In Singapore for 48 hours. What to do besides eating?
January 7, 2012 10:01 PM Subscribe
In Singapore for 48 hours. Hawker center recommendations? And what to do besides eating?
The significant other and I are going to be in Singapore for a short 48 hours before moving on to other adventures. We know we want to have every meal at the hawker centers, as we are both adventurous eaters who love most flavors of Asian food. So - a couple questions. Which stalls at which hawker centers are your recommendations? And what else should we do when we're in town? We've never been. I'm usually content to eat and to wander around neighborhoods when I'm in a city for only a couple of days, but I want to make sure I don't want to miss out on any must-sees.
I've done some research - I'm not much into touristy stuff, so the whole having a Singapore Sling at Raffles thing and Sentosa Island aren't so appealing. Also, I live in a big city, so I don't care about shopping that I can do just as easily at home. What are the truly awesome must-sees in Singapore (as opposed to just the normal tourist check-boxes?) I've heard the zoo and the night zoo are great, but I'd want to make sure it's an ethical zoo environment, as I have no desire to see animals mistreated.
Also, we are into nightlife, but we'll be there on a Monday and Tuesday, unfortunately. Any fun Monday or Tuesday night activities?
Thanks!!
The significant other and I are going to be in Singapore for a short 48 hours before moving on to other adventures. We know we want to have every meal at the hawker centers, as we are both adventurous eaters who love most flavors of Asian food. So - a couple questions. Which stalls at which hawker centers are your recommendations? And what else should we do when we're in town? We've never been. I'm usually content to eat and to wander around neighborhoods when I'm in a city for only a couple of days, but I want to make sure I don't want to miss out on any must-sees.
I've done some research - I'm not much into touristy stuff, so the whole having a Singapore Sling at Raffles thing and Sentosa Island aren't so appealing. Also, I live in a big city, so I don't care about shopping that I can do just as easily at home. What are the truly awesome must-sees in Singapore (as opposed to just the normal tourist check-boxes?) I've heard the zoo and the night zoo are great, but I'd want to make sure it's an ethical zoo environment, as I have no desire to see animals mistreated.
Also, we are into nightlife, but we'll be there on a Monday and Tuesday, unfortunately. Any fun Monday or Tuesday night activities?
Thanks!!
Definitely avoid Newton Circus, it's an overpriced tourist trap. Red Hill is a basic suburban hawker centre but there's a stall there that does wonderful black carrot cake (Note: not really cake, nor made from carrots). There's also a good hawker centre down at Harbourside near Tanjong Pagar - they do good popiah if I remember correctly. If you can drag yourself away from the hawker centres for one meal, go to Komala Vilas in Little India for all-you-can-eat South Indian vegetarian. And if you want to diversify even further, go to the Golden Mile complex for seriously good Thai food, or the Peninsula Plaza for Burmese (I recommend the pickled tea leaves).
Battle Box at Fort Canning Park is fun if you like WWII history and weird animatronic soldiers. It's the bunker where British and Malayan forces staged their last stand against the invading Japanese, and many of the tours are led by veterans of the war. The canopy walk through the treetops of the Southern Ridges is nice, particularly at night when the bridges are lit up with coloured lights. The night zoo is really great, and I didn't see anything that seemed unethical. The enclosures are pretty naturalistic - that's one of the reasons it's so popular.
posted by embrangled at 11:50 PM on January 7, 2012
Battle Box at Fort Canning Park is fun if you like WWII history and weird animatronic soldiers. It's the bunker where British and Malayan forces staged their last stand against the invading Japanese, and many of the tours are led by veterans of the war. The canopy walk through the treetops of the Southern Ridges is nice, particularly at night when the bridges are lit up with coloured lights. The night zoo is really great, and I didn't see anything that seemed unethical. The enclosures are pretty naturalistic - that's one of the reasons it's so popular.
posted by embrangled at 11:50 PM on January 7, 2012
Oh, and check out the archives of the Travelling Hungry Boy. He really knows his hawker food.
posted by embrangled at 11:53 PM on January 7, 2012
posted by embrangled at 11:53 PM on January 7, 2012
Chinese New Year lights are going up - so taking a walk through Chinatown would be nice.
