Singapore - October vacation, Phase I

The annual Diwali vacations are finally here and although I have a lot of work to attend to, we decided to gift ourselves two whole weeks of relaxation and rest & travel. If you’ve been following my blogs, you’d have noticed that we mostly get out during the month of May (that’s when schools are out for the summer). Having been busy with my brother’s wedding this summer, we decided to pack our bags and escape from home in October.

Our plan for two weeks? Well, we’re going to start off by first spending some time in Singapore, followed by three days in Kolkata. That done, we head off to visit Meghalaya, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in the far North-East of India. Sounds a little too much packed into two little weeks, but not impossible.

October 14 - 18, 2017

The first leg of our journey saw us heading off to Singapore, an island city-state in S-E Asia. In a bid to save on the essential vitamin M, we looked for flights that were what are called ‘budget flights’. So, it was a very comfortable Indigo from Mumbai to Kolkata, and a horribly uncomfortable Air Asia from Kolkata to Kuala Lampur.

Yes, Air Asia is very economical and does make it possible for ‘everyone to fly’ (their tag line states Everyone can fly), but there’s lots one has to pay w.r.t check-in baggage, meals on-board and even water. In addition to that, seats are quite narrow & cramped with almost no legroom. Save for the few seats upfront, most of the seats do not allow you to adjust yourself in a reclining position. All-in-all, it was the worst flight experience I’ve ever had. Unfortunately for us, our flight provider back to Kolkata is also Air Asia…..I dread to think of how we’re going to survive that, but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.

Day One. October 14. We walk around the neighborhood

For now, we’re finally at Singapore.

The MRT service is super easy to follow. We boarded at Changi Airport, and changed trains at Tanah Merah. In hardly any time we stepped off the train at our destination, Lavender.

Once out, I was super happy to see a huge number of restaurants just waiting for me to step in and sample the lovely treats they had to offer. 

My husband headed to the nearest Burger King while I skipped off to this place because the fare on display looked most oriental and super appealing. ‘When in Rome, eat as the Romans do’…that’s what I firmly believe.

Since I couldn’t follow anything on the menu, I opted for the first item that caught my attention.

It turned out to be a broth of some dried/salted fish, a few veggies and lots of noodles, each as thick as my little pinkie. It was piping hot, had a tangy fish taste to it and was quite filling. Not bad for a first meal in a foreign land. And it cost just 4$ in Singapore money.

Our tummies filled, we headed to our hotel which was located just ten minutes away from Lavender Station. Again, I’m super happy because the street is flanked by numerous restaurants and food courts all the way. Oh lucky me! 

Our hotel of choice is the Parc Sovereign Hotel at Tyrwhitt. Check-in isn’t until 3pm and we had a good three hours until then. We left our bags at the reception and decided to explore the neighborhood. As stated earlier, plenty of eating options here, so even though we’d just had a good lunch, we were tempted by the aroma of food that drew us to a little outlet that served, among other things, a delicious plate of rice and roasted pork. We ended the meal with a Chendol ice lolly. Chendol is one of the local Malaysian desserts, but more about that later.

Walking around the neighborhood we visited a Buddhist temple at the corner of our street and also stopped at a little brewery known as ‘The 1926’.

We thought this place was really cozy. From the outside it looks like a garage and the inside is just as rough. Scraped and unpainted walls, wooden counters and shiny brewing vats lined up at one side. Absolutely a place I’d recommend for an evening out guzzling beer! 

Hubby-dearest ordered a coffee while yours truly sipped on one of their home-brewed beers, something called a Watermelon something. Nice, light and refreshing!

There are also many massage parlors scattered all around, but me thinks they’re too pricey. We’re giving them a miss. It was well past three by the time we had our fill of the exploring, so we headed back to the Parc Sovereign (https://www.parcsovereign.com/hotel/tyrwhitt) Rooms are rather small, but quite comfortable. We had asked for a room with a balcony, but that’s not much use as the balcony overlooks the many office buildings and establishments next door. Still, I discovered that it’s a very quiet and nice place to sit and sip on tea in the early hours, while working on my little watercolors.

Yes, the staff is very courteous and polite, but they somehow kept forgetting to place things in the room…water, towels, toilet paper… But the location is wonderful, very close to almost everything else – eating houses, shopping marts, the metro… Also, the hotel has a lovely rooftop pool. 

(Note: the MRT is, by far, the best way to get around Singapore. As soon as you’re ready to go exploring, purchase a travel card at the ticket counter. All you need to do is top up as and when needed. With the card, you will find the fares are considerably cheaper and it’s so convenient as all places are well linked by the MRT)

We freshened up and treated ourselves to a much needed nap to recharge our batteries. Given how tired we were, we planned to take the day easy and slow. Just before sunset, AK went for a relaxing swim while I sat beside the pool, painting a waterfall from memory. Dinner was just down the street at this place where we opted for something very interesting.

It’s like a full meal where you can choose from various options as you can see in the following image. We opted for 1 meat, 1 fish, I veg…and it was delicious! 

