Singapore is known for its luxury shopping. When we were exploring Orchard Road, we passed three Gucci stores within three blocks. If you’re not feeling the high price tags on Orchard Road, stop by Haji Lane! Haji Lane is full of colorful buildings, bright murals, and quirky shops. I loved exploring all the shops full of unique gifts, trendy clothes, and cute coffee shops.
Near Haji Lane is one of Singapore’s most popular cocktail bars, ATLAS. ATