The last country we visited before COVID-19 was Singapore, at the end of a trip to UK, Europe and Scandinavia. I had only ever had Singapore as a visit to break up a trip, but this time it was just a trip to Singapore for a week. We were still a bit weary of travelling and getting on a plane for overseas for a number of hours, so Singapore was an ideal country to visit – an 8 hour flight so not too far; people will be very compliant with mask wearing; and they are super prepared with dealing with COVID-19 and other viruses if anything did happen while we were there. There were a number of things you had to do and complete regarding vaccinations and health before leaving, and while non-vaccinated travellers can now go to Singapore, if you are vaccinated you no longer have to test for COVID and isolate if you have no symptoms.
I recently joined Kris Flyer and we made the decision to go on a bit of a whim when I received an email about flight deals with Singapore Airlines. There were flights for $500 return from Melbourne, so I said to my husband why don’t we go?! So I booked the flights then and there! We decided to go for 6 night – just enough time to get away and have a nice break and go somewhere warm during a cold Melbourne winter.
I’ve talked about my love of Singapore before. Some people say oh Singapore is a bit sanitised and we had a few comments like this when we said we were going just for a trip there. But it’s a wonderful place to visit. The food is amazing everywhere you go, it’s warm, the museums and galleries are great, the Botanic Gardens are stunning, and if you get out and about there is so much to see and love.
We left Melbourne on Saturday 23 July at around 10.30am – there were of course delays at Melbourne airport. I looked for flights travelling during the days so we could arrive not feeling too tired and have enough time to do something when we arrived. The international terminal at Melbourne Airport was busy, busy! A lot of people seemed to eb taking advantage of the cheap flights and then going on to elsewhere – this was confirmed by the limited people waiting or bags when we got to Singapore. The flight crew were very vigilant with getting people to wear their masks – over their nose – during the flight which was very reassuring.
The flight arrived in Singapore just before 4.30pm and we had prepared ourselves for delays in getting through customs and collecting bags given what was happening at Australian airports. However, we were off the plane, through customs, had our bags and were in a taxi by 5pm. Even considering the small number of people staying in Singapore, this was incredibly fast and efficient.
We have stayed in different locations for stays in Singapore, so this time I decided to go for a big, lovely Asian hotel with a big pool – the Shangri-La Singapore. We had stayed at the Shangri-La in Bangkok but not in Singapore. It’s location is close to Orchard Road and not too far from the Botanic Gardens. Not real close to an MRT station, but an OK walking distance to Orchard MRT.
We arrived at the hotel just before 5pm, checked in to our lovely room in the Garden Wing with a balcony looking put over the pool and gardens, and headed straight down to the pool for a swim. Being Singapore, it is always warm to hot and it was so nice to feel warm enough to cool down with swim. For dinner that night I had booked one of the restaurants at the hotel as I thought we’d be tired – which we were after an early start this morning – and we could just relax, have some yummy Singaporean food and enjoy a glass of wine or beer and then head back to the room to crash. We had dinner at the Lobby Lounge which is at it says in the lobby area of the hotel and specialises in Peranakan and Nonya dishes. We had a delicious tamarind fish dish, a Nonya curry and fresh vegetable spring rolls.
We had nothing planned for the Sunday, so decided to head down to Orchard Road. We weren’t able to get a breakfast booking until the 10am sitting – due to COVID-19 and controlling numbers, you now had to book for the breakfast buffet venue The Line. So we got croissants at the Shophouse and sat out on our balcony with a cup of tea and started the day slowly – it was agreed, this was the life. After a swim then a late breakfast, we walked down to Orchard Road – an easy not quite 10 minute walk. A quick comment on Singapore buffet breakfasts – are they the best, I think so!
My husband always head straight to the largest book store in South-East Asia Kinokuniya and I leave him there for a couple of hours while I wander. I actually don’t do much shopping in Singapore, even though being a small person most of the sizes actually fit me. Many of the shops along Orchard Road are in the realm of Chanel, Gucci etc but there are some very nice little local shops, fantastic food halls and other interesting shops, so it’s nice to wander. For lunch we went to another regular Singapore stop at Din Tai Fung. We thought after a late lunch we wouldn’t want lunch, but it must be something with the heat that you sweat it out. I always marvel at how much the Singaporeans eat and don’t put on weight, so it has to be something with the heat and walking!
We walked back to the hotel and had an afternoon swim. This became our daily ritual for the whole trip – a morning and afternoon swim. We also spent most afternoons sitting out on our balcony for afternoon tea.
