Futuristic vibes, impressive green spaces, ultra modern architecture. Singapore is certainly an incredible place! It felt like we had been transported into the future. Known for its low crime rate, discipline, and cleanliness, Singapore also has some interesting laws. Before I kick off the blog, here are my top 3 bizarre laws:
Do any of the following and you could end up in trouble…
- 1. Getting caught in your birthday suit in your own home!
- 2. Failure to flush a public toilet after use!
- 3. There is also a ban on chewing gum (though since 2004 there has been an exception for nicotine/dental gum).
We started our visit here enjoying delicious gin-based Singapore Sling’s with views of the cutting edge, Marina Bay Sands Hotel; the most iconic hotel in Singapore.
We were staying here for a few days with our friend Lucas (who we met on the Sri Lanka Rickshaw Run) and his adorable, mischievous dog, Charlie. Just look at that face!
Merlion Park
The famous Merlion statue located in Marina Bay serves as a reminder of Singapore’s fishing village history. This mythical creature with the head of a lion and body of a fish has become the official mascot and national personification of Singapore. The statue’s head represents the city’s original name – Singapura (lion city in Sanskrit).
Gardens By The Bay – Supertree Grove
Gardens by the Bay is the number one attraction on Trip Advisor’s ‘Things To Do’ in Singapore, and it’s easy to see why. The place contains cutting edge architecture and impressive nature with a vision of sustainability. The famous super trees here have become a well recognised symbol of Singapore.
The super trees are designed to contribute to environmental sustainability and help to reduce global warming. The man-made mechicanal forest consists of 18 “trees” that act as vertical gardens – they collect rainwater, generate solar power, and provide air ducting vents for nearby conservatories.
Pop along any evening at 7.45pm or 8.45pm to see their wonderful light and music show. The show is completely powered by the super trees own solar energy that is captured during the day. It’s free to walk around and watch from the ground, but you do have to pay if you want to walk around the top walkway.
Marina Bay Sands – CÉ LA VI
For arguably the best views in Singapore, we recommend you visit the rooftop bar CÉ LA VI on top of the famous Marina Bay Sands (MBS) Hotel.
There is also a huge infinity swimming pool on the rooftop, though unfortunately only hotel guests are allowed. It’s Singapore’s coldest swimming pool!
Top Tip: Don’t pay to visit the observatory deck at MBS ($20 SGD = £11.20). A drink at the rooftop bar is the same price and is a floor higher, so the views are even better! You will need to book a table in advance though.
I highly recommend you try the ‘summer love’ cocktail – peach, thyme, gin, prosecco, pisco… absolutely gorgeous!
Gardens By The Bay – Cloud Forest
The Cloud Forest is a stunning man-made biome full of lush vegetation from the highlands around the world. The temperature inside is very cooling and refreshing with a gorgeous fragrant smell of nature. It is a great example of a garden of the future!
It cost us $40 SGD (£22.65) for two people. We suggest spending at least an hour or two here – as there is so much to see. We definitely didn’t allow enough time as we didn’t realise there would be so much inside.
As soon as you enter, you are greeted by the stunning 35m mountain and misty waterfall at the entrance. One of the tallest indoor waterfalls in the world.
They also had a very impressive orchard display, which was my highlight.
The shopping malls here in Singapore are insane. Shiny, spotless, luxury mega malls. Ranging from hi-tech gadgets to designer stores. The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands even has a Venetian style indoor canal with faux-antique sampan boats sailing through! We couldn’t believe our eyes.
It won’t come as a surprise to you that Singapore has plenty of delicious culinary options. We tried hot pot for the first time here at Haidilao. Here you choose four broths along with various raw ingredients (e.g. meats, seafood, noodles, veggies), which you then cook yourself in one of the boiling broths in the centre of the table.
Since moving to Singapore 3 years ago, Lucas has visited here a whopping 37 times! Resulting in a ‘premium member’ wooden crown placed on our table. It was a fun, and delicious experience! Of course the broth never gets cold, so you can spend as much time socialising and eating as you want.
My favourite thing here was actually the dipping sauce making section. Similar to a buffet style, you choose your ingredients to make your own perfect dipping sauce. Though they do have recipes there if you wish to follow one.
Options included soy sauce, chilli, toasted sesame seeds, crushed garlic, fresh herbs, spring onions, crushed peanuts, onion flakes, various oils. There was so much deliciousness to choose from it was overwhelming.
They even have cute robots waiters here which carry the food out to the tables and also return the used plates back to the kitchen. Very impressive!
Lucas very kindly took us to his favourite eatery, the famous Long Beach Seafood Restaurant to treat us to Singapore’s most iconic dish, the chilli crab. It originated in the 1960s – tender, meaty crab served in a rich, thick, sweet, tomato-based chilli sauce served with super soft, golden manitou buns, mmmm. You can’t visit Singapore and not try this national dish. It isn’t cheap though…
We also tried their pepper crab (pictured below) – which was just as yummy!
Other super yummy places we tried also included Aburiya Restaurant, for their cook-it-yourself wagyu beef. Another one of Lucas’ favourite restaurants. We sampled the tokusen wagyu karubi, sirlion, jo karubi, and sukiyaki. Super juicy, tender flavourful slices of the best meat we’ve ever had! It was good value for money too – so we definitely recommend.
We had an incredible and indulgent few days here and were sad to wave goodbye to Singapore. Of course our daily travel budget was totally blown out the water here. Looks like it’s back to Malaysia’s hawker street food for now… what a shame!
Leon and Amy’s Big Adventures 