A few observations…eating at a food court has to be the best option when in Singapore. The portions range from very decent to huge, the price is almost a ¼ of what the same item might cost in a restaurant, and, this is something I have observed in all my travels, the food loses a lot of its authentic flavor when prepared in restaurants. So, to really experience the gastronomic delights and flavors of any place just follow the locals to their favored haunts.

Day Two. October 15. Sentosa Island and China Town

Sunday, day two, saw us at Kopitiam, a very busy food court that's open 24/7. We sat a while having a filling breakfast of pork rice (again)

and a very popular hawker dessert known as Chendol. It’s a delicious mix of shaved ice, coconut milk, palm sugar syrup, some green worm-like noodles and sweetened red beans. It’s a taste one needs to get accustomed to, but to me it brought to mind a traditional Goan dessert made of coconut milk, palm sugar and mung beans. The only difference is that unlike Chendol, the Goan dessert is served piping hot. 

Chendol (Image sourced from wikipedia)

Hailing a cab, we then proceeded to Tower Two to take a cable car to Sentosa Island, a popular island resort in Singapore. It houses, among other things, the tallest statue of a Merlion. 

Since we were first time visitors having not much clue about what’s good and what’s not, I voted that we visit the S.E.A Aquarium that is home to more than a 100,000 marine creatures, each more fascinating than the other.

We saw sea-horses, sharks, dolphins and super beautiful jellyfish. The best thing about the Aquarium is that one can see around 800 different species of marine life in close to 49 different habitats. I’ve seen images of great aquariums around the world, but since this was my first time actually visiting one, I was fascinated. 

Exiting S.E.A Aquarium, we headed straight for lunch at one of the many restaurants at the Resort. The fare was, as stated earlier, overpriced and not quite as yummy, especially the Chendol; not as flavorful.

Post lunch, we explored a few of the other attractions and then took the Sentosa Express back to Harborfront Station from where we proceeded to explore China Town. Taking Exit A will get you straight out onto one of the most colorful and tourist-ridden streets of China Town.

The narrow street is lined on either side with little shops selling food and Chinese trinkets. This is a good place to buy souvenirs but it’s not a good place to eat. Food here, at best, is cooked well, but totally devoid of any flavor.

We had a rather long and tiring day, which was made even more tiring by the scorching heat of Singapore. It was back to the hotel and end of day two for us.

Day Three. October 16. Mustafa Market & Little India

All the travel and heat seems to have got to us, for we found ourselves waking up a little before noon. Wanting to make the most of what was left of the day, we walked fifteen minutes towards a place quite popular for shopping – Mustafa Centre. I’d imagined it would be a bustling street market with colourful stalls and all sorts of sound and smells…something like the market around the Charminar in Hyderabad, India. I was disappointed. Mustafa centre was large and bustling, but instead of street stalls, we found ourselves walking around a shopping centre that sold everything one might need – soaps, household articles, garments, sports goods, spices, jewelry…you name it, they have it! This place held no attraction for me for two reasons – I’m more of a street shopper and, I found the place to be quite claustrophobic.

Stepping out, we walked around towards was must have been Little India, judging by all the Diwali decorations and South-Indian/Bollywood music playing all along the street. 

Day Four. October 17. Universal Studios, Singapore.

Today we visited Universal Studios, Singapore. This is one of the most popular attractions on Sentosa Island. Unlike our last visit to the island resort, this time around we took the metro and in less than ¾ of an hour, we were standing at the ticket counter right outside Universal Studios. Now, tickets for adults are priced at 76S$, but for those who want to beat the queues, there’s the option of an Express pass for an additional 30S$ each. It makes sense going in for that on the weekends when the place sees huge crowds of people queuing up to get in. A relative who had been here some months ago claimed to have stood in queues for over an hour just to get on to any of the rides here. In fact, he adds that due to time constraints he was able to enjoy just a few of the many rides available here. That’s how crowded the place gets!

We chose to avoid the weekend and visited the Studio on a weekday. Trust me, there’s hardly any crowd on a weekday, and a regular ticket is good enough to let you explore all that the amusement park has to offer.

Walking through the New York section, we headed straight towards the Sci-fi section to get in line for the Transformers ride.

(Image sourced from the internet)

Now, this is said to be one of the best rides in the park and, it’s one that usually has the longest queues (my relative had to stand in line for an hour and a half before his turn came up). We, having gone on a weekday, had to face none of that. In less than a minute or two we were putting on our ‘battle glasses’ and all set to go. Yippeeee! The ride was truly an enjoyable experience and no sooner did we step out than we decided that we just had to do that again!

But first, how about trying the Battlestar Gallactica? That’s a rollercoaster. That’s one of the hottest attractions in this park. But I don’t like roller coasters. They scare the life out of me…especially the drops. On our last trip to Disneyland, while AK took a spin on the rollercoaster, I hopped onto a carousel and sat astride a happy goldfish that gently bobbed about in time to the music. 