Tonight for dinner we went to Newton Food Centre one of the many fantastic hawker food markets in Singapore. We chose one stall and had crispy baby squid, sambal kangkong (water spinach) and grilled tiger prawns, along with the gigantic Tiger Beers sold at the hawker markets. There literally isn’t anything better than sitting outside on a balmy Singapore evening eating spicy food with a cold beer. It was such a nice evening that we walked the 30 minutes or so back to the hotel.
On the Monday we decided to visit the Singapore National Gallery. We went to one of the restaurants there – Violet Oon – on our last visit and thought we must come back and see the actual gallery. It’s housed in a colonial building plus the old law courts and it’s been quite spectacularly accommodated as a gallery. We looked at the galleries focusing on South-East Asian art and went to have lunch at one of the gallery cafes The Great Mischief. It was probably our only semi-disappointing eating experiences in Singapore. Our order wasn’t sent through properly and everything we said we’d have the didn’t have, but really it’s a first world problem! After the gallery we decided to look for somewhere for tea and cake and went into the interesting and great little shopping mall Funan. It was based on sustainability, tech and pop-up shops, and had some great little eating places. It reminded us a lot of a mall in Berlin so maybe they saw that or Berlin had seen this. We had lovely tea and cake and caught the MRT back to Orchard Road.
Tonight for dinner we went a bit fancy at Atlas. I look to book at least one slightly more fancy dining experiences when we go away, and chose Atlas because of where it was housed and because it wasn’t quite as expensive as some of the restaurants in Singapore. Singapore has many Michelin Star and 100 Best Restaurants, but they are very pricey. Atlas is in Parkview Square which is inspired by the art deco skyscrapers in New York and Europe. Atlas is located right in the centre of the lobby and it is absolutely spectacular, with a massive gin tower taking centre stage in the restaurant. The food is Eurocentric and it was superb. It was a great dining experience for the atmosphere, service, food and massive list of gin cocktails. A truly memorable dining experience!
On Tuesday after our morning ritual of breakfast and a swim, we set-off for the Botanic Gardens. We decided to walk as it wasn’t too far from our hotel, but we got slightly lost and took 30 minutes rather than 15 minutes to eventually get there. It was interesting though walking through this area with some massive, very exclusive houses and not even begin able to imagine how much they would cost!
We have been to the Botanic Gardens once before and it is definitely one of my favourite places in Singapore. The Gardens are stunning, lush and peaceful. We even got to see two Monitor Lizards. We had been to the orchid garden on our previous visit, so didn’t go this time and choose to walk around some of the other parts of these beautiful Gardens. There are a number of restaurants and cafes within the Gardens and I had made a booking to have lunch at The Halia which is set in the ginger garden. It was a gorgeous setting and the food very nice.
We walked back to the hotel – getting slightly lost again – and were ready for an afternoon swim and some time by the pool by the time we got there.
Late in the afternoon we went for another wander down to Orchard Road – another must needed visit to Kinokuniya. We had dinner at a branch of Violet Oon located in the ION Ocrhard mall. We had been to Violet Oon in the National Gallery on our last visit and hoped we could get into the restaurant at ION without a booking, which fortunately we could. I think a Violet Oon restaurant will become a regular stop whenever we are in Sinagpore. The food is superb and service excellent. This branch was located on one of the floors of the mall in the midst of shops and could accommodate quite a lot of people. They take bookings but note they also work to accommodate walk-ins. My husband declared the cod fish with creamy laksa sauce and coriander pesto as the best fish dish ever.
Wednesday was the only day we spent lazing around the hotel. It started with a late buffet breakfast and a magnificent back, neck and shoulder massage at Chi Spa at the hotel. We spent the day by the pool – ion the shade of course – swimming, reading, chatting to a lovely family from England and was the only day we had the obligatory club sandwich and fires by the pool.
Our main outing today was a food tour with SingaBites to do the Sunset Street Eats of Katong. This area is a Peranakan enclave and a local Eastern suburb. It was away from the tourist and central area of Singapore and if we hadn’t done the tour we wouldn’t know how to get here and what to see. We caught a taxi to the meeting point as no MRT comes to Katong and the main mode of transport to get here is the bus. We must try and master the public buses to Singapore on a future visit. We met our guide Kathy and it was just the tow of use plus Kathy so we got a very personalised tour. Our first eating spot was a famous chicken rice spot where we di probably have the best chicken rice we have had in Singapore. We then went on a walk through the streets of the neighbourhood with Kathy providing a history of the area, including the housing.
