In one last gesture of amazing service, the hotel has a boxed breakfast waiting for us when we check out at 5am. They even waited until they saw us to brew the Americanos to ensure they were piping hot. We make the airport in good time, but the signage to return the car is nonexistent, so that adds a few minutes. The airport is basic at best and a crush of people. Even their robotic janitor seems to be out of the 1950s. Fortunately, Singapore Airlines has their act together and makes the boarding process very civilized.
We land at SIN around 11am. It’s like walking through a portal of some sort. The entirety of Singapore’s mere 284 square
mile diamond, 31 miles east to west and 17 miles north to south, is engineered,
modern, clean and efficient. And high
end. A very lux taxi van, which would be
considered a limo anywhere else, whisks us to the Maxwell Reserve, a Marriott
Autograph class facility. It’s
absolutely dripping with old money style, a salute to the country's colonial roots.
Also, a single cup of coffee here cost more than most dinners we had
over the last two weeks. Thank goodness
breakfast is included.
Checked in, bags dropped, we set out to explore. We only have a day here and we picked this property
for its central location. Mandy has a
nice walking tour mapped out and first stop Chinatown, just a 10 minute stroll from our front door. At the edge of
Chinatown is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, very ornate in the classic Chinese
Buddha style, also very active this early afternoon with what appears to be constant
services going on. It's our first interaction with the Chinese Buddha, remarkably different in both tone and aesthetic than the Thai Buddhas we just spent the last two weeks with,
Just past the temple there is a blessing ceremony going on
for a newly opened business. Ok, part
blessing, part marketing, but the pair of 2-person purple dragons were awfully
fun.
We take in the Chinatown sites.
Heading to our next destination, I can’t help but walk into
Café Monochrome, Singapore’s 2D ice cream shop.
I very much want to paint one of my cars like this.
We continue to Thian Hock Keng temple, built to worship
Mazu, the Chinese sea goddess. Again
very busy for an early Tuesday afternoon, packed with worshipers making
offerings, saying prayers and lighting long sticks of incense. Across the room from the alter are the tables
where the worshipers purchase the accoutrements of offerings, flowers, trinkets,
fruits, and other foods. These tables
are set up around hundreds of sacks of rice stacked to fashion a giant sea
turtle. This is definitely not the Catholic
church I grew up in.
A bit of lunch at Dumpling Darlings helps us escape the dead-still
daytime heat before we continue on with our walk. Ultra mod overlaid on the colonial. A study in design, transformation and efficiency.
We end the walk at the Old Hill Police Station with its
colorful windows and shutters. We figure
the Disney inspired thinking is “let’s make getting arrested more fun!”
Back at the hotel, we shower (absolutely cannot shower
enough here) and chill before dinner. We
have reservations at Ce La Vi, the rooftop restaurant atop the iconic Marina
Bay Sands triple tower. It starts to
rain just as we get into our Grab (Asian Uber).
Walking into Tower 3 is another step up entirely. This is movie-class high end. A full third of the shopping arcade in the
lower level is marquis watch brand stores, and Rolex is barely in the middle of
the pack here. The only watch shop
allowed on the main concourse level is Richard Mille, whose entry level 2026 RM
74-02 model starts around $603,000. Of
course, you can’t buy one… the current wait list is about 4 years.
When our reservation time comes around, it’s still raining so
the restaurant is closed. They are
gracious enough to let us go up to the top level and hang out at the coved bar
while we wait out the weather. Honestly,
all we really wanted to do was have a drink or two up here, but that’s only
possible with a full dinner reservation and $400 guaranteed minimum spend. We were willing to take that hit, even with
the marginal menu and mediocre food reviews, because we figured it was a once
in a lifetime experience. The rain
worked in our favor, letting us escape for just the cost of a couple of
overpriced, but excellently crafted, espresso martinis.
Foodies we are, so this gave us a chance to find a better,
more authentic dining experience. An
international melting pot, Singapore is home to some of the finest Korean restaurants
outside of Korea. We cab it to Wang Dae
Bak, this town’s (and country’s!) best Korean BBQ joint. It’s informal and clearly a local’s
spot. Our friendly server talks us
through the menu and we pick a platter with steak, pork belly and pork collar,
plus a “half half omelet” with crabmeat on one side and kimchi on the
other. Sides, sauces and beers
appear. One of the sides, which the
server simply calls tofu, is the single best preparation we have ever had, with
a light custard texture and sweet/savory sauce.
Another side, which looked like 3” long egg noodles and was just called
fish cake, was so good it resulted in a chopstick dual between Mandy and I (especially
dangerous because they use stainless steel chopsticks here!) Our server takes care of the grilling, plus
keeps filling the outer trough of the grill with premixed eggs which we scoop
out and add to every bite. This place
very much outperforms its excellent ratings.
Dinner done, we cab it back to the Bay to catch the last
Spectra Light and Water Show. We almost
didn’t but were glad we decided to rally.
The show spans about a third of a mile wide and incorporates fountains,
lasers, massive amplification, and some serious computing power to get all the
elements synched. The result is
delightful.
Our brief time in Singapore drawing to an end, we decide to
walk the half hour back to catch some last sights. Goodnight, funny city.
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