rain rain, go away

So, the not so great news about our recent transit through Singapore was that it rained... at least once a day, at times, pretty heavy.  (Our trip to the island of Sentosa for a day at the beach was a complete washout.)  The good news, however, is that we didn’t let a little bad weather get us down.   

To be sure, our Singapore stop was very much a brief one – four days, to be exact.  Four days, the precise amount of time that Aman (being on an Indian passport) could spend in Singapore without having to go through the official visa application process.  Given the number of required visas we need in order to accomplish our travel plans this year (Aman, 13; Angela, 4) – coupled with the fact that one really does not need more than a handful of days to get a taste of Singapore, it's so compact – we decided that four days would do just fine.

We arrived on an overcast afternoon after a short flight from Bali.  We checked into our hotel, unloaded our gear, and took off in the direction of Orchard Road, the so-called Fifth Avenue or Champs Elysees of Singapore.  Umm, not sure whether this first stop made a great deal of sense for a couple who (a) can't really purchase anything they don't want to carry around for the next eight months, and (b) have a current combined income of zero.  But at any rate, what a change of scenery!  Sleek skyscrapers, glistening malls, a sparkling clean modern Mass Rapid Transit system, wide sidewalks full of two-way pedestrian traffic.  As good as an idyllic week at the beach can be, for us, it also felt good to be back among proper urban dwellers for a few days.  Especially on an early Friday evening when happy hour had just started to kick off.  We strolled around, found a great little cluster of expat bars at the corner of Orchard and Emerald Hill Road that gave way to a charming lane of late nineteenth century houses.  There, we grabbed a beer and a bite to eat.  A bustling crowd, live music playing in the background. It was a good welcome.

Over the next few days, we exhausted the city by foot.  Little India, the Arab Quarter, the Colonial District, Chinatown, Clarke Quay ... so many diverse little neighborhoods.  With its quirky little boutiques and colorful buildings set on a quiet narrow street, Haji Lane in the Arab Quarter wins the prize for most personality in our book.

Perhaps our most favorite of thing about Singapore though, was the food.  Having done our research, we had heard that Singaporean street food - the type you find at hawker centres and food courts - is hugely popular and unbelievably good, not to mention cheap. So we were happy to see a huge hawker centre nearby our hotel.  Even more delighted to see the place bursting at the seams on our first evening in town, with people at every table, and cheap plastic tables and chairs overspilling on to the sidewalks.  Aman and I decided that we needed to get involved.  Not having a clue how these places operate, our first visit was hilariously fun.  We first took a preliminary lap around for observational purposes.  Stall after tiny stall of different food options, each stall had a unique picture menu of about 5-10 items with no two stalls offering the exact same type of noodle or rice preparation.  We steered clear of any stall whose menu included photos of food garnished with chicken feet or descriptions of animal innards.  We also took particular note of the one stall that had the longest line.  Then, with a hastily made plan of attack, I secured two empty seats next to a friendly looking family of three while Aman made a run to the dim sum vendor.  While he ordered, I passed the time by spying at my neighbors' plates, debating whether they had anything appealing enough to start a conversation about what's good.  Upon Aman's return, I asked in a hush, "What did we get?"  "Uh, not sure," he replied with a laugh and a shake of his head.  "I just started pointing at things." It turned out to be some of the best dumplings on earth.  One type in particular (i.e., my favorite) was steamed, and filled with a bite-sized ball of pork and seasoned broth.  Yum.  Round two consisted of more dim sum and a trip to the stall with the long line.  More culinary goodness.  We would spend the next two nights eating at food courts, in a similar state of gastronomic bliss.

Lavender Hawker Centre:

Chinatown Complex Food Centre:

We woke up on the day of our departure to the same gray sky that greeted us four days earlier.  Having accomplished what we intended to do in Singapore (most notably, having a couple of Singapore Slings at the Raffles Hotel, the place of their invention), we were ready to move on.