Singapore : Highlights of our Family Trip

Had a really bad scare at the Immigration when we crossed over from Malaysia to Singapore. I completely forgot that in one of my luggages to send home I also included a bottle of Armenian cognac I brought with me from my trip to Yerevan last year. That bottle has crossed numerous immigration checkpoints already and even in the Middle East countries it did not create a problem but yallah, only in Singapore! Good thing my sister was the one left behind and she was able to iron through it with a promise to pay the tax and to declare it next time.

My parents were talking and pointing out how clean and organized the whole place is. We disembarked from our bus at the Queen Street station where most buses coming from Malaysia  stops. 

We wanted to find cheaper accommodation around Chinatown but one thing we forgot is that we have senior citizens with us. We booked at a hostel which is just right across the Chinatown area but what we neglected to check is that it is located at the third floor of a converted shophouse, pretty enough and with a historical twist but lugging all our heavy luggages was a nightmare!

My father also refuses to go back and forth the staircase so once he takes a rest he doesn't want to go out anymore lol.....

Chinatown

Our preference for Chinatown is quite obvious, we are not here for the historical places (been here nth number of times and my sister also used to live & work in SG for a few years).....we are here for the FOOD!

Right in front of our hostel is the Chinatown Food Street and the heart of Chinatown with its refurbished colorful shophouses, traditional hawker food, the night market, and just all the dimsums I want!

For a cheaper dining alternative, we visited an old dining hang-out --- The Maxwell Food Centre. Judging from the dozens of locals and tourists in the area, the place must be very popular now. You can already have a plate of chicken rice for just 4 SGD!

Its a covered dining hall with round tables, you can shop around from the different vendors/shops selling various specialties then take it to your table.

Orchard Road + Botanic Garden

The following day we went around the CBD area, mainly just at the Orchard Road area. My niece was exclaiming whenever she sees her dream fashion brands. Oh my goodness, there goes another shopaholic in the making hahahahaha

My mom's accountant mind was probably busy calculating how can the shopping malls here still earn money when they are everywhere??? Even in the train stations??? hahahahha

I don't know the answer to that but Singapore for me is one big shopping mall, especially the Orchard area.

At the end of the busy Orchard Road, you can veer off and go towards the Singapore Botanic Gardens --- a sprawling 74 hectares collection of themed gardens like the Ginger garden, Healing garden, Foliage garden, and more. Originally founded in 1859, the botanic gardens is one of the most visited attractions in Singapore. It has further cemented its popularity by becoming listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Flight of Swans @ the Swan Lake

My favourite though will always be the National Orchid Garden, the only place in the free-entrance Singapore Botanic Gardens which charges a fee (SGD 5 for adults / SGD 1 for students & senior citizens). For an orchid enthusiast like me, I was in heaven!

Amazing varieties of orchids are on display and it also gave me ideas of how to plant / cultivate my own orchids at home.

Marina Bay + Merlion

If Malaysia has the Petronas Towers, Singapore also has the Merlion --- the most popular tourist landmark and photo souvenir. This mythical creature with a lion's head and a fish body is probably the most visited place in Singapore. The "fish body" personifies the origins of Singapore as a fishing village and the "lion's head" signifies its given name Singapura or the lion city.

Nowadays though, the background on most IG posts is the iconic Marina Bay Sands with its three towers and topped by the gravity-defying Skypark with its infinity pool which looks like a cross between a boat and a plane on top of these three towers.

The Marina Bay Sands complex comes with the high end shoppes with very posh brands, dining outlets that seems always fully booked, casinos, and hotel.

And so after sending off my sister and my niece to the airport, I capped my last night in Singapore with a couple of beers (they had a buy 1 take 1 promo that time hahahaha) at Clarke Quay and a fantastic never-ending conversation with my old colleague and his wife.

Ciao, Singapore.....till we meet again.....