Singapore river at Clark QuayLorenz from Lucerne and I cooked chicken satay with peanut sauce, char kway teow, and sago pudding in our heritage foods class. After snorkeling for two weeks, I was captivated by the SEA Aquarium on Sentosa Island.The bike tour was wonderful! (background: Marina Bay Sands hotel)My fantastic guide even took me out on the F1 track.views from atop the Marina Bay Sands hotelThe infinity pool on top of MBS is the world’s largest rooftop pool.Marina Bay Gardens and its “super trees”lucky to catch the orchid exhibit in the Flower DomeThat’s about 100 feet of indoor waterfall in the Cloud Forest dome. All of this makes our little US Botanic Garden seem…quaint.
A tiny taste of the food scene
Singapore is renowned for its melting-pot food culture, primarily comprised of Chinese, Indian, and Malay influences. This is just a few of the 240+ hawker stalls in the Chinatown complex. Each stall specializes in a particular dish, the recipe for which can cost upwards of $1 million. This stall has a Michelin star! Cheapest Michelin meal you’ll ever eat: soya sauce chicken rice.? Daikon radishes (white carrots) are shredded and formed into cakes that are fried, then sliced and stir-fried again with egg and other goodness. The “black” version has a sweet soy sauce added. I preferred the white, though.This is a close relation of the dessert called chendol. The beans and corn were good; the green and pink rice jellies were tasteless.
Durian: the haunting
That innocent-looking little ice cream is durian ice cream. Imagine rotten onions and garlic. It was truly foul, and I finished it anyway. I was STILL tasting it hours later, much to my disgust. It is the national fruit – they love this nasty thing. It is also not allowed in hotels due to the awful stink.They claim Symphony Hall was not intentionally constructed like a durian. Right….Happy birthday Singapore! It was exciting being here for your national day festivities.
Hmmm, the adventurous eating of durian. I’ve heard it smelled terrible but tasted good, so if it both stinks and tastes bad, I’m not getting the attraction, but glad you tried it to see. Singapore looks really fabulous. I’m awaiting the next leg of the journey!!!
Talk about eating adventures! Not sure I’d survive the test. š
I’ve heard that Singapore is the most expensive city in the world, did you find it prohibitive?
Hi Eliza!
I did not find it horrible. The exchange rate is roughly $1 SGD to $.75 USD, so it is working in our favor. I think it is super expensive to live there, perhaps because of the real estate, parking, and toll roads. I was unfortunately there during a major holiday, so the Holiday Inn wasn’t as cheap as I would have liked, but I wasn’t directly downtown, so the rate wasn’t exactly horrible, either. The food was ridiculously cheap since I ate mostly convenience store snacks or at hawker stalls. The restaurants did seem on the pricey side. Their metro was also pretty cheap (compared to DC). The aquarium and gardens were on the pricey side, but considering how amazing they are, I thought it worth the money.
It felt about like visiting Chicago cost-wise If you splurged for a fancier hotel and lots of restaurants, it would feel more like NYC on the wallet.
J
The Journey in Between 
Hmmm, the adventurous eating of durian. I’ve heard it smelled terrible but tasted good, so if it both stinks and tastes bad, I’m not getting the attraction, but glad you tried it to see. Singapore looks really fabulous. I’m awaiting the next leg of the journey!!!
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Talk about eating adventures! Not sure I’d survive the test. š
I’ve heard that Singapore is the most expensive city in the world, did you find it prohibitive?
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Hi Eliza!
I did not find it horrible. The exchange rate is roughly $1 SGD to $.75 USD, so it is working in our favor. I think it is super expensive to live there, perhaps because of the real estate, parking, and toll roads. I was unfortunately there during a major holiday, so the Holiday Inn wasn’t as cheap as I would have liked, but I wasn’t directly downtown, so the rate wasn’t exactly horrible, either. The food was ridiculously cheap since I ate mostly convenience store snacks or at hawker stalls. The restaurants did seem on the pricey side. Their metro was also pretty cheap (compared to DC). The aquarium and gardens were on the pricey side, but considering how amazing they are, I thought it worth the money.
It felt about like visiting Chicago cost-wise If you splurged for a fancier hotel and lots of restaurants, it would feel more like NYC on the wallet.
J
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What a wonderful adventure! I think Iād skip the durian for a variety of reasons, though.
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Iām so curious to try the durian fruit now… I love garlic, but not rotten garlic.
Fascinating to follow your journey! Also the botanical garden looks amazing.
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