a really refreshing watermelon juice instead. Even though it was night time, it was still very humid. This time Gerry ordered us spring rolls, chicken wings, lamb satay, and chicken satay; more food but not as heavy. Again everything was delicious!
After this place, we walked a little further and had shaved ice; it was a very local place and we were the only westerners there! Everyone in our group ordered a different fruit flavored ice. Kevin had strawberry and I had mango-lychee. After that it was time to get in the cab and go back to our hotels. It was an awesome night with wonderful local food!
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Wow! What a day. And it’s only the beginning of your journey. So great that you are documenting everything so you can remember and relive it again. Love those selfie coffee drinks! And the food is fantastic. Learning about the culture. Enjoy.
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