Singapore has opened up to visitors again in the past few months, so we decided to check it out for the first few days of our October break. Lots of people go to Singapore for shopping, but we weren’t really interested in that. The city also has some amazing gardens, however, so we spent most of one full day at the Gardens by the Bay.
Gardens by the Bay is a huge series of different gardens. It is designed to be as sustainable as possible, and has an innovative system that uses clippings from the plantings for a biofuel generator to provide electricity, along with solar panels mounted atop its “Supertrees”. The Supertrees also are conduits to release heat high above the ground level, and have walls covered in plants. Gardens by the Bay has a number of free gardens, but you can also pay to enter some parts of it. We decided to get tickets for the Supertree Observatory, the Flower Dome, and the Cloud Forest.
The variety of plants in the gardens is amazing. We especially loved the views from atop the Supertree Observatory. We also enjoyed the Hortus café in the flower dome, which is tucked into an olive tree grove and surrounded by Mediterranean herbs.
Singapore is known for its foodie culture, so I made a couple of reservations at two highly-rated restaurants. The first, Firangi Superstar, is known for its modern take on Indian cuisine. I was especially interested in it because every menu item can be prepared vegetarian. The service was great, and the food was fantastic! Although I’ve eaten and loved a lot of Indian food, I’ve never had it modernized that way. It was amazing! And because it was my birthday, the restaurant even gave us a photo memory of the night and brought us a little cake for dessert. This place is definitely on my list of restaurants I’d love to return to.
The other fancy restaurant we tried was Candelnut. It is known for being the only Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant in the world. We tried their tasting menu, and it didn’t disappoint. Each dish was a thoughtful take on a traditional food. We loved their crab curry, which is styled after one the chef’s grandma used to make. The surprise winner of the night was the lamb curry. It had an aromatic black gravy made from “poisonous” keluak nuts.
We also had some great meals at less fancy places. We had biryani at Zam Zam restaurant for lunch one day. The restaurant was packed, efficiently serving delicious food to the lunch break crowd. Near Zam Zam was Haji Lane, a narrow street lined with swanky boutiques, bars, and restaurants. We found a place to get a Singaporean craft beer and sat outside people watching.
We also checked out the hawker stall scene, wandering through Amoy Street Food Centre before strolling over to Lau Pa Sat. That hawker center is in one of the oldest Victorian buildings in the city. Adam tried chicken rice and I got the laksa. Both are well-loved Singaporean dishes. It was delicious and amazingly cheap for Singapore, possibly the world’s most expensive city.
One of the last things we did was head over to explore Little India. It was the week before Diwali, so the shops and street stalls were buzzing. We ate at Komala Vilas, a South Indian vegetarian place. Like Zam Zam, it was packed! Everything we ate there was outstanding, from the paper dosas to the sambar to the idlis. We had an awesome long weekend of eating and wandering in Singapore. We will definitely be back!
