Singapore - eating, drinking, shopping and sleeping

Wine Connection, Robertson Walk

Singapore is hot and humid. We're not good with the heat, so we try to find ways to escape it and cool down. Often, that might involve a nice air conditioned bar, but drinking here is ridiculously expensive. And when I say that, I mean more than double London prices. There are a few places that are better value - we found a good wine bar and restaurant called Wine Connection in Robertson Walk, and some places have good happy hours, but most places left us a bit shocked, especially after being used to Myanmar prices.



Orchard Road Shopping, Singapore

We did find a nice microbrewery called Brewerkz, which stages its prices throughout the day. Lunchtime are reasonable, and then it gradually goes up until it is double the price by the evening.

Another option for keeping cool is to join in with the popular pastime of shopping. The place we stayed in most of the time was close to Orchard Road, which is the main area for department stores and high end shopping.



Singapore

But travelling as we are, buying any non essential stuff isn't really an option. We did however, take advantage of the numerous air conditioned cinemas to get out of the heat whilst catching up on a few films.


Little India, Singapore

The Clarke Quay area is a good place to eat and drink if you want a more 'western' experience and are happy to be mixing with business people and expats. If you want to eat with the less well off locals, then a popular choice is to use the food malls in and around the shopping centres.



Little India, Singapore

One part of town that feels a little more real, and does have non expense account locals in it, is the area around Arab Quarter and Little India. That's not to say it isn't touristy, it absolutely is, but has far more character than most of Singapore, which we generally found to be quite lacklustre.







Tekka Market, Singapore

We stayed here for our last few nights, in one of the capsule hotels - which is an interesting experience, but definitely not the best way to get a good night's sleep. But we did like the area.



Little India was the site of a riot in 2013, which has resulted in an alcohol ban in much of the sector, but it is a colourful area and vibrant place to walk around. We ate in the Tekka Market, which is great for cheap and tasty food; we especially enjoyed the murtabak, which is a stuffed pancake, the Prata Banana and the Chendol drink.



Arab Quarter, Singapore

The Arab Quarter is just as vibrant and Bussorah Street, Arab Street and Haji Lane have a great mix of eating and drinking establishments and lovely shops ranging from fabrics to souvenirs.

We also happened to be there for a great little event that had people doing traditional Indonesian music and dancing. All were interesting, some were really good. We especially liked the Sundanese angklung, musical instruments made of bamboo that are shaken to produce different notes and tones.



Sundanese Angklung, Singapore

Singapore - Raffles, a parade and a disappointment

Singapore President Tony Tan Keng Yam

So I've talked about a few things that we did like in Singapore, and those few things would probably be enough to do in a short stopover, but sadly our overall opinion of Singapore was not that good.

We did a few other touristy things; we visited Fort Canning. That was OK, but really nothing exciting, and could have made so much more of the history of the place.

Raffles Hotel, Singapore

We went to Raffles. After all, it is probably one of the most famous hotels in the world, and whilst I'm not keen on the Singapore sling itself, which by the way was invented here by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, having a cocktail in the Long Bar seemed a necessity. The hotel was developed into its heyday by the Sarkies brothers; if that name sounds familiar for regular readers, it was the same people as were behind the Strand Hotel in Yangon.

Raffles, and its Long Bar, were favourite haunts of the likes of Ernest Hemingway and Somerset Maugham. So we were looking forward to drinking in a little bit of history.

Singapore Slings at Raffles

What we hadn't realised was that as part of the refurbishment that was completed in 1991, the Long Bar was moved. And though it has been rebuilt to resemble the old one, it clearly isn't the same. Whereas if you go to the equally famous and well visited American Bar at the Savoy, you feel like you are in a top bar of a top hotel, and whilst you do pay for the privilege, the experience, service and cocktails are all excellent, this was nothing more than a bad tourist attraction.

Chingay 2015, Singapore

The new location is up where the shops are, and the only people in the bar are tourists, still dressed in their shorts and loud shirts, most of whom seem quite oblivious to the fact that they have been banished to a lousy pretence that is obviously intended to simultaneously keep the tourist riff raff away from proper guests whilst still taking their money. We didn't stay, although as we'd made the effort to put on our best clothes - having expected that we would need to look presentable to get in to a good hotel - we did make our way to one of the actual hotel bars, and had a drink there instead.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

We also went to the Chingay Parade. We had bought tickets in the Grand Prix stands well in advance to get into this annual event that celebrates Singapore and its people. With this being the 50th year of the country's existence, we were anticipating a good show and an excited crowd. We weren't disappointed by the parade. There were some great floats and some very good performers to keep us entertained. We were seated almost opposite the president and his VIP guests, so we got a good display in front of us and got to watch them too.


Chingay 2015, Singapore

The downside was the feeling of being stage managed. On arrival, we all received a goody bag, which had water (sensible), some snacks (always welcome), and some things to wave and make noise with (a bit of fun). This seemed pretty good, until we discovered that we would be expected to use this collection of glow sticks, tinsel pompoms and rattles in a very prescribed way.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

The parade was being televised live, but before it started, we were taught  various songs and chants that we were expected to do at various stages of the parade, while 'spontaneously' waving the correct item. We had to practice. And just to make sure that we were all seen to be having fun, there were lots of people around to encourage us to wave the right things at the right times.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

Don't get me wrong, we did enjoy the parade, and I am quite happy to join in with the waving of pompoms etc, but it did all feel a bit like we were being told to enjoy ourselves and putting on a display for the cameras.

