The flight from Delhi to Singapore was an overnighter, we figured it better to book the hotel room for an extra night. We wanted to head to the hotel, have breakfast and then get a decent sleep. Getting into Singapore was an absolute dream, we’d completed the pre arrival online, at the airport we were able to use the E Gates and did not speak to any immigration staff. Only downside was no stamp in the passport. Hotel room was described as a “cabin” and we were slightly worried about the size of it. However it was the most comfortable bed and had everything we needed, we slept for a good few hours before waking up fully refreshed. The only thing we had planned to do was visit Raffles for a Singapore Sling, apart from that we would see where the city took us.
We stayed just off the main shopping street, Orchard Road and have never seen so many malls with designer shops. We did have a browse and during our stay we kept getting lost in the Ion Mall, it had more than three hundred shops. Pit stop at a craft beer bar and had some “finger food” chicken satay and edamame beans. Never having tried the beans before, we had to google how to eat them! We booked a restaurant for the evening as we were both craving red meat.
Next morning we’d decided to buy a two day HoHo bus ticket, this would be a great way of seeing Singapore. With two lines to ride, we chose the yellow line and stayed on the bus for the whole loop. We then set off again and jumped off at the various stops that had caught our attention. The Singapore Flyer, F1 Grand Prix Pits, Helix Bridge, Marina Bay Sands Hotel. We then decided to walk around the bay to Fullerton, however a thunderstorm rolled in and did it rain! We took shelter for a while before making a run for it. We found the Lion overlooking the harbour, then decided to go and find the Old Hill Street Police Station, with its 927 shuttered windows painted in rainbow colours. It was still drizzling and we relied an umbrella and plastic poncho’s. Once we’d taken photos of the shutters we decided to go in search of the Hawker Centre, full of food stalls. We were in search of satay and soon food a stall selling them, had a mix of beef, chicken and pork belly. We had a quick look at the other places before leaving and found a cake stall, both of us chose an egg custard. Delicious! We then found the MRT station and caught the metro back to Orchard Road.
The next day we went on the red line, this route would take us through Little India and Chinatown, as per the previous day we did the whole loop to see where we wanted to hop off. Back at the beginning, we jumped off then walked over to Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. When we arrived there was a massive queue, it took us an hour to “get in”. G opted for a beer and M a SS. We both expected it to be meh, but it was delicious. It was great for people watching and G munched his way through the complimentary peanuts, the shells are then disposed of on the floor. It’s the only place in Singapore you can throw litter on the floor. Thoroughly enjoyed the experience! Back over to the HoHo stop, we chose to head back towards China Town and miss out Little India – we were still India’d out. First off though, we went back to the Hawker Centre – Lau Pa Sat to get some food. This time we opted for a Chinese meal and had a beef stir fry and a pepper chicken dish with rice. Another great low cost meal. Heading back to the cake stall for another cake, we saw a small stall with a lady selling tapioca cake, she did us a deal on three pieces.
Walked through China Town and explored the small streets crammed with shops selling everything you could possibly need. Took some photo’s and then found a bar for happy hour drinks. We’d decided to stay out and see Marina Bay lit up, so headed back to Fullerton Quay. Unfortunately it was too far to see the light show at the shopping centre, but we saw the hotel and complex lit up, along with the Helix Bridge. Tired out after another full day, we caught the MRT back.
Our final day was going to be a long one, we had to check out of the hotel by 11am and our flight didn’t leave until 10pm that evening. The hotel very kindly let us keep the room until 1pm free of charge, so we only had four or so hours to fill before leaving for the airport. Had a wander around our favourite massive mall and got lost again, more so to keep out of the hot humid weather. We then took a walk up Emerald Hill, just off Orchard Road, where the properties are still original with beautiful architecture and although it’s just a minutes walk away from the busy street, it was quiet and peaceful amongst all of the high rise buildings. Time for a drink and snack of satay and edamame beans before picking up our luggage and heading to the airport.
The next part of the journey was going to be a killer! Late flight out from Singapore to Brisbane, with a flight time of around six hours, then a four hour layover in Brisbane before the four hour onward flight to Fiji. Incorporated in to this was a couple of time differences too!
