Five Days in Singapore: Fab Cuisine, Funky Neighborhoods and Deep Green Gardens

SINGAPORE – There’s plenty of flash in this island state at the southern tip of Malaysia; designer shops such as Gucci and Prada on dazzling Orchard Road, wondrous buildings by world-renowned architects, and the biggest names in luxury hotels.

But the things that struck me on his most recent visit with Air Canada – my second time in Singapore – were the old neighbourhoods, the greenery and the food. I don’t know that I’ve been to any other destination that puts so much emphasis on recipes and finding the perfect restaurant. And not just the places looking for star ratings in fancy French tire company publications, but also Mom and Pop noodle joints and hawker centre stalls where people line up for an hour or more for the perfect chicken/rice dish.

Here’s a look at great ways to enjoy an incredibly diverse, fascinating Asian city, a review of the posh Four Seasons Hotel Singapore, and a look at Air Canada’s YVR-SIN flights.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

Singapore is a city state of some 5 million people on a set of islands at the southern tip of Malaysia, and just a stone’s throw from Indonesia. Our tour guide said the population is roughly 75% Chinese, 13% Malaysian and 9% Indian, with the rest a mix of mostly Eurasian. In some ways it feels very much like Toronto or Vancouver.

It’s also a very, very, safe city. Pickpocketing sometimes occurs, but serious crime is almost non-existent. The government here can be controlling. But it doesn’t seem to detract from the vibrancy or the diversity I find so appealing.

Singapore also is one of the greenest cities you’ll ever see. I spotted several parking garages covered with thick shrubs and trees, and newer condos and apartment buildings often feature floor after floor of deep green jungle growth. The main road leading to and from the remarkable SIN/Changi airport is lined with what must be tens of thousands of brilliant and soft pink bougainvillea bushes that go on and on for several kilometres. 

GETTING HERE

Air Canada began direct flights from YVR to SIN in early April, with four flights a week for now. It’s the only direct flight to Singapore from Canada. It’s Air Canada’s longest flight, at nearly 16 hours heading to Asia. But the 787-9 we flew was quite comfortable.

Shortly after takeoff, I enjoyed a good, spicy chicken dish with rice in a comfortable economy seat. We were offered sandwiches and cookies around the halfway point, and I wolfed down a very nice dish of Singaporean noodles before we landed.

One of the great things about flying with Air Canada is the in-flight entertainment system, which has more than 1,000 hours of movies, TV shows and music. Air Canada also has offers live television and sports on many flights. I took advantage of the down time from work to watch a couple of fine shows on Apple TV+, including “Lessons in Chemistry” and the fine British spy show “Slow Horses.” On the way back I caught the engaging Napoleon movie with Joaquin Phoenix and another “Slow Horses” episode. I had a nice lunch with chicken masala, sweet potato and cole slaw. They served curry chicken sandwiches part way through the flight, and then a choice of an omelette or nicely spiced Singapore noodles an hour or two prior to landing.

Flights out of Vancouver depart just after midnight, so if you’re starting elsewhere in Canada you’ve got plenty of time to make a connection at YVR. You’re also flying from what is arguably Canada’s finest airport to one of the top one or two airports on the planet, Singapore Changi.

STAYING

We had five nights at the luxurious Four Seasons Hotel Singapore. It’s a stunning property with the kind of attentive service you’d expect, as well as lovely rooms. I had a very large suite on the 12^th floor, with a big tub and a large rainshower and two sinks in the bathroom, plenty of work space, an espresso coffee machine, a big-screen TV, a Bose sound system, a mini-bar and a super comfortable king-size bed. Not to mention a pillow menu, with nearly a dozen choices of types to choose from.

There’s a lap pool and hot tub on the third floor, next to the fabulous executive club lounge, and also a rooftop pool on the 20^th floor that’ s great for families. The spa is gorgeous and the well-equipped gym looks like something out of a home decor magazine. The hotel is in a quiet area of Singapore, just a few steps from Orchard Road’s luxury shopping scene.

EATING and DRINKING

Our tour guide during our five-day visit to Singapore was the ever-smiling, ever-polite and always informative Anthony Ang, who seems to know the food scene in Singapore as well as a cab driver in London knows the best way from Notting Hill to Downing Street.

Ang told us that a common greeting in Singlish (a pidgin mix of Singaporean dialect and English) is “You makan already,” which means “You eat already.” I honestly don’t know that I’ve been in such a food-obsessed destination as this. Maybe Paris. But I don’t even know about that.

The national dish seems to be chicken rice; poached chicken and rice flavoured with chicken stock and spices. Some places serve the rice plain, others add green onion slices or other bits. Another fave is carrot cake, but don’t go thinking about North American desserts with sweet icing. Carrot cake in Singapore is chopped turnip that’s fried with various spices, and it’s delicious. I also love laksa, a gently spicy soup with noodles and, usually, coconut milk. We had an exceptional dinner at Candelnut, the first Michelin-star restaurant that focuses on Peranakan dishes (a mixture of Chinese and Malaysian cuisine).

At the Four Seasons, we were treated to wonderful breakfasts (and pitch-perfect coffee lattes) at their Executive Club Lounge and also at One-Ninety restaurant, which has a tremendous buffet. We also were treated to dinner at Nobu, which serves an excellent black cod with miso, and also to a multi-course meal at Jiang-Nan Chun that included mesquite-roasted Peking duck.

