Singapore (Day 67): 23 Hour Layover

May 6, 2016

We had a good rest in Singapore at the Bliss Hotel. The bed was very comfortable, but if you’re a light sleeper, I wouldn’t recommend this hotel. You could hear everything in the rooms next door as well as what’s going on in the hallway (a lot of people got up early, probably to catch flights). We washed up and headed out for the day at 10:00am. Our first stop on our day in Singapore was to go to Maxwell Food Centre for some Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Singapore is known for its hawker markets and this was a priority for me on our layover here. I love Hainanese Chicken Rice, and at home, my favourite is from Cafe D’lite in Aberdeen or Mamalee’s in Kits (which used to be called Cafe D’lite), so that’s what I was comparing Singapore’s rice to.

Bliss Hotel is located right beside the Chinatown SMRT station, which is only about a 6 minute walk to the Maxwell Food Centre. The chicken rice stall that is the most famous is called, Tian Tian, and according to Trip Advisor, it opened at 11am. When we got to the market, we found Tian Tian and it was already open. There was no line up, which was surprising, but I guess it was only 10:30am. I ordered a medium sized chicken rice plate ($5 SGD = $4.75 CAD). We read online that Tian Tian had a former disgruntled chef who left them to open his own stall, called Ah-Tia, a few stalls down at Maxwell. We tried one from each stall to see whose was better. They tasted the same to both of us, the rice at Tian Tian was a bit softer (and better) than Ah-Tia (But Ah-Tia’s set was only $3.50 SGD and it included soup).

Our walk to Maxwell through Chinatown
Our walk to Maxwell through Chinatown
Hindu Templ on Pagoda Street in Chinatown, Singapore
Hindu Temple on Pagoda Street in Chinatown, Singapore
Chinatown Street
Chinatown Street
Almost at Maxwell Food Centre. The main entrance is under construction.
Almost at Maxwell Food Centre. The main entrance is under construction.
Tian Tian at Maxwell
Tian Tian at Maxwell
Tian Tian's medium sized chicken rice for $5 SGD. They have a small for $3.50 SGD.
Tian Tian’s medium sized chicken rice for $5 SGD. They have a small for $3.50 SGD.
Chicken rice from Ah-Tai ($3.50 SGD = $3.32 CAD). They only have one size.
Chicken rice from Ah-Tai ($3.50 SGD = $3.32 CAD). They only have one size and it came with chicken broth.
Maxwell Food Centre, Chinatown
Maxwell Food Centre, Chinatown

So what’s our verdict on the chicken rice in Singapore? The rice itself was the best I’ve had, but I wasn’t that blown away by the chicken. They served me all white meat so maybe it isn’t fair to fully judge, but I actually like Cafe D’lite’s chicken better. The white meat was juicy but it wasn’t as flavourful as I would’ve hoped for and the chilli dipping sauce was very spicy (not a sweet and tangy spice like at home).  Maybe I hyped the chicken rice too much in my head, but in actuality, Vancouver does have some of the best food and I don’t take that for granted.

Maxwell Food Centre only has ceiling fans so it was very hot inside. We had a bottle of free water we got from the hotel, and I drank it all in a couple of minutes. We saw a bunch of fruit juice stalls and got fresh watermelon juice for $2 SGD = $1.90 CAD.

Watermelon juice for $2 SGD
Watermelon juice for $2 SGD
Maxwell Food Centre
Maxwell Food Centre from the other side

After brunch, we walked towards the water to see Singapore’s Merlion fountain. Singapore has some really interesting architecture which I really appreciated. Before coming to Singapore, I knew it was a city full ex-pats but I didn’t realize it was so multicultural on its own. I would prefer to live in Singapore than Hong Kong, mostly because the city is quite attractive, clean, not as crowded, and everyone speaks English. I know you can move to Hong Kong or most cities without fluently speaking their native tongue, but I also understand that living in Hong Kong without being able to speak much Cantonese is restricting if you can’t really communicate well with coworkers on a casual basis.

Red Dot Design Museum
Red Dot Design Museum
Singapore's famous Marina Bay Sands view
Singapore’s famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel
Merlion
Merlion
Tried to get all the Singaporean highlights in one picture
Tried to get all the Singaporean highlights in one picture
Mini Merlion. Finally some reprieve from the scorching sun.
Mini Merlion. Finally some reprieve from the scorching sun.

