Singapore’s a cool cat
The sci-fi-like city-state is far from the sterile stopover destination some imagine, writes
Seventy-two hours is just enough time to dig below the Lion City’s shiny surface and get acquainted with its cultural, natural and gourmet highlights.
Thursday, 7pm
Nothing breaks the ice quite like sharing a plate of Singaporean chilli crab. My fellow conference attendees and I don the provided big, white bibs and take up our crab crackers as we prepare to dig into the giant crab – armour intact – swimming in a pool of chilli-spiked tomato sauce.
The No Signboard Seafood restaurant in Marina Bay took some finding, but because of GPS issues rather than a lack of signage (the name harks back to its origins as a hawker food stall). I struggle to master the crab cracker and end up with far more sauce than meat but fortunately, it’s delicious - just the right balance of spicy and sweet.
By the end of the meal, our corner of the packed restaurant looks a bit like a scene from a B-grade horror flick both group and tablecloth are spattered in bright red sauce. We’re full and happy though; glad the Singaporean food scene is living up to all it’s cracked up to be. It’s a short walk back to the JW Marriott Hotel South Beach, where a long, hot soak in the marble tub acts as a powerful sedative so I sink into the super-comfy, super-sized bed and pass out.
Friday, 7am
Still feeling full from the night before doesn’t dissuade me from going mad at the breakfast buffet at Beach Road Kitchen, just opposite the hotel, the next morning.
For me, it’s an education in breakfast dishes from around the world and it’s fair to say I’m a keen learner. I load up a bowl with fresh tropical fruits, berry compote, thick Greek yoghurt and as many nuts and seeds as will fit. I’ve moved onto a plate of steamed, pork-stuffed Chinese dumplings by the time the waiter comes around with a tray of mini eggs benedict but I can’t resist. And I’m glad I didn’t from the moment the first bite hits my tongue - molten yokes and creamy hollandaise are surely a match made in breakfast heaven.
8am
Fifteen minutes from downtown, Sentosa Island is a public playground of sorts with theme parks, a casino, aquarium, resorts offering spa treatments and some of Singapore’s best beaches.
Our tour group catches the cable car from the mainland, which provides prime photo opps of the urban and natural jungle. We head for the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom, said to house 1500 butterflies from 50 different species and 3000 insects. Proving nature really is the best designer, the butterflies flit gracefully past as we wander through the Chinese-style garden, stopping to admire jewel-like chrysalises and a flamboyant pair of macaws who can’t seem to decide whether they’re friends or foes.
The highlight of the tour is the S.E.A Aquarium which, with some 100,000 marine animals from 800 species, is one of the world’s largest. Passing through a corridor beneath a tank full of sharks, we come face to face with manta rays, bottlenose dolphins, moray eels and countless schools of tropical and coldwater fish. We even find nemo. The translucent jellyfish are particularly mesmerising, changing from pink to blue as they waft through the water like slow-motion synchronised swimmers.
2pm
From the hotel, I walk the 10 hot, humid minutes to Chijmes; a Catholic girls’ school and orphanage turned dining, entertainment and shopping complex in the colonial district. The juxtaposition of the white Gothic-style cathedral and neoclassical buildings against the skyscrapers beyond offer a striking contrast between old and new. I take a seat at Coriander Leaf, an Asian fusion restaurant that presents its menu in five flavour verticals: fresh, familiar, spicy, umami and sweet. Still hot and bothered from my stroll under the midday sun, I’m drawn to the fresh flavours and opt for two tasting plates: sweet potato ‘‘noodles’’ with red peppers, Hon Shimeji and edamame; and a salad of marinated prawns, grated mint and Thai basil. I can feel my stomach stretching.
3pm
Hot footing it to Kampong Glam - a Muslim neighbourhood now also something of a hipster hangout - I am waylaid by the art deco-style Parkview Square tower which looks like it’s straight out of Gotham City. Chiselled ‘‘guards’’ holding crystal balls look down at me as I wander into the plaza and see it’s full of weird and wonderful contemporary sculptures and bronze effigies of the likes of Mozart, Picasso, Shakespeare and Einstein. The door to the bar, Atlas, is like a porthole back to the roaring 1920s: a 12 metre-high gin cabinet takes pride of place in a cavernous space with grand art deco and art nouveau-inspired decor, including a baroque ceiling fresco. I’m told there’s also a rose gold champagne room stocked with some 250 brands of bubbly.
The golden domes of the Sultan Mosque guide me to Kampong Glam, where I admire the building’s elegant exterior - which combines IndoIslamic, Gothic and Neoclassical elements - before pulling on one of the provided floor-length dresses and stepping inside. With its high ceilings, white, gold and pale green colour scheme, soft music and silently praying souls, it exudes a sense of serenity, providing a few perfect moments of respite in a full-on day.
6pm
Looking like a futuristic cruiseliner atop three tall towers, Marina Bay Sands is a standout example of Singapore’s sci-fi-like architecture. Rooms at the hotel start from S$419 (NZ$418) a night but for S$23 you can take an ear-popping elevator up the 57 floors to the SkyPark: an observation deck with 360 degree views. Sipping on a Singapore Sling that matches the pink and orange hues of the sunset is a priceless experience, but at S$40 a drink, I can’t afford to stick around.
Fortunately our tour guide’s eager to whisk us off to the next stop: the widely hyped Gardens by the Bay. The sense of Singapore being part of some shiny parallel dimension intensifies as we enter the Flower Dome, the world’s largest glass greenhouse. A land of perpetual springtime, the dome blooms with floral beauties from France, Spain, Italy, California, South Africa and Australia. The arrangements are works of art in themselves but the gardeners took things to another level this spring, using multi-hued tulips to recreate paintings by Van Gogh.