Which brings me nicely to why we didn't much like Singapore. I know it is a relatively new country, and that it has amassed a lot of wealth in a very short time, and that this is a considerable achievement. However all of that seems to have come at quite a cost.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

Like us at the parade, Singapore is stage managed. People are controlled, and cautious of being caught doing something that is not ' the Singapore way'. The media are largely controlled by the government, and people are aware that their social media can be watched 'big brother' style, so they effectively constrain their own behaviour.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

Singapore doesn't feel real. We concluded it felt a bit like something out of The Truman Show, the film where the main character's whole life is in fact a television show, and he is the only person who thinks it is real, while everyone else is an actor. And to us, that pervading feeling of things and people being controlled, all the while under a facade of freedom and sociality, felt stifling, soulless, and not especially inviting.



Chingay 2015, Singapore

Singapore - Orchids, Supertrees and orangutans

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Singapore is one of those places that we tend to hear good things about. And there are certainly a few things to recommend it for a short stopover en route to somewhere else. Beyond that, we personally weren't so keen, but that is for a different post; for now let's look at the good stuff.

Monitor Lizard

Our first impressions were pretty good. We arrived in sunshine, and on the drive in from the airport we could see luscious greenery and colourful flowers. And certainly the horticulture here was a real plus point.

Botanical Gardens, Singapore

One of our visits was to the botanical gardens. They are big enough that you could easily spend a day here, wandering amongst the different types of planting, including the sensory garden and the quite informative medicinal garden. You don't have to be an enthusiast to enjoy it here, it is just a pleasant, free way to spend some time - and they have monitor lizards roaming around.

Lions, Singapore Zoo

The one thing you would have to pay for is to go into the orchid garden. It isn't much, and it is quite an impressive display of different types. I love orchids, so it was well worth it to me to go inside.

We also went to the zoo, which had been highly recommended to us. It's not a bad zoo, but neither was it anything that special. It probably doesn't help that we are starting to feel a bit less interested in zoos generally, as we focus on trying to see more animals in the wild, but in the main, this just didn't catch our interest.

Fruit Bat, Singapore Zoo

There were a couple of good bits; it was fun to watch the lions being fed, and we rather enjoyed the walk through with the fruit bats and lemurs.

White Tiger, Singapore Zoo

And there was one highlight, which was the orangutans. They have a big group here and they are free to roam in and out of their area. It is quite fun to see these big orange apes swinging through the trees above your head

Orangutans, Singapore Zoo

That experience isn't without its risks though - if you find yourself in an isolated shower on an otherwise beautifully sunny day, you may want to go find somewhere to have a wash! We didn't see anyone get caught when we were there, but there was a near miss!



Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Our favourite thing in Singapore was the Gardens by the Bay.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

We walked around some of the outer garden areas, but we weren't that excited by them and it was too hot for us to worry about seeing it all. But it is well worth going just for the two domes and the supertrees.

The cloud forest dome is set up so that you walk up through the 'cloud' and see the different plants that grow at the various levels. The 'cloud' is a fine mist spray, which doesn't soak you, and we found very welcome on a hot day. It is worth trying to coincide your visit here with one of the spraying times, as otherwise you don't really get the effect.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

The other dome has much more to see, so takes longer to go around. The plants and flowers are quite beautiful, and there is usually a special exhibition of some sort. When we were there it was the zodiac signs and dahlias.

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

But the most spectacular thing to see is the Supertree Grove. You can pay to go around the elevated walkway, but we didn't bother with that.



Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

These giant tree like structures look fabulous just as they are, but the real display happens in the evening, when they have the Garden Rhapsody light show. It is really stunning to watch.


Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

Chinese New Year in Singapore

From Bangkok, we flew to Singapore, arriving just in time for the Chinese New Year celebrations, shepherding in the Year of the Goat - or ram, or sheep, depending on which version you go with.

We decided to head into Chinatown to see the preparations.

It was busy. With the same frenzy of people in the UK doing their last minute gift shopping on Christmas Eve, or bulk buying food because they've heard there is going to be a bit of snow, people were hurriedly buying food, firecrackers, brightly coloured decorations and of course, a selection of gaudy goats!


We managed to catch a few of the Lion dances during the festivities period, mostly the cai qing style ones. The lions here are the Southern Chinese lions, each operated by two people, and they are accompanied by three musicians.

The troupes are usually from kung fu schools, and the movements of the lion area combination of marshal arts and acrobatics.

For the cai qing, the lions are enticed to the doorway of a business by cabbage or other greens hanging in the doorway, along with a red envelope containing lucky money.

The money is the reward for the troupe. The lions pluck and 'eat' the vegetables, and sometimes oranges, by taking them into their mouths, and the two guys inside then tear up the cabbage leaves and peel the oranges. The torn leaves and orange peel, sometimes together with a few sweeties, are then 'spat out'.


Apparently the reason that this is so desirable comes partly from the sound of the Cantonese word cai, which can mean cabbage/greens and fortune, so it is believed to bring good luck to the business.

Similarly, the Cantonese word for the mandarin oranges used sounds like the word for gold, so leaving the orange segments for the owner and staff brings them good fortune.

As this is Singapore's 50th year, one of the bigger celebrations was a lion dance at the Gardens by the Bay, where 50 lions took part. We had arrived early, which was just as well, as we got a spot right at the front; by the time it started, the crowd was at least six people deep.

The dances themselves were not the most intricate, it was predominantly a mass cai qing but it was quite impressive to see so many of the lions in one place. And they did include a bit of Dragon dancing as well.

For Chinese New Year itself, we joined locals and tourists down at the Marina. They had a big display of zodiac and other lanterns, which were most impressive. We did what all of the locals were doing, and found the ones that correspond to our own zodiac signs - the monkey for Nic and the pig for me.

They also had food stalls, traditional performances, a high wire act and the grand finale fireworks display.

Gōngxǐ fācái