We took a bunch of pictures around Collyer Quay, which is where you’ll find a good view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Merlion. The waterfront area was full of SE Asian tourists, mostly Thai. I think we got the most sun and truly experienced the Singaporean sun in those 15 minutes we were out. Any area with a bit of shade, there were people huddled together. For once, I saw the appeal of using an umbrella to block out the sun and I wished I had mine with me.

After we finished taking our pictures, we went to the Fullerton Hotel, which is across the street. It’s a beautiful looking hotel that used to be Singapore’s main post office. It felt so good to be in an air conditioned building. If you’re ever needing a reprieve from the Singapore sun, I highly recommend hanging out in the Fullerton Hotel’s lobby. They have free wifi and their washrooms are very nice.

Fullerton Hotel in Collyer Quay
Fullerton Hotel in Collyer Quay

After taking a break at the Fullerton, we walked down the street to another hawker’s market, Lau Pa Sat. This market is located in the middle of the downtown/financial core and is a popular lunch spot for office workers. We went to Lau Pa Sat at basically the worst possible time, 12:10pm. Lau Pa Sat is a nice looking market, but like Maxwell, there’s no AC. Since the sun had been scorching for a while now (34 degrees and humid), the the market was very warm. We did a few loops around the market to see what we were going to try. The main reason why I wanted to go to Lau Pa Sat was for their satays, but after we arrived I read that the satay stalls are only open at night (7pm and onwards) and are set up outside the market. I guess we’ll have to come back to Singapore another time.

Lau Pa Sat Festival Pavilion
Lau Pa Sat Festival Pavilion
Inside Lau Pa Sat
Inside Lau Pa Sat
Sugar cane juice ($1.80 SGD = $1.70 CAD) and dried pork belly noodles ($5.80 SGD = $5.50 CAD)
Sugar cane juice ($1.80 SGD = $1.70 CAD) and dried pork belly noodles ($5.80 SGD = $5.50 CAD)
Ban Mian, Tim's noodle place.
Ban Mian, Tim’s noodle place.
Char Kway Teow ($4 SGD = $ 3.80 CAD)
Char Kway Teow ($4 SGD = $ 3.80 CAD)
My noodle stall
My noodle stall

Our meal at Lau Pa Sat was by far the sweatiest meal we’ve ever had. I don’t think I’ve sweat so much in my life while eating a meal. When I tried to put my elbows on the table, they would slip off because my arms were drenched. If we were to go back to Lau Pa Sat, I would try their Indian food, it looked really good.

We passed by all the closed satay stalls on the way out
We passed by all the closed satay stalls on the way out

After Lau Pa Sat, we headed towards Clarke Quay. There are shops in the area which we took our time to walk through (thanks to the strong AC). There are also a lot of bars and restaurants that aren’t open until dinner. Clarke Quay area seems like it would be more fun at night time, so during the day it wasn’t that interesting to walk around. You can take boat rides from Clarke Quay to Collyer Quay, where we were earlier.

Clark Quay
Clark Quay
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Green tea flavoured vanilla ice cream from McDonald’s. (0.90 SGD = $0.85 CAD)

Down the street from the Clark Quay area is a fun and colourful building. It used to be the Singapore Police Station and now it’s the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth. Inside the atrium area there’s a brief history run down of the building and police history in the city. Apparently Singapore used to be a crime ridden city back in the day.

Colourful former Singapore Police Station, now the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth
Colourful former Singapore Police Station, now the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth

We had about 3 hours until we planned on going to the airport. At this point in the afternoon, we were both feeling really tired from the heat and walking around with our day packs (old Macbook Pros are not light). We hung around the City Hall/Raffles area and took refuge in Raffles City Mall, which had a lot of internationally branded stores. We decided to hang out at the food hall to relax and sit for a bit before picking one of the stalls to eat from.

