Such a wonderful and clean city! All of the sidewalks and pedestrian paths were pristine. The city was full of well kept gardens and many skyscrapers even had garden levels. There were shopping malls on every corner. We found excellent food at great prices (hawkers are the best). And it’s quite the melting pot with all different types of people. The culture seems to be a mixture of Malay, Indian, Chinese and even westerners with English being the main language.

Here are a few things we experienced during our 2 night stay in the city:

5footway.inn Hostel

5footway.inn Project Boat Quay
A dormitory style hostel with bunk beds and large shared bathrooms. The walls in the common areas and in the rooms were decorated with paintings and photographs from local artist which gave it a more upscale feel. The location was perfect allowing sites to be seen after an easy walk (we actually never took public transit in this city). The best part of the hostel was the terrace overlooking Singapore River.

Gold Food Thai

Gold Food Thai
This restaurant did not look like much, but it was packed which is always a good sign. The servers actually had to bring out additional tables and chairs to accommodate us and another party. We ordered three dishes to share: pineapple rice, a seafood rice, and sweet & sour chicken. All three were excellent although I’m still not sure what type of seafood we were enjoying. We ordered three dishes because the prices were so low we assumed they were intended to be small plates. We were wrong – the portions were huge – and had lunch the next day from all the leftovers. It was a bit interesting that requesting to-go boxes was lost in translation but once accomplished we had three small bags of food to take to the hostel.

Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay & Flower Dome
Beautiful garden adjacent to the famous Marina Bay Sands Tower. The grounds were full of lush trees and plants making it a nice escape from the city (and the sun!). There were many paths with overhead vine coverings. It was a neat effect, but all the manmade structures used to perfectly manicure the grounds gave it an overdone feel.

Flower Dome

We also toured the Flower Dome for a reasonable fee. It’s an indoor garden where the atmosphere is kept constant to match Mediterranean climates. The gardens were full of plants and flowers from South Africa, Chile, California, parts of Australia and the Mediterranean basin. One large section was devoted to succulents and it was neat to see and learn about the variations among the regions. They also have a rotating themed floral display which was celebrating the Chinese new year, the year of the goat. There were many Chinese decorations and floral structures of goats and Chinese zodiacs.

Makansutra Gluttons Bay
While researching affordable food options near the scenic Marina Bay, we discovered this hawker right next to the bay. We read that although it was a new eatery, it embraced the classic hawkers by having an outdoor venue. Additionally, they brought in some of the best known food stalls to this one area. We started off with a dish from Alhambra Padang Satay that was a bowl of vegetables, potatoes, rice chips and chicken satay in a peanut sauce – it was amazing. Then we tried the sambas stingray from Redhill Rong Guang BBQ Seafood which was excellent but a bit spicy for our taste. We finished off with coconut water straight from the coconut to cool the palate.

Chinatown
I’m beginning to feel like every city has a Chinatown. We walked down a few streets lined with vendors selling souvenirs and electronics (and got Will an “I heart SG” shirt). We took a break and enjoyed some wonderful ice jelly from An Ji Xiang Hua based on a recommendation from the hostel. It was essentially a cross between ice cream and an Italian ice. It was light and flavorful. We picked lychee flavored which came with 2 fresh fruits and some gummy pearls – yum! We also ordered carrot cake which was nothing like cake and didn’t have any carrot but Will liked it after adding chili sauce (he thought it tasted like sesame tofu).

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple
We walked through the incense lined entrance to find practicing Buddhists chanting amongst thousands of Buddha statues lining the wall. It was beautiful. The 4th floor of the temple displayed the Buddha tooth relic in a room full of gold (including the floor tiles). The guides said that it contained almost 1,000 lbs of gold – most of it donated by devotees. The temple also contained a museum with artifacts and information about the religion. The roof  was complete with a garden and a prayer wheel.

Fort Canning Park

Fort Canning Park
This park is located on a small hill in the middle of the city. It was wonderful to stroll through well manicured paths and lots of greenery. Sporadically throughout the park were information signs telling the history of the hill. It was originally called Forbidden Hill by the Malays because it contained a kingdom of their ancient rulers which they were forbidden from entering. That kingdom hadn’t existed in a thousand years but the Malays still didn’t go near the hill. Once settled in the early 1900’s, Singapore used the hill for military needs. It was again transformed into the park it is today. There were some huge trees which supported the area’s heritage and provided a nice break from the city.

click here to see the full gallery from Singapore

Next stop: Penang, Malaysia