Almost 6 months had passed since we put on the backpacks and explored new lands! Being back at work as a full time travel agent, this was the longest period of time that I had stayed put and not left the homeland which is kind of a hard feet to complete when I am forced with the day-to-day explanations and enthusiasm of my travels.
Finally the day had come. We had worked too hard and needed a break from our busy 9-5 jobs. I scored us some amazingly priced air tickets and Asia it was! We didn't really have the time to plan this trip too much and at the beginnings we booked return fares to Borneo. This quickly changed when we soon discovered the beaches of Borneo were not really beaches more of a swampy lagoon, and after spending a lot of the past months in a wintery daze we made a group decision that we needed some much deserved sun, sand and relaxation... Borneo was not the place we wanted right now!
We left a crisp, cool August morning, boarded the plane and destination number 1 was Singapore! I had been to Singapore in the past for a few days but was so excited to re-discover this tiny country with Naomi and I had heard so much 'cool' was happening here!
We landed late and decided to get straight to bed as we only had 24 hours here! We noticed the efficiency and cleanliness of this city. The pre-conceived notion of this city being a boring Asian destination due to the freedom to spit or chew gum was disregarded instantly.
We woke with a plan, a map and 24 hours to get a taste.
0800 - 1000
We started in search of some true Asian style breakfast and had read about the supposedly 'best' dumplings in Singapore and after a humid, sweaty walk across town we were faced with the disappointment of an empty shop facade! I guess not the best dumplings in town! We were in Arab street. The street and neighbourhood was named this as it is where the Arabs settled in the trading days. We asked a local trader where to settle our rumbling stomachs with a true Singaporean dish for breakfast and we were sent in the direction of the 'Prawn noodle shop'. This was just what we needed a hot, flavoursome broth with egg noodles, prawns and pork ribs, a great start to the day! All for 3.20AUD!
1000 – 1200
Tummy's full and satisfied we ventured to the MINT (Moment of Imagination and Nostalgia with Toys) Museum of Toys. This 5 story museum houses Asia's largest collection of vintage toys and other childhood wonders, some dating back as far as the 19th century. This amazing, small private collection truly brought out the child in each of us. Reminiscing about our childhood favourites and many that re-entered our minds. Upon exiting the museum we were faced with the famous 'ohh la la' hotel, Raffles where my sister Renee was proposed to. We ventured inside with the thought of a sneak peak and a famous singapore sling but when faced with the menu and a $40AUD cocktail we hurriedly escaped!
1200-1400
Time for lunch! On the way to a bite to eat we stumbled upon a shopping mall and a kooky little gift shop called Cat Socrates full of Vintage remake toys, beautiful notebooks, unusual books and magazines and other lovely and irresistible trinkets abound in this store and café. We boarded the efficient subway and headed south to Lau Pa Sat, The clock tower and decorative ironwork of Singapore’s first market (now a hawker food haven) which dates back to the Victorian era. Upon entering and hurriedly avoiding the pitter patter of raindrops we were faced with an endless choice of Asian delights! After a quick 360 degrees view and tempted by almost everything we decided on a few small tastes! Succulent Peking duck, Herbal Black Chicken soup (Which tasted like chicken flavoured brew of Chinese herbs!) I knew this was somewhat good for me BUT not so tasty – let's say we were very intrigued! And to finish we lashed out $5AUD and got a tasty plate of fried oysters in a kind of gelatinous rice noodle concoction! Tastes much better than my description! Whilst gorging our faces with this scrumptious food we were compounded inside as the skies had opened to an Asian monsoon!
1400 – END
Upon exiting the hawker markets we did get soaked and decided to head home and discover some galleries situated on the hill above our hostel and after the steep uphill walk, we were disappointed to discover 'closed on Mondays!' We decided that the city had deemed it time for us to sit back and have a beer. We ventured back towards 'little Arab' found a local jaunt serving ice cold Tiger beer and singapore slings, got a bit tiddly, then the search for yet some more food! Our time in Singapore coming to an end we finished with a local tasty Laksa and called it a night as our travels plans to destination 2 required us to be up and ready to go by 6AM. With the amount of construction and changes going on around us, I realised that the next time I visit it won't be the same! Very pleased we were with I guess what you could call Janomie's Food tour of Singapore!
August 2012
