Happy Lunar New Year!
Two years ago during the lunar new year in 2018, I went to Singapore with my dad to visit my uncle and grandmother for two weeks. Singapore is known as the Lion City because the prince who discovered the island thought he spotted a lion on shore, though historians have noted that lions were not native to the country. Despite that, the name has stuck!
We decided to spend this trip visiting family but also sightseeing and eating as much as we possibly could! Singapore is an amazing, multi-racial and multi-lingual sovereign city-state (one of only three in the world), with four official languages: English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. It is Southeast Asia’s busiest port and is one of the world’s economic trade centers, and has also used land reclamation to increase its area by almost 25%. From my grandmother’s house, it’s a 2-minute walk to the point where you could walk into the ocean when my dad and uncle were growing up – it’s now concrete and a 15 minute walk to the beach! The tropical climate can often be quite oppressive in the summer for people who aren’t used to it, so I was very glad to be visiting during a milder climate.
Traveling to Singapore from the US is a long journey; I decided to fly from New York City to Los Angeles and meet my dad in the airport so we could both take the same flight from LA to Singapore. We decided to try the non-stop United Airlines flight, which is about 18 hours. In theory, I love the idea of non-stop flights, but after about hour 10, I was ready to jump out and swim the rest of the way! Upon arriving at Singapore’s Changi Airport (one of my favorite airports in the world), we were greeted with some giant dogs to usher in the year of the dog and, after going home to greet my grandmother, we got straight to our favorite activity – eating!
The following day we visited Gardens by the Bay, which is an urban nature park spanning about 270 acres. We spent our afternoon wandering the Flower Dome – the largest glass greenhouse in the world – taking in the beautiful plants, flowers, and art. In the evening, we were treated to the light and music show in the Supertree Grove, which look like structures straight from the movie Avatar. And, of course, we rounded out our evening with some delicious food – satay and ice kachang, which is Malaysian shaved ice.
One of the things I love about Singapore is how easy it is to get around – not only are there taxis available everywhere, but the bus and metro are clean, safe, and easy to use. I decided to take the bus to Chinatown one evening while my dad went to go meet his old school friends. Chinatown felt like it does in any major city of the world – vibrant, full of sounds, colors, and delicious smells. I wandered through the main area taking it all in, and of course, found myself at one of Singapore’s many hawker centers (food stalls) for some delicious char kway teow, which are stir-fried noodles.
If you ever are in Singapore and take the mass rapid transit, you’ll see signs everywhere that say durians are not allowed on board. Durian is the notoriously odorous fruit native to Southeast Asia, and, I have found, an acquired taste. Every time we’ve gone back to visit Singapore, my dad tries to get my sister and I to eat durian, but he’s been unsuccessful in converting us to fans of the spiky fruit. This time, I tried a durian cake, and despite my love for cake, I don’t think I’ll be going back for more!
As you can imagine, there is A LOT of eating that happens in Singapore, so I attempted to balance that out with morning runs along the beach. I loved starting my day of sight-seeing and eating with a peaceful run, watching the sunrise above the ocean.
One morning, we went to the Botanic Gardens which have some of the most beautiful orchids I’ve ever seen. After the gardens, we stopped by Komala Vilas, one of Singapore’s oldest Indian vegetarian restaurants. The restaurant is on Serangoon Road, which is the main road through Singapore’s Little India, and also features several temples, mosques, and churches. One of the many things I love about Singapore is the clear mish-mash of people, cultures, and religions, all [seemingly] living in harmony. I ordered a delicious mango lassi (not watery, perfect thickness, and rich flavor), and a cone dosa – one of the most impressive dosas I’ve ever had! Once we’d stuffed ourselves with dosas, my dad went to meet one of his school friends and I went to the National Gallery, which has an excellent selection of art work and historical artifacts.
My dad and I finished out our day at Marina Bay Sands, first visiting the ArtScience Museum and then heading to the top of the hotel, which is famous for its architecture and housing the world’s largest infinity pool. The museum was incredible – lots of hands on exhibits that seamlessly blend art, science, culture, and technology. This is a must-do when in Singapore, and you definitely want to give yourself enough time to enjoy all the exhibits.
We made several trips to one of our favorite areas – East Coast Park, which is the park closest to where my grandmother and uncle live. There, we went for chili crab, which is an iconic seafood dish where crab is cooked in a sweet, savory, and spicy tomato-based sauce and served with steamed and fried mantous (Chinese buns). Eating chili crab is very much a hands-on affair, and you can’t be afraid to get your hands a little dirty to fully enjoy the experience of eating chili crab.
Of course, no visit to Singapore is complete without a trip to see the famous Merlion, which is the country’s mascot. I was lucky enough to be in Singapore at the same time as one of my oldest friends who happened to be backpacking through Asia, so we managed to meet up and spend the afternoon together sightseeing and eating! Neither of us had been to Din Tai Fung, which is a well known dumpling restaurant with locations around the world, so we headed there for some delicious dim sum.
On our second to last day in Singapore, we visited some family friends to celebrate the Lunar New Year. There, I got to participate in a uniquely Singaporean/Malaysian new year tradition called Yu Sheng*, which is a salad of vegetables, raw fish, and fruits. Each ingredient of the salad represents a particular auspicious symbol (abundance, luck, money, long life, prosperity, etc.), and as you add each to the plate you recite greetings of prosperity and good luck. Finally, once everything is on the plate, you gather around and toss all the ingredients up in the air using chopsticks, and say “lo hei” seven times – the idea is to spread around the good luck. This was such a fun tradition to learn about and be a part of, but in the age of COVID, it’s hard to imagine gathering at someone’s house with people from different families, crowding around a table, and tossing noodles up in the air!
Two weeks in Singapore went by very quickly, and I’m looking forward to my next trip where I can continue to visit the sights and learn about the rich history of this city-state. Singapore is a wonderful place to visit for anyone, including those with children, as there is something for everyone!
I will leave you with more pictures of the delicious food in Singapore: noodles with char siu (BBQ pork), wonton soup, paratha, and Hainanese chicken rice, which is poached chicken served with rice, chili, and cucumber garnishes.
*For more information about Yu Sheng, check out this website.
Flying Gourmet 