(image sourced from the internet)

This time, at the very last moment, I decided to go against common sense and try the Battlestar Gallactica. Everyone else around me had fun, but I had my eyes squeezed shut and was screaming my head off. By the time it got to the first drop, I was in tears. I hate roller coasters and this one terrified me.

 Feeling absolutely weepy and relieved to have gotten off the ride, I headed towards the next attraction in the Ancient Egypt section, the Mummy Ride. This is an indoor roller coaster, so I waited outside while AK entered the pyramid. I liked the Egypt section with its realistic pyramid and gigantic statues of Anubis guarding the place at various entries and exits and clicked a few snaps to take home and show the students of my History class. Once AK stepped out we walked by Jurassic Park (that opens only at 11am) and entered Far Far Away, complete with a castle and all. 

As you might have guessed, this section of the park is dedicated to all things Shrek, the lovable green ogre and his annoying, talking donkey. Entering the castle, we enjoyed an amusing 4D feature presentation before going back to Jurassic Park (it was now a few minutes past eleven) and enjoyed a canopy ride over the prehistoric forest. That done, we sat down for a nice lunch of chilli-crab hotdogs before moving on to Waterworld, a superb show that begins only at noon.

It’s based on the movie Waterworld and the entire set has been designed exactly as is seen in the movie. Do be sure to sit somewhere in the first few rows if you want to enjoy the show that involves a lot of action, pyrotechnics, loud sounds and a good dousing with cold water. The crew, dressed to fit the role, interact with the audience, eliciting a couple of laughs and, every once in a while, spraying them with water. It is Waterworld, so get ready to get soaked. Once the show began, we were totally captivated by the performances and the many stunts. Do ensure you don’t miss this experience, folks! Truly awesome! (clap clap clap)

Next, we were faced with a choice between watching a dance by Puss-in-boots and listening to Donkey prattle on. We chose the latter. It’s an animated show along the lines of a stand-up comedy but it’s interesting how Donkey interacts with the audience, especially the little kids. If you’ve got children with you, you’ll want to get them here.

From Far Far Away we moved on to Madagascar where we enjoyed a leisurely crate-ride while revisiting the antics of Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria and the super cute King Julian.

Having gone through almost all of the rides already, it was time to have another go at the Transformers after which I did buckle myself into the rollercoaster inside the Pyramid of Ancient Egypt. I’m glad I did that…I mean, I still did not enjoy the drops, but I loved the many displays which included howling mummies, scarabs and zombies chanting, ‘Imhotep. Imhotep” 

(image sourced from the internet)

We then rushed for a final encounter with the Transformers followed a superbly executed experience of a category 5 hurricane at Steven Spielberg’s studio. Whatever you do, don’t miss this.

After sitting a while on the pavement, watching the street performances by three pretty diner girls, we took the Sentosa Express off the island and made our way to Bugis, an excellent place to indulge in some shopping for apparel. There’s a lot to suit different needs here, fancy malls with really good discounts as well as very affordable street shopping. I picked up two outfits for myself before walking back to Lavender and our hotel for a much needed rest. Dinner was at a food court around the corner.

Day five. October 18. We ramble around and leave for Kolkata.

Check-out isn’t until noon, so we slept-in, packed our stuff and, leaving it safely at reception, we headed towards the Merlion Park. But, before that, we stopped for breakfast at one of the popular Toast Box outlets that are scattered all across Singapore. It’s a very pretty café, all in white and has an extremely cozy and homey feel to it.

Most people order the kaya toast or kaya sandwich that is served with a side of two half-boiled eggs and a cup of Kopi (coffee).

 To get to Merlion Park, we took the MRT to Raffles Place.

This place reminds me a lot of my visit to London and my walk along the Thames. I like it here.

Merlion park is just across the street and it’s fairly packed with tourists.

This Merlion is rather smaller than we expected, but it’s pretty impressive. This is a good place to grab a coffee or lunch while you sit enjoying the impressive sights across the river. 

Soon, it was time for us to head back to collect our bags from the hotel, enjoy our last lunch at the food court and make our way back to Changi Airport.

If you have time to spare before boarding, grab a bite at the food court already as the boarding gates are located at quite a distance away from this point and there are absolutely no snack/coffee shops near the boarding gates.

Once again, we boarded an Air Asia flight to Bangkok from where we had a connecting flight to Kolkata. As before, the flight was most uncomfortable and horribly cramped. The Air Asia staff, ground staff, flight attendants and pilots, all speak in English, but there’s not a word of what they’re saying that you can follow. It sounds more Chinese than English. Given the fact that Air Asia flies international, one would expect them to be more than..well…whatever it was they were at the moment. The officials scanning the baggage at Bangkok were fast asleep and the boarding process airport was also an absolute mess. The one thing we must admit, however, is that the pilots land the planes beautifully. You hardly feel a bump when you touch down. Really commendable!

But let me leave aside the horrid air-travel experience and look back on the first leg of the vacation. It was lovely! Here’s what I liked best….

….the food

….the cleanliness of the place and how well organized everything is.

….the food

….the pretty shift dresses the women wear

….Universal Studios

….and, of course, the food!

Pics’ by Misha & Akshay.