Singapore Time

While we were in Japan my brother kept mentioning all the food he was going to eat in Singapore when he and my mom went there after Japan. Having listened him mention chicken rice, laksa, and satay made me want to go to Singapore and eat those foods. I hadn’t been back to Singapore in a few years and Jun had never been, so we thought that as a nice treat for us at the end of our summer we would take a trip to Singapore.

Our trip started at Futian station on a Friday evening. I met Jun there, who had to take the train down from Guangzhou. From Futian station we took the metro to the airport. Everything was going well at the airport until our flight was delayed. It wasn’t a serious issue since we were going to arrive early in Singapore and had planned on staying at the airport until later in the morning. It was more of a nuisance than anything else. Fortunately our flight left around 2:00 in the morning and we were on our way.

Day 1

When we arrived it was still early; Jun and I weren’t sure if we would be able to check-in early at our hotel. We decided to take a shower at the airport just in case. After we were both clean, we left the airport and went straight to our hotel.

Luckily for us our hotel—the Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay—did allow us to check-in early and even have breakfast. They were really nice at that hotel. We went to our room and dropped our stuff off and went back down to have breakfast. Afterwards we went back to the room to take a nap.

When we woke we noticed we still had a few hours before we were going to meet up with some of my family friends for lunch. Jun and I then decided to take a walk around the area. We first went to Clarke Quay and walked through it to go to Fort Canning Park. Fort Canning has been used for many things over the years, but is now a park with numerous attractions. It was a nice walk that helped us wake up a bit.

Soon we had to go back to the hotel to meet up with my friends. When they got to the hotel they drove us to Sentosa for lunch. We had a nice Western lunch at Chili’s and caught up on everything since the last time we saw each other.

After lunch Jun and I went to Bugis to do a bit of shopping. There’s been a Timbuk2 bag that I’ve been wanting to buy for the longest time, but they have so few outlets in the world. Shipping it to China would be expensive. Fortunately I was able to buy it in Singapore!

Afterwards Jun and I walked around the Kampong Glam neighborhood. It was nice to see the mosque there. It was beautiful. The street art in the area was also interesting and wild. It was a nice way to end the afternoon.

Afterwards Jun and I went around the downtown district before going to have dinner at Momma Kong’s, a crab restaurant in Chinatown. This dish was the one I had really wanted to eat in Singapore. The chili crab we had was amazing and delicious. It was a great way for us to end the day.

Day 2

We had a late start to the morning. We were meeting with another family friend for lunch, so Jun and I decided to take a leisurely walk around the hotel before she and her husband arrived to pick us up.

Our friends took us to PeraMakan, a really nice Peranakan restaurant at the Keppel Club that was amazing. It was nice catching up with them. They also gave us some great suggestions on what we could do and see in Singapore, as well as what we could eat.

After lunch they drove us to Chinatown so we could go around the area. Jun and I walked through the side streets and went to some temples and saw some neat street art. We also found this great bakery, KELE, which has some nice pineapple-based treats. We tried a few different types of desserts; we ended up buying a tin of pandan-pineapple cakes. They were really good.

After Chinatown Jun and I went to the Kinokuniya bookstore on Orchard Road so I could get a copy of Amanda Koe Lee’s Ministry of Moral Panic. I ended buying another book and could have bought more. I just didn’t have enough space in my bag.

After the bookstore Jun and I decided to watch Crazy Rich Asians. We found a movie theater near us and were lucky enough to be able to get seats for the next movie. The movie itself was enjoyable, although it did diverge from the book in interesting ways. Overall, though, it was a fun movie.

From there Jun and I tried to find a chicken rice restaurant that our friends recommended, but couldn’t find it. We ended up eating at Makansutra Gluttons Bay, which ended up being equally enjoyable.

After dinner we took a walk around the bay towards the Marina Bay Sands. It was a lovely walk and a nice way to end a long, happy day.

Day 3

This day started with us taking a walk around our hotel. We went back to Fort Canning Park and found this really neat underground passage.

After the park we went straight to the Gardens by the Bay. We first went to the Flower Dome and saw a variety of flowers from everywhere. They also had an interesting mix of sunflowers with a Wizard of Oz theme and orchids with a Peranakan theme. It was eclectic, but it was fun. After the Flower Dome we walked to the Marina Barrage and back to the Supertree Grove. The gardens were really beautiful, and a great way to start the day.

From there we went to Little India to meet one of Jun’s friends. We ended up eating lunch at Amaravati, a lovely Indian restaurant. The food there was wonderful and delicious. After lunch we went around Little India and enjoyed seeing the area.

From there we went to Orchard Road to meet up with the friends we met on our first day for dinner at Marchê. It was a nice dinner and we were happy that we got to see them one last time before we left the next day.

Jun and I took a walk along the street after dinner. Then we went back to the hotel.