Walk through the different ethnic neighbourhoods and get a flavour of multicultural Singapore - Little India as mentioned by embrangled and Joo Chiat/Geylang for Malay shops - visit a Chinese Temple, a mosque and an Indian temple
Of the museums, try the Asian civilizations museum
And a day out to Sentosa for Fort Siloso and the Japanese occupation museum
posted by infini at 12:08 AM on January 8, 2012
Walk through the different ethnic neighbourhoods and get a flavour of multicultural Singapore - Little India as mentioned by embrangled and Joo Chiat/Geylang for Malay shops - visit a Chinese Temple, a mosque and an Indian temple
Of the museums, try the Asian civilizations museum
And a day out to Sentosa for Fort Siloso and the Japanese occupation museum
posted by infini at 12:08 AM on January 8, 2012
Nightlife, even on Monday/Tuesday - you could take a walk down Boat Quay and Clarke Quay and see if it catches your fancy.
posted by infini at 12:10 AM on January 8, 2012
posted by infini at 12:10 AM on January 8, 2012
For hawker food recommendations: ieatishootipost is the go-to place
Nightlife:
I like the view from 1-Altitude - you get to see the city from high up, and it is a fantastic view (bring a light sweater, it can get cold up there)
If you like to have a drink and watch the world go by, Clarke Quay is the place to go. I personally like RedDot Brewhouse
posted by titantoppler at 12:30 AM on January 8, 2012
Nightlife:
I like the view from 1-Altitude - you get to see the city from high up, and it is a fantastic view (bring a light sweater, it can get cold up there)
If you like to have a drink and watch the world go by, Clarke Quay is the place to go. I personally like RedDot Brewhouse
posted by titantoppler at 12:30 AM on January 8, 2012
We live here, and only recently did this: mangrove kayaking, and it was lovely. http://www.ubinkayak.com/ - if you've never seen a mangrove up close, it's gorgeous and very unusual, and our guides were lovely.
The zoo and the night safari are pretty good, and as zoos go, respected for their animal care. The dolphin exhibit on Sentosa is not, but the Underwater World is fun if you like big aquariums. Sentosa is more fun with kids though IMO.
Makansutra is one of the best guides for local food: http://www.makansutra.com/ Or you can just ask any Singaporean - everyone has their favourite place and will recommend you, just stay away from Newton Circus.
I think Samy's at Dempsey is good for Indian food in an old colonial era civil service club, but I grew up eating there often. Dempsey Road is actually quite swanky now, and fun to wander through at night with bars etc. (http://www.samyscurry.com/aboutus.html)
It's coming up to Chinese New Year (23rd I think - everything retail will pretty much shut down), so this is the one time of the year that Chinatown will have more locals than tourists and be fun to wander around - although very very crowded. There's a tiny Heritage Museum and MINT, a museum of toys there that are both reasonably interesting.
Oh and Asian Civilization Museum is lovely and always worth a visit, and it's by the riverside (the bars and shops there are mostly boring, but during the day, it's a pretty walk around the bridges or the financial center)
posted by viggorlijah at 4:12 AM on January 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
The zoo and the night safari are pretty good, and as zoos go, respected for their animal care. The dolphin exhibit on Sentosa is not, but the Underwater World is fun if you like big aquariums. Sentosa is more fun with kids though IMO.
Makansutra is one of the best guides for local food: http://www.makansutra.com/ Or you can just ask any Singaporean - everyone has their favourite place and will recommend you, just stay away from Newton Circus.
I think Samy's at Dempsey is good for Indian food in an old colonial era civil service club, but I grew up eating there often. Dempsey Road is actually quite swanky now, and fun to wander through at night with bars etc. (http://www.samyscurry.com/aboutus.html)
It's coming up to Chinese New Year (23rd I think - everything retail will pretty much shut down), so this is the one time of the year that Chinatown will have more locals than tourists and be fun to wander around - although very very crowded. There's a tiny Heritage Museum and MINT, a museum of toys there that are both reasonably interesting.