Raffles City
Raffles City
Inside the food court at Raffles City
Inside the food court at Raffles City

I was excited when we saw the choices we had for dinner because there was a “HK Style BBQ” stall. I told Tim I had been craving Cantonese BBQ for a while, so this was perfect. Unfortunately, this did not satisfy my cravings. While it was good, it wasn’t really the same. They poured a thick brown sauce on top of the meat and rice, which if I had known they did, I would have asked them to put it on the side. I think the sauce threw things off for me. Maybe I’ll find some good BBQ in Chinatowns in Australia.

Tim got curry chicken. It was quite spicy, but good. ($5.50 SGD = $5.22 CAD)
Tim got curry chicken. It was quite spicy, but good. ($5.50 SGD = $5.22 CAD)
My Cantonese style BBQ - char siu and BBQ duck
My Cantonese style BBQ – char siu and BBQ duck, it came with a bowl of soup ($6 SGD = $5.70 CAD)

At around 6pm, we made our way to the train station across the street (City Hall stop) and headed to Changi Airport. It was rush hour on a Friday afternoon, it was busy but it wasn’t too crowded. It’s hard to identify office workers in Singapore because they are dressed fairly casual here. I think because it’s so hot here, people just don’t care.

St.Andrew's Cathedral
St.Andrew’s Cathedral right outside City Hall SMRT station
Waiting for the train to Changi Airport
Waiting for the train to Changi Airport

We were flying out of Terminal 3 at Changi, which is different from the terminal we arrived in. Terminal 3 was much nicer and is the largest terminal at the airport. This was the first airport we’ve been to that you go through customs before you clear security. Once we got through customs, we were in the shopping area (which is pretty good) and we realized we didn’t even go through security yet. At Changi, you go through security when you enter your gate area, right before boarding. It’s a different system and one that I don’t really get the logic behind. If you wanted to buy anything from duty free, you had to buy it at least 90 minutes before your flight because you couldn’t take it through security with you. Also, people are waiting around any way and usually once you go through security and customs, you just need to relax before your flight. The way it is at Changi, you still have one more thing to line up for and another stage to deter you from buying a bottled drink from a restaurant.

Terminal 3 departure check in floor at Changi
Terminal 3 departure check in floor at Changi
Brookside chocolates from Surrey to Singapore. $27 for a bag!
Brookside chocolates from Surrey to Singapore. $27 for a bag! They sell those at London Drugs.
Ippudo at Changi
Ippudo at Changi. Tim probably would’ve wanted this if we didn’t eat already.

We boarded our flight to Melbourne and it left at 9:15pm. The flight was quite full and our seats weren’t the best. We were in the middle of the plane right in front of one of the washrooms. The only upside was that no one was behind us. I was surprised that the flight time was only 6 hours and 20 minutes (online I read it was 7 hours and 20 minutes). I slept for most of the flight and only woke up when it was time for breakfast.

Singapore Airlines is really good. I would recommend it if you have the chance. They’re part of Star Alliance and they don’t charge fees the way Air Canada does (on reward tickets). It’s too bad they pulled their Vancouver route a few years ago.

Steps today: 26,000

Taipei/Singapore (Day 66): Heading South

May 5, 2016

Our three nights in Taipei went by really quickly. We were flying out later in the afternoon and going to Singapore. We woke up pretty late and took our time packing up. Mom went to get us breakfast and made us some milk tea (which was really yummy). She had to go out for lunch with some old friends, so Tim and I were on our own.

Before we knew it, it was already 1pm! Originally we thought we’d go for beef noodle, but the places we had in mind weren’t that close to the apartment. We decided to go back to Tonghua Street to go for a quick lunch at Formosa Chang’s and grab bubble tea for later. We headed out without checking the weather, a jacket, or an umbrella (Tim: foreshadowing). While we were walking we felt a couple of heavy rain drops and knew it was going to be a huge down pour. We quickly got undercover and into Formosa Chang’s for lunch.