Another great highlight was at the Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre, where there are dozens of food stalls offering inexpensive, tasty local food, including chicken rice, laksa, carrot cake and hundreds of other dishes. We were told there more than 100 hawker centres in Singapore, each with an immense variety of food and loyal customers who no doubt swear they know the best one in town.

Not far from the Four Seasons we found a McDonald’s with a large Japanese garden out front, complete with a pond that was teeming with small turtles.

Brass Lion Distillery

This is a great place to try the first gin made in Singapore. Owner Jamie Koh is passionate about gin, and she uses a number of local botanicals. They also make a gin with blue pea flowers that’s quite pretty, and good in a gin and tonic.

Raffles Hotel

Ang told us celebrities such as Prince William, Charlie Chaplin, Diana Krall and Michael Jackson have stayed at the hotel, which is also famous as the birthplace of the Singapore Sling cocktail. Ang said Jackson arranged to have his photo taken near the hotel pool with a famous orangutan from the Singapore Zoo named Ah Meng. He also said Ah Meng was on hand to cut the ribbon at the opening of the first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in Singapore.

SIGHTSEEING

Kampong Glam

This is a wonderful part of town, a low-rise district that’s a centre for Singaporean Muslims and features a wide variety of engaging shops and restaurants. One of the highlights is colourful Haji Lane, which has pizza places, coffee shops, and other buildings decorated with wild murals. There’s an eye-catching clothing store called Vintage Wkend and a shop called Elephant Parade that sells small hand-painted elephants and donates 20% of its net profits to elephant welfare and conservation projects.  The top attraction in the area is the beautiful Sultan Mosque. Ang told us that the black circles below the mosque’s gold dome are empty bottles of soy sauce donated by local people with no money to give to help erect the building. 

Little India

Another great, vibrant area of the city that feels like it’s a world away from the glass high-rises and fancy shops. Small stores offer up rich spices like fiery orange turmeric, as well as glittering dresses and mounds of fresh flowers. We visited a hawker centre and wet market with stalls selling biryani, mutton, coffee, fresh squid, blue crabs, and a place selling pakoras the size of a baseball.

Chinatown

Our first stop was at Nanyang Old Coffee, where I tried a sweet glass of half-tea, half-coffee with condensed milk. One of their specialties is kaya toast; slices of toasted bread slathered with butter and coconut jam, often served with a side of boiled eggs. We had a short visit at the towering, multi-layered Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which has beautiful gold interior walls and thousands of miniature Buddha statues. We also took an hour at Tea Chapter Trading Pte Ltd. to learn about the proper ways to serve tea, and to learn about different varieties. No less an authority than Queen Elizabeth once dropped in to taste their teas. You can get a vigorous, deep tissue massage around Chinatown for as little as $45 Singapore dollars (almost exactly the same in CAD).

Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a 165-year-old tropical garden in central Singapore, and it’s the only tropical garden listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s an astonishingly lush spot with deep red, wild ginger, multi-coloured heliconia, a valley lined with palm trees and a truly incredible array of orchids. There’s also a climate-controlled building for orchids that’s not only filled with stunning varieties but is (thankfully) air conditioned to boot. We were told that the process of creating hybrid orchids was perfected at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, and that there are varieties named after everyone from Lady Di to Andrea Bocelli. There’s also a cola tree named after Nelson Mandela.

Gardens by the Bay

This is one of the most famous sights in Singapore. The outside portion of the gardens features giant metallic “trees” that are covered with growing plants. You’ll also find two giant, indoor, glass domes, Cloud Forest and Flower Dome. Cloud Forest is the better known of the two and features a 35-meter, misty waterfall. There’s also an elevated walk that reveals waxy red anthuriums, massive begonias and so much more. Flower Dome is geared to cooler, drier climes and features everything from tiny, beautiful succulents to African baobab trees and, in season, Dutch tulips. The Flower Dome might be a bit underwhelming if you first visit the Cloud Forest first, so I suggest Flower Dome, then the Cloud Forest for the grand finale.

Marina Bay Sands

This is probably the closest thing to Las Vegas in Singapore, a massive, three-tower hotel/food/shopping and casino complex that’s famous for its rooftop infinity pool. You can pay $32 (non-peak hours) to $36 to take in the view from the Skypark Observation Deck on the 56^th floor. But you can also take an elevator to the rooftop Lavo Italian Restaurant and Bar enjoy a similar view, while spending your money on food and drink. You can get a Singapore Tiger beer for $17 or a cocktail for about $27 and enjoy almost the same view as the one at the observation deck. Of course, you could also order a meal.

Sentosa Island

This is a large piece of land at the south end of Singapore that features several nice beaches and beach cafes, hotels, zip lines, a Universal Studios and more. One fun activity is making your own perfume or cologne at a place called Scentopia. We reached the island via a fun cable car ride from the top of Mt. Farber, which has a nice restaurant called Aroba Hilltop Garden & Bistro.

SHOPPING

Singapore is famous for its luxury shopping scene, with just about every major label you can think of. There are several high-end malls, including ION Orchard and Paragon Shopping Centre. Design Orchard is much more casual that Ang said serves as an incubator for new, local businesses. I found lovely handbags, scarves, pretty jewelry, and Singaporean cookbooks.  I found it a delightful change from the sea of Burberry and Gucci that’s all around it. If you’re not into luxury shopping, you can find inexpensive souvenirs in many areas, including Little India, Haji Lane in Kampong Glam, and Chinatown. The Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay have fine gift shops.

NOTE: Air Canada paid for my flight and hotel. The airline did not review this article prior to publication.