Sunshine, Slings and Singapore!

Only have three days to cover Singapore’s highlights? No problem!

Day 1: Singapore

Stay at the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach or the Conrad Centennial Singapore: The JW Marriott and the Conrad are about as close as you can get to a number of Singapore’s big attractions (Singapore flyer, the Marina promenade, Gardens by the Bay, etc). Everything was an easy walk.

Lunch at the Maxwell Food Center: One of my favorite things about Singapore was the variety of food and the hawker center culture. Hawkers are open-air food courts, which feature stalls specializing in dishes like laksa, chicken rice, and satay. The centers are lively and vibrant and offer the chance to sample lots of different cuisine from around Southeast Asia. Maxwell Food Center is home to some of Singapore’s best hawker stalls. It’s lauded by both locals and tourists as THE hawker center to go to if you want a true Singaporean experience. 

Being the type-A traveler that I am, I knew I wanted to go in with a game plan of the best stalls to try. Please benefit from my hours of researching the best of the best hawker stalls below.

• Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake (Stall #01-05): fried cake of cilantro, minced meat, fresh prawns and oysters

• Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (Stall #10-11): Hainanese chicken rice is a popular dish that originated from the Hainanese community in China. Hot rice and cool poached chicken are eaten together with spicy chili sauce, dark soy sauce, and minced ginger. Tian Tian is one of the most famous spots in Singapore to get it 

• Ah-Tai Hainanese Chicken Rice (Stall #01-07): A few stalls down from Tian Tian is rival Ah-Hai, which was started by a disgruntled member of the family that runs Tian Tian. I personally liked Tian Tian’s version a little more but it was fun to compare both (and fuel the customer war between the two)

• Special Shanghai Tim Sum (Stall #92): Known for their steamed and fried dumplings. We got meat and chive fried dumplings, and they were mouthwatering.

• Jin Hua Sliced Fish Bee Hoon (Stall #77): Fish Bee Hoon is a popular soup that features fried fish served with vermicelli rice noodles in a flavorful broth. This stall has been serving for over 20 years

• China Street Hum Jin Pang (Stall #28): Famous for their fried dough fritters in two variations, five spice salt and sweet red bean

Take a self-guided tour of Chinatown: If you need to get some steps in after gorging at Maxwell Food Center, a stroll around Chinatown is a great way to do it. Swing by the Thian Hock Keng Temple (the oldest and most important temple of Singapore’s Hokkien community), the Sri Mariamman Temple (Singapore’s oldest Hindu temple), and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (Buddhist temple and museum).

Dinner at the Coconut Club: A yummy spot to experience Singaporean cuisine with an emphasis on coconut! Order the Nasi Lemak for a taste of Coconut Club’s famous coconut rice, 12-hour marinated chicken, beans, and fresh cukes!

Catch Spectra at the Marina Bay Sands: Spectra is a free nightly outdoor 15-minute light and water show displayed over the water at the Marina Bay Sands’ Event Plaza. It’s a fun combination of water jets, colorful visuals, lasers, mist effects, and music.

Stroll along the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade: The promenade is a beautiful part of the city, and, in my opinion, it’s even better at night because the buildings and bridges are illuminated in bright colors.

Day 2: Singapore

Take a ride of the Singapore flyer: Unfortunately, Singapore’s famous observation wheel was closed due to COVID when we were there, and it’s one of the activities we wish we had gotten the chance to do! Make sure to get tickets in advance because the lines can be quite long.

Chijmes: Disclaimer, I am a Crazy Rich Asians fan and seeing the location of ~that~ wedding was a must-do! Chijmes is a historic complex in Singapore that was formerly a Catholic convent but has been transformed into a function hall / wedding venue along with several other restaurants, bars, and cafes. Unfortunately, there was a wedding happening while we were there, so we couldn’t go inside.

Lunch at Tiong Bahru Food Centre: Another day, another hawker center! This time we went a little more west to Tiong Bahru

• Jian Bo Shui Kueh (Stall #02-05): Known for its chwee keuh, a steamed rice cake with preserved radish and chili. According to the owner, the mark of a good chwee kueh is one where the steamed cake does not stick to your teeth.

• Tiong Bahru Fried Kway Teow (Stall #02-11): Tiong Bahru Fried Kway Teow specializes in one dish only: Fried Kway Teow, which is a noodle dish that includes fish cake, lupcheong (Chinese sausage), beansprouts, cockles, and eggs. SO good.

• Lor Mee 178 (Stall #02-23): Lor Mee 178 is unique because while it serves the traditional lor mee (flat yellow noodles served in a thick, sticky gravy made from eggs, cornstarch, and various spices), they also offer an addition option of deep-fried shark fritters!

• Zhong Yu Yuan Wei Wanton Noodles (Stall #02-30): Known for its wanton noodles with char siew, or the pig’s armpit! We learned a pig’s armpit is is the most flavorful part because its marbled and tender. The char siew was well-marinated and had the perfect light char.

• Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee (Stall #02-01): The key to an excellent plate of mee is the prawn broth and Hong Heng Fried Sotong Prawn Mee absolutely nails this.

Take a walking tour of Little India: Little India is centered around Serangoon Road and showcases Singapore’s Indian community and culture. I found this walking tour of the area offered a lot of great history and cultural knowledge about the area.

…And we were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner this day (*boo *hiss).

Day 3: Singapore

Jog through Singapore Botanic Gardens: The Botanic Gardens are a great place to go on a short run in the morning before the crowds start. I found this route on Strava, which was short but so peaceful. The gardens are also great to visit during the day (not running) and are free to the public, with the exception of the National Orchid Garden.

Visit Gardens by the Bay: In my mind, one of the highlights you can’t miss in Singapore are the Gardens by the Bay. Featuring over 1 million plants from 19,000 species, Gardens by the Bay showcase the best of global horticulture. There are multiple exhibits on the complex that I wouldn’t miss!

• The Cloud Forest: Home to one of the world’s tallest indoor waterfalls and mountain covered with plants from around the world
• The Flower Dome: My personal favorite! The Flower Dome holds the Guinness World Record for the largest glass greenhouse and different flowers are constantly blooming! Check out what’s currently in bloom here.
• Supertree Observatory: It has the best bird’s eye view of the Gardens and, if you time your visit right, you’ll get to see the light show at 7:45 PM and 8:45 PM every day

Take a Bumboat Ride: During Singapore’s colonial era, wooden bumboats (also known as tongkang or sea-going barge), were used to transport goods along the Rochor, Kallang and Singapore rivers. Today, they’re a fun tourist attraction. The entire ride is about 40 minutes and you can purchase tickets at the Clarke Quay Jetty River Cruise ticketing counter.

Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel: No trip to Singapore is complete without a trip to the iconic Raffles Hotel, which is the birthplace of one of my favorite cocktails of all time, the Singapore Sling. Brace yourself: you will pay $30 USD per Sling here BUT they pack a punch (see my evolution from #1 to #2). Despite the prices, the atmosphere is very relaxed and patrons are invited to toss shells from complimentary peanuts on the floor – quite possibly the only place in Singapore where littering is actually encouraged.

Dinner at Odette: We ate the majority of our meals in the hawkers (because the food was just too good), but our last night in town called for a splurge. Odette is located inside Singapore’s National Gallery. At the time (2020), Odette was #1 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurant List and Singapore’s shining star. It absolutely lived up to the hype. Among my favorite dishes was the “pigeon beak to tail.” Although I was a little unsure about the heart (pic below), it was amazing. Other standouts were the heirloom beetroot variation and the wild Atlantic turbot.

Day 4: Off to Thailand!