Looking Back: 6 Days of Surreal Adventure in then Singapore (Day 5-6)
DAY 5 - CHINATOWN, BUGIS, THE MERLION, NEWTON
There had been heavy rain during the night, so in the morning the air had become slightly more humid yet more pleasant as the sky was covered with clouds and so the burning sun could not broil us as easily. The day before, two of our relatives came all the way from Johor Baru to join our adventure, and hence, we had gained two new companions.
Still beaten due to our long excursion the day before, we initially decided that we would only explore the downtown areas, such as Bugis and Chinatown, and go buy some stuff and souvenirs. But since my cousin had just arrived and hadn't had the chance to see up close the iconic symbols of Singapore, we decided that we would also visit the Merlion Park, from which the iconic Marina Bay Sands can also be visible.
From the Orchard station, a transit at Dhoby Ghaut and just two stations away on the Downtown line brought us to the Chinatown station.
Exiting the station will bring you to the main shopping street, fringed by hundreds of shops along the way and decorated with the classic, “just-have-to-be-there” red Chinese lanterns that accentuate the touch of Chinatown.
One of the many shops that piqued our interest was the Tintin Shop. Here, various Tintin paraphernalia was sold, and they had some interesting stuff that will definitely delight hardcore collectors or simply those avid fans of Tintin.
A short 5-minutes walk from the main street took us to People’s Park. It is sort of a shopping complex that hasn’t been really modernized, mostly dominated by small-scale gadget and electronic stores.
Our main highlight, however, was the hawker center near the entrance, which smelled divinely! The foods were not limited to only Chinese since there were also stalls serving Indian and Malayan foods. It was of course packed with visitors trying to get their lunch, so we had to be really patient in trying to secure a table for the 4 of us.
One technique I learned from the Singaporeans was “choping”. To chope is to secure a seat or a table by putting random objects on it. You can simply put a pack of tissue on a vacant table and you can wander off looking for food without having to worry it gets occupied by somebody else when you get back (apparently it only works in Singapore, and in certain places too).
We made our way to the Bugis Street Market for another episode of shopping. The Bugis station, from which it is a 2-minute walk to the market, is just 5 stations away on the Downtown MRT line from the Chinatown station. Bugis Street Market seems to be one of the largest markets in Singapore and one of the cheapest places in Singapore to buy souvenirs, accessories, clothes, electronics, houseware. and cosmetics. You can also try oodles of street foods as you make your way through the market.
The Bugis Junction was where we took refuge from the sweltering heat and humidity that struck so casually and so suddenly. Here we stumbled upon this magnificent yakitori/ kushiyaki shop— TORI-Q. I might be exaggerating but lemme tell you that we spent over 20SGD trying all of their different selections of kushiyaki—and we didn’t even regret it. If you are visiting Bugis Junction (there are other branches as well, I believe) you should definitely check this place out! It’s just next to the escalator on the ground floor.
Having waited for the sun to ease off a little, we had the Merlion park on our to-do list. Merlion Park is where the icon of Singapore, the Merlion statue itself, gloriously stands out. We had actually visited this place on our second day, making our way from and back to the Singapore River. But this time we were trying to make our approach from the land. First, we had to get to The Raffles Place station - two stations away on the East-West Line from the Bugis station. Raffles Place MRT station is situated at a serene park that is surrounded by skyscrapers. The building of the station itself is pretty unique because it gives off some historical nuances to it.
Getting to Merlion Park from this station is not that hard but not that easy either. We first had to walk all the way along the Singapore River, heading to the Fullerton Hotel, whose underground passage will lead us to our destination. The stroll was breezy yet sultry as it was still noon. From the walkway along the Singapore River, across you can clearly see the Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore ArtScience Museum. Hence, it was the perfect place for the girls to enrich their Instagram feeds.
Upon reaching the Fullerton Hotel, we were exalted and truly relieved that the underground walkway that connected it with the Merlion Park was fully air-conditioned and so well-maintained too! Upon exiting the cool underground passage, we were able to see Mama Merlion yonder. And once again, the photoshoot began...
There were some cafes near the park, ready to cool off sizzled visitors with cold beverages. It was almost evening, and there was a cool breeze coming from the riverside, yet I felt like I was in a microwave trying to defreeze a slab of frozen meat. And so we just had to put our feet up at one of these packed cafes, enjoy our drink, and chill out.
I truly have no recollections of what we did or where we went after that, but probably we walked all the way back to Bugis Junction to get some more yakitori from TORI-Q (man those tiny skewers were addicting!) before going back to our lodgings.
For the dinner, we, the young’uns, brought ourselves to Newton, while the oldsters had theirs at the Lucky Plaza food court. Newton is heaven for culinary adventurers as it offers tons and tons of selections of foods, from char kuay teow to carrot cake to the notorious Chili Crab, a must-try in Singapore.
We ordered two bowls of soup noodles, one with pork ribs and one with seafood, and some coconuts to refresh us. The noodles were great with a generous portion of ribs and seafood in them, but it was almost 30SGD for two bowls. The coconuts were refreshing and reasonably priced too. So, no complaints about the drinks. We should have tried the Chili Crab as well, but seeing that it cost $55 for one serving, we just had to swallow our desire, and maybe find another place when we revisit Singapore one day.