The next eating stop was for paratha roti and ginger tea/chai – delicious. More walking along to the Hindu temple, which was unfortunately closed but still wonderful toss this in the midst of a suburban area. After a bit more walking we stopped for laksa at 328 Katong Laksa and heard all about the Katong laksa wars. The laksa was amazing – spicey with rich flavours from the seafood soup. Our last stop was at a maintained Peranakan shop house which also served as a museum. The upstairs interiors and furnishings had been beautifully kept. We also took away desserts with us for later – there was no more room for anything substantial.
We stayed on after the tour and had a short wander around and a glass of wine and a beer at one of the many bars in the area. The area is becoming very popular and with that has come gentrification. We finished with an ice-cream at a relatively new ice-cream shop with interesting flavours and then taxied back to the hotel. We will definitely come back to Katong next time in Singapore to explore a really lovely area.
Thursday was our last full day in Singapore. We had the usual leisurely start with breakfast and a swim. Something I have read and discovered more about is the significant number of World War II sites in Singapore, which isn’t surprising at all given it’s strategic significance during the war and the history of Japanese occupation during the war. One of the main central sites which we have never got around to seeing is the Battle Box in Fort Canning Park but it’s is only open Friday-Sunday so we missed seeing it again. We thought we should see one of the other sites and reading up on the different sites went to the Former Ford Factory which is where the Japanese established their headquarters in Singapore and where the British formally surrendered Singapore to Japan. We caught a taxi as it’s in an outer Western suburb past the Botanic Gardens. The taxi driver had never heard of it or been there and we were tow of only three people in the museum.
The building itself is an amazing Art Deco building with three huge vertical green glass windows. The museum had a number of rooms of excellent displays and information about the fall of Singapore and how it fit within the timeline and events of World War II. There was also accounts of the treatment of the Singapore people by Japan, a story which isn’t well known.
The other person there turned out to be an Australian from Albury who was there for horse racing, so we caught a taxi back to Orchard Road with him. We made our way up Orchard Road and had lunch in the food hall of Paragon at a place making Singaporean classics called Colonial Club Signatures – we had fantastic char kuey teow and a fried rice dish called sambal buah keluak which is a black fried rice with a nut paste and greens and it was delicious.
After an afternoon swimming and relaxing we went out for a treat on our last night to Raffles Hotel. We lined up with the other tourists to go to The Long Bar and yes had a Singapore Sling, and then had dinner at Raffles Courtyard a casual bar and eats in a courtyards of the hotel. Raffles is expensive but it has been absolutely beautifully renovated in the last couple of years and it is just stunning. Sitting there on a humid evening with yes a glass of wine and having some yummy food – it was once the life. We watched the unsmiling family with a wife, husband and two teenage girls sit there the whole time on the mobiles and said why don’t; they look up and see how lucky they are to be experiencing an evening like this in a beautiful place like this.
On Friday we had an early 6.30am breakfast so got to experience the AMAZING breakfast buffet one last time and then taxied out to Changi Airport. I didn’t really want to leave but all good things must come to an end. We were going to check out the Jewel – the big, bright shopping mall at the airport but instead just went through immigration walked around the shops within Terminal 3 which are still pretty good.
The flight left on time at around 11am and the flight back to Australia is about 6 and a half hours, so slightly shorter than going over. The level of mask wearing compliance on this flight wasn’t anywhere near as good as heading over. There were so many people with masks below nose, on chins or not at all. It really is a very small thing to wear a mask even for several hours. You get to take it off to eat and drink and after that it’s not that much time. It’s just frustrating that people haven’t learned even with the true privilege of being able to travel enabled because of such measures.
We arrived at just after 8.30pm into a slightly chaotic – unfortunately as expected – Melbourne airport. Three flights had arrived so there were people everywhere. A number of the passport kiosks weren’t working or stopped working and no staff were there to assist. I did go and talk to some immigration staff to say look your kiosks aren’t working and nobody is helping, as the lines got longer. There really wasn’t any interest in helping. We went down and found kiosks closer to the gate which worked and then got through fairly quickly. Again however the staff there were reluctant to help anyone and speaking to people with limited English in a not very respectful way. The next thing was the luggage carousels. Two Singapore Airlines flights had arrived close together which obviously caused confusion as people started to realise luggage was coming through for different flight on both carousels. While its a first world problem, it was bit of a rude awakening after the efficiency and assistance at Singapore airport and doesn’t do our reputation much good.
The trip to Singapore had been just wonderful. It’s a place I keep going back to and hopefully will more times. I love the weather, sites, people, gorgeous accommodation and of course the amazing food. It’s a great place to visit.