Oh and Asian Civilization Museum is lovely and always worth a visit, and it's by the riverside (the bars and shops there are mostly boring, but during the day, it's a pretty walk around the bridges or the financial center)
posted by viggorlijah at 4:12 AM on January 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
any hawker center besides newton will have amazing food (heck, newton's not even that bad, just substandard and overpriced by singapore standards). googling "singapore hawker centers" results in many, many suggestions - pick one at random and you can't go wrong, really. once at random hawker center, look for the stall with people queuing up for it - that's the one you want.
if i could recommend one single superlative singapore hawker center "must do", it would be chili sting ray - i usually get it at lau pa sat, but chomp chomp sounds good too. both are a little pricey for hawker centers, but chill sting ray is one of those things you just have to pay a bit extra for anyway. so worth it! and sting ray is only one of a zillion great things to eat in singapore - eating hawker food is, in fact, the most awesome thing to do in singapore.
and yes, go ahead and wander around the downtown area if that's the kind of thing you're into, it's v perdy. start at the merlion and head off in any random direction from there. little india is also fun. chinatown is a tourist trap.
in conjunction with boat quay nightlife: take the riverboat tour right at sunset - it's one of the best tourist activities i know of in sg. when you get back, you can check out the clubs and bars there, that might be one of your better options on a monday/tuesday - most of the clubs and bars there are kinda small. so a small weekday night crowd there feels like more of a party.
posted by messiahwannabe at 4:22 AM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
if i could recommend one single superlative singapore hawker center "must do", it would be chili sting ray - i usually get it at lau pa sat, but chomp chomp sounds good too. both are a little pricey for hawker centers, but chill sting ray is one of those things you just have to pay a bit extra for anyway. so worth it! and sting ray is only one of a zillion great things to eat in singapore - eating hawker food is, in fact, the most awesome thing to do in singapore.
and yes, go ahead and wander around the downtown area if that's the kind of thing you're into, it's v perdy. start at the merlion and head off in any random direction from there. little india is also fun. chinatown is a tourist trap.
in conjunction with boat quay nightlife: take the riverboat tour right at sunset - it's one of the best tourist activities i know of in sg. when you get back, you can check out the clubs and bars there, that might be one of your better options on a monday/tuesday - most of the clubs and bars there are kinda small. so a small weekday night crowd there feels like more of a party.
posted by messiahwannabe at 4:22 AM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
Go buy Makan Sutra and then wander far and wide. No one centre is best, but most centres have a couple of best stalls.
posted by roofus at 4:43 AM on January 8, 2012
posted by roofus at 4:43 AM on January 8, 2012
On the things-to-do front: I meant to go to the night zoo while I was in Singapore, but I got so caught up exploring the botanical gardens that day that I was just too tired by nightfall. The gardens are fantastic. They're beautiful, and full of plants that would never grow in northern Europe (where I'm from); and on top of that, they provide a home for all sorts of native wildlife. Sunbirds, for example. As well as all the birds, I remember seeing lizards, butterflies, dragonflies, a giant snail and something furry in a tree.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:44 AM on January 8, 2012
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 4:44 AM on January 8, 2012
Seconding the Asian Civilizations Museum, the botanical gardens, and Indian food in Little India.
Also, for food, I recommend doing a bit of browsing on hungrygowhere, which is basically the Singaporean equivalent of yelp.
posted by sashapearl at 7:02 AM on January 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also, for food, I recommend doing a bit of browsing on hungrygowhere, which is basically the Singaporean equivalent of yelp.
posted by sashapearl at 7:02 AM on January 8, 2012 [2 favorites]
I've never been to Singapore, but Anthony Bourdain's new show The Layover did an episode on 48 hours in Singapore. Maybe you'll have a chance to watch it, but if not here are the show notes.
posted by sharkfu at 9:09 AM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by sharkfu at 9:09 AM on January 8, 2012 [1 favorite]
The zoo and the botanic gardens are both lovely places to walk around.
posted by PussKillian at 4:55 PM on January 8, 2012
posted by PussKillian at 4:55 PM on January 8, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by yellowcandy at 11:38 PM on January 7, 2012