However, I honestly won’t recommend having your meal here all the time. The foods were awesome— don’t get me wrong—but most of them were overpriced. You can get two servings of the same menu at the same price at other hawker centers, in Bedok, for example. Still, it was a great place to hang out with friends and to have a nice conversation over a meal and a pint or two.
DAY 6 – GARDENS BY THE BAY & THE SHOPPES AT MARINA BAY SANDS
As the name says, Gardens by the Bay is a gigantic man-made garden situated along the south coast of Marina Bay. It boasts 101 hectares of greeneries, flora, and whatnots, and it consists of three waterfront gardens: Bay Central Garden, Bay East Garden, and Bay South Garden, which is the largest and the most abundant in attractions. Having itself as one of the national icons, it is a sight not to be missed when visiting Singapore.
We alighted at the Bayfront MRT Station, the nearest station to the garden, and sauntered quite a distance to our destination. Towering just upon exiting the station was the Marina Bay Sands, which is actually concealing the garden hiding behind it. We had to walk past it and go all the way north until we reached the bridge that led us to our supreme destination. From distance, we already had a glimpse of the Flower Dome and the conspicuous Supertrees. We didn’t get to the Flower Dome, unfortunately, but we managed to get to the Skywalk that was stretched between two Supertrees located in the middle of this lush garden. The Skywalk gives you an astonishing aerial view of the city and the garden itself and a stunning vantage of Marina Bay Sands, and hence it is truly"instagrammable". Peering down from the skywalk, I just couldn’t help but be mesmerized by the contrasting views it presents, in front, a bustling city and a ginormous structure and behind, a tranquil, serene park, each had its own charismatic beauty.
After bringing home dozens of great shots, it was time for us to wrap our journey with a visit to the MBS shopping complex, The Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands (Why are the names of places so long here?).
Heading southwest, we reached an overhead bridge, called the Lions Bridge, that connects the Gardens By The Bay and the MBS Hotel. Again, the view from the bridge was simply breathtaking; looking back, we could see the whole entirety of the garden itself, whose Supertrees protruded from the lushness of the garden and dominated the garden’s skyline.
The Shoppes At Marina Bay Sands has been, I can say, the most luxurious shopping mall and one of the biggest there are in Singapore. It is the ultimate heaven for shopaholics as it houses an unrivaled collection of world-class international brands, from Louis Vuitton to Bulgari, from Victoria's Secret to Gucci, you name it! There were also other newly emerging brands bringing their new concepts and fresh collections.
Another attraction worth experiencing here is perhaps the sampan (paddled small Chinese wooden boats) rides (10SGD) through the canals on the first level of this shopping complex. We, however, didn’t have the time to sit back and relax to enjoy the ride as there were a lot more to see and explore in this mall, and knowing that we had to get back to our lodgings to get all of our stuff before going back to the airport later that night, (we had an early morning flight to catch on the following day) we just had to miss the boat rides. Well, we still had the clear opportunity to see the so-called Rain Oculus in action though—a gigantic acrylic bowl located two stories above the heart of the canal that releases thousands of liters of water every minute—and that should make do for us.
The top floor served as a food court, where we had our super late lunch and, at the same time, early dinner. For such a lavish establishment, we had to say that the foods here were still affordable compared to any other eatery on its two other levels. I got myself a simple Salmon Teppandon for about 11SGD from one of the stalls. It came with some sunny-side egg underneath the salmon, a small bowl of miso soup, and rice. The miso soup was okay, the egg was runny in the middle and crisp on the outer, but the salmon was a novelty as it was just perfectly grilled.
The meal concluded our five days adventure in the city as we made our way back to our rented apartment in Orchard, tidied up our stuff, bid farewell to the housekeeper, and hopped on a bus that eventually took us to the Changi International Airport. We had made sure that we would explore this awards winning airport to the fullest this time, enjoying all attractions it had to offer, but because the check-in counter for our flight was still closed, we couldn’t get into the transit area, and thus rendered clueless as to where we had to spend the night — well, from here onward I guess you can already guess what happened after that... ALL HAIL MCDONALD!!!!
In the morning we immediately dragged our feet to the check-in counter, and before long we found ourselves meddling at the Social Tree and enjoying the Butterfly garden and the Japanese garden inside the transit area while waiting for our flight.
The time showed 8:50, signaling our boarding time. As the plane took off, looking down from the airplane window at the ever-moving city, I just couldn’t help but be mesmerized by how this neighboring country has won the hearts of millions upon millions of travelers. It was surely the best family holiday we ever had!
Today, I look back on our great adventure that was full of happenings, of getting lost on our way back from the Singapore Flyer, of the unforgettably spectacular Songs of the Sea on Sentosa, of the innumerable scrumptious foods we had, and of spending two wonderful nights at McDonald's; and I just have to remind myself that this Southeast Asian jewel with its inimitable charm is quite a holiday destination to be revisited one day—perhaps one of these days I gotta go there just for a weekend getaway.