Outside Formosa Chang's on Tonghua St.
Formosa Chang’s take out counter on Tonghua St.
We ordered two bowls of stewed pork on rice (35 NT = $1.38 CAD each) and a plate of "A-choy" (50 NT = $1.98 CAD)
We ordered two bowls of stewed pork on rice (35 NT = $1.38 CAD each) and a plate of “A-choy” (50 NT = $1.98 CAD)
Fried chicken cutlet (70 NT = $2.75 CAD)
Fried chicken cutlet (70 NT = $2.75 CAD)
Thunderstorms and torrential downpour
Thunderstorms and torrential downpour
Our last bubble tea in Taipei at 50 Lan - light oolong with coconut jelly, small and big pearls (35 NT = $1.38 CAD)
Our last bubble tea in Taipei at 50 Lan – light oolong with coconut jelly, small and big pearls (35 NT = $1.38 CAD). This one is our favourite combo for a refreshing drink.

We walked really quickly back to the apartment to try to stay as dry as possible. Luckily we were both wearing clothes that would dry quickly since everything else was packed. We got back to the apartment and did the final pack up and waited for Mom to get back from lunch before heading down to meet Uncle Albert.

As mentioned in my last post, I’m a sentimental person so it was sad leaving Taipei. It has become the closest place we had to a home this trip. We have had a lot of good memories here with family and friends, so when we said bye, I obviously cried (but tried to hide it as best as possible…). Tim is touched that I showed so much emotion to his Motherland.

The drive out to Taoyuan Airport is around an hour from the city. It’s extremely kind of Uncle Albert to drive us back and forth from the airport so many times this trip. They are building an airport train line out from Taipei Main Station to the airport, but it’s completion has been delayed quite a bit. Hopefully the next time we visit it will be done.

We were flying Singapore Airlines (both for the first time) and we left out of Terminal 2 of the International Terminal. This was the first time we have been to this terminal and it’s really nice. They had a good selection of luxury brands, Taiwanese souvenirs, and duty free shops. Comparing the prices of Longchamps back at Taoyuan and Incheon, they are about the same. If the USD was stronger (like it was a few months back), than Taoyuan would be cheaper since their prices are in NT.

Outside Taoyuan at Terminal 2
Outside Taoyuan at Terminal 2 (Tim: bag was 11.5kg)
Terminal 2 of the International Terminal at Taoyuan
Terminal 2 of the International Terminal at Taoyuan
Tim with the Formosan Black Bear
Tim with the Formosan Black Bear
Flight SQ 879 to Singapore
Flight SQ 879 to Singapore

I was looking forward to flying with Singapore Airlines since I’ve always heard good things about it and it’s consistently ranked one of the best airlines in the world. After my first flight with them, I would have to agree, it’s probably the best airline I’ve flown. The flight attendants were all very friendly (and pretty), they gave you a hot towel when you sat down to wipe your hands/face (and we were in economy), they came around with drinks (great drink selection) more than 5 times on a 4 hour flight and their meals were good (you get Haagen Daaz ice cream).

The movie selection was also great – they had over 150 movies (those are just the Hollywood movies) to watch, including some really recent releases. I ended up watching “The Intern” with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro (I liked it!), 3 episodes of the “New Girl”, and Anthony Bourdain in Tanzania. There was no turbulence on this flight so it was more enjoyable than the flight a few days ago.

Drink and dinner menu
Drink and dinner menu
Drink menu
Drink menu
The highlight of the dinner
The highlight of the dinner

We finally landed at Singapore’s Changi Airport after what felt like a long flight. It was 10:20pm when we landed, we went through customs and headed for the SMRT to get us into the city. We packed an overnight day pack so we didn’t have to pick up our backpacks (they’re going straight to Melbourne) (Tim: fingers crossed).

Changi Airport SMRT stop
Changi Airport SMRT stop

We booked a hotel near the Chinatown SMRT stop through Expedia. It was $139 CAD a night and is in a relatively good location – about an 8 minute walk to a couple of the hawker food markets I wanted to go to. After a couple of transfers, it took us about 35 minutes to get to our hotel. We arrived at our hotel just before midnight. We checked in, washed up and relaxed. The hotel room is quite nice – clean, rainfall shower head, and a large bed.

Bliss Hotel
Bliss Hotel
Our large bed. We've been used to doubles this trip.
Our large bed. We’ve been used to doubles this trip.
Toilet and rain fall shower
Toilet and shower room

Tomorrow we’ll have until about 7pm until we have to go back to Changi for our flight to Melbourne at 9:30pm.

Steps today: 8,000