Day 4

Our last day in Singapore had Jun and I wake up early so we could go on a hike in the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. The area is nicely maintained and was a nice change of pace to the rest of Singapore. Besides a few other people going around the reserve, it was simply quiet there. It was wonderful! We also found our way to the TreeTop Walk that was in the reserve. That was a neat area where we could see different parts of the reserve from a high vantage point. On our way back to the entrance we also got to see a troop of monkeys going about their business in the park. That was a pleasant surprise.

After our hike we went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and checked out.

We then went straight to the airport where we spent most of the afternoon. We did some shopping, saw the butterfly garden, the sunflower garden, the orchid garden, ate some Malay food, and then almost lost our passports! It was my fault; I had placed it on a cart and forgot to pick it back up before we went to see the butterflies. Fortunately, we remembered them and quickly went back and got them before someone else found them. Besides that one incident, our trip back to Shenzhen went smoothly and effortlessly.

Overall, our trip to Singapore was wonderful! We wish we were still there.

A Shantou Weekend

Last year when we went to Chaozhou, we saw that the train station was actually between two cities: Chaozhou and Shantou. Since we had already been to Chaozhou, Jun and I thought it would be nice to go to Shantou this year. So in the middle of August we took the train from Shenzhen and went to the eastern part of Guangdong once again.

Day 1

After taking the bus from the train station to the central district of Shantou, Jun and I checked-in at the Shantou International Hotel. This was by far one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed at. The staff was friendly, and our room was spacious and comfortable. And as a nice surprise, the hotel staff delivered a complimentary local dessert in the early evening for us to enjoy. Unfortunately, neither Jun or I actually liked the dessert. The thought, however, was nice.

After having cleaned up a bit, Jun and I then went to have lunch at a beef hot pot place that is popular in the region. The food was quite good and made us ready for an afternoon of exploration.

After lunch we walked to Zhongshan Park. As we went around the park Jun noticed that it kind of had everything you could possibly want in a park in a condensed form. There was a small zoo, a roller-skate rink, a museum, a botanical garden, a lake area with boats, and plenty of space to rest and enjoy the day. It was nice to walk around the park and see the different things that made it unique.

After that we walked towards the old city center. Currently they are redeveloping the area; entire neighborhoods are construction zones. We were still able to see what the architecture looks like, and it had a nice mix of Western and Eastern influences. You could clearly see this dichotomy in the Small Pavilion Park that had a Chinese structure in the middle of a square that was surrounded by more Western-style buildings. It was an interesting area. When they are finished with the construction it should be a nice area to visit.

From there we went to 1860 Creative Park near the waterfront. This area used to be a middle school in Shantou that was converted into the creative park. There were some interesting aspects to it. There’s a mix of offices and abandoned school room that leaves a vibe of creative abandonment to the place.

Once we were done going around 1860 we went to Xidi Park. It’s a small park next to the waterfront with some nice landscaping.

From there we took a leisurely walk along the shore towards Qilu Battery in Shipaotai Park. The old fort was really neat and a quiet place to explore. As Jun was taking pictures, however, a young boy started to make fun of him by emulating the poses Jun was using to take pictures. I saw the boy from a distance. When he came closer to me I put my arm around him and he started to panic. He began to speak to me in Chinese by saying he was sorry. I told him in English that I wasn’t the one he needed to apologize and I frog-walked him to Jun to apologize. He was so confused that he was apologizing in Chinese and English. I told him to be nice and that being rude to other people could be detrimental to him. Someone less kind could hurt him if he was not careful. At that point I let him go and he ran away to his friends looking mortified.

The rest of our time at the Qilu was uneventful. We soon had to leave because the park was closing. We decided to go back to the hotel to clean up before we went to dinner.

Dinner that night involved seafood where we chose which fish we wanted to eat. It was quite delicious and affordable. Afterwards we got dessert and went back to the hotel for the night.

Day 2

The next day we went to a village on the outskirts of Shantou. The highlight of the visit was exploring and appreciating the Chen Cihong Former Residence. The structure consists of many halls and rooms built by a wealthy family in 1910. It was the home for the Chen clan for many generations before it was converted into a historic museum. The structures are an interesting mix of Western and Eastern influences that creates a unique place. It was really fascinating to see the different ornamentations in each room. Much care must have been needed to maintain such an intricate and complex structure for a family to have lived there.

When we were done with that area we went to visit a temple on Tashan near the village. It was a nice, quiet area with beautiful buildings in the upper part of the mountain. But after a while Jun and I were ready for lunch and took a car back to central Shantou.

For our last meal we had steamed seafood. It was really neat to pick out the different seafood we wanted and then to steam it at our table for us to eat. That was a nice way to end our trip. From there we took the bus to the train station and then the train back to Shenzhen.

Overall, it was a nice visit to Shantou. It was quite a unique and different city in comparison to those of the Pearl River Delta. It was definitely a great weekend retreat that Jun and I both needed.