Skyscrapers, palm trees, cool swimming pools in a condo, Cashew Heights. Photo by Angela Lansbury.
What to see
If you don't get beyond the airport, try to see the multi-story waterfall in Jewel, a shopping mall in a former airport car park, now a dome.
Staying airside, you can visit the airport's free multi-level butterfly park.
One train stop away from the airport is Expo for exhibitions. Coming up, travel, hospitality, food and drink.
Further into the city is the best known pool, the infinity pool on the top of landmark triple tower Marina Bay Sands.
You can pay to go up to the observation deck or one storey higher for a little more the price includes a discount on your first slice of pizza or a cocktail.
You can book a hotel bedroom and residents are allowed to use the infinity pool.
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Why visit Singapore? It has warm, mostly sunny weather, cool pools and cool drinks.
Local drinks include coffee from coffee shops and canned coffee, Photo by Angela Lansbury.
The drinks in this vending machine include Groovy Grape, chrysanthemum tea, Nescafe Original coffee, Nescafe mocha, Milo, young coconut juice,and soya bean.
Milo is Nestle's chocolate drink, originally made healthy with added vitamins to a syrup and cocoa.
Another vending machine sells snacks include Gardenia breads. Singapore has four official languages, English, widely spoken as a first or second language, with the added amusement of Singlish, They say that eating is the chief Singapore hobby or pastime.
You can find food and drink at all prices from multiple nationalities. Sample some of each in a food court, usually in the basement and sometimes on the top floor with a fine view. Singaporean specialities include kaya toast for breakfast - kaya being a sweet, tasty yellow jam which looks like lemon curd.
Valentine's Day is a big thing in Singapore. Chinese and other local shops and malls don't miss an opportunity to decorate and run special events and promotions.
Every season there's a special festival and lots of food and drink events. When the Christmas lights come down, up go the decorations for Chinese New Year or lunar new year From Spring Festival or Chinese New Year in January or February (See my previous posts), Valentine's Day, to the Autumn Festival it's non stop decorations, dances and dramas. Chinatown has a series of Chinese celebrations, which are also seen all over the city because the Chinese or those of Chinese descent are the majority of shop owners, shoppers, as well as the visitors from China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Japanese Sushi
The Japanese use the same symbolic writing. You'll find a large sushi counter in supermarkets such as Fairprice,. Also look for Japanese restaurants with carousels like a miniature model train track taking plates around the restaurant for you to grab your selection as you sit alongside.
You can eat all hours of the day and night. Late at night you can book an open air dinner in the Night Safari, then walk or take a train past the places where nocturnal animals are eating and drinking on cliffsides beyond a safety ditch. If your budget is smaller or you need a quick bite, there are 24 hour branches of McDonalds. They often have a seasonal Asian flavour drink or food.
Little India
Little India has an assortment of restaurants, including those serving the Singaporean speciality (Americans spell it secialty), fish head curry, served with rice an vegetables on a green oblong or cut out circle of disposable banana leaf.
Vegetarians will find lots of options and vegetarian only restaurants, snack bars and stalls in food courts. Watch out for fish such as prawns in the rich and casseroles of the Malay stalls. Read the captions on the pictures or politely ask the stall holder to translate, or any passer-by.
The Indians in Little India, and the Muslims, have night markets with food from stalls and souvenirs and street decoration. Chinatown and Little India are easily reached on the ever expanding MRT underground train system which also goes to Marina Bay Sands and the airport.
Chinatown
Visitors go to Chinatown. If you are short of time, every food court has Chinese specialities you can try at low cost.
Look for seasonal durian. It smells of sulphur when fresh fruit, in the markets, but tastes lovely when turned into a paste which tastes like a cross between egg and banana in cakes and on desserts.
Even if you do nothing except get a layover at the airport, you will find the airport shops, and supermarkets in town have jars of Kaya and other specialities.
In Chinatown I was shocked to see snakes bottled in giant jars of wine or alcohol. Snakes are seasonal if you want to try snakes in Asian restaurants. I had snake in Shanghai. It came up chopped into a small circle the size of a fist, with a bone in the centre, a bit like fresh salmon cutlet.
2023 Event Dates
Chinese New Year is over but you can read my posts and see the lion dance on the Facebook page of Expo.
Feb 14 Valentine's Day. (See previous post.)
Feb 24-26 Expo NATAS travel fair. Friday to Sunday. 10 am to 9.30. Free admission. Hall 5. (Hall 6 is near the MRT train station Expo. Allow time to walk from the underground and up escalators if you have a business appointment or breakfast event. Also look for free shuttle buses. A food court is across the green.
Feb 24-6 Artbox - Dining, crafts, shopping. Entry Fee 6 dollars single admission, one day, no readmission, so you have to buy your food and drink at the show. Seasonal pass 36 dollars. From 12pm (noon) to 11 pm. Last time I went there were great photo opportunities. Some of the craft stalls had sold out of their best or cheaper goods by late on day one or day two.
Mar 3-5. Artbox.
Singapore food Festival
July. Organized by the tourist board.
Useful websites
https://www.singaporeexpo.com.sg/events-calendar
Facebook Expo post for Chinese New Year Singapore style with lion dance and lo hei (food tossing for luck dinner dish)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Food_and_drink_festival_stubs
See later post on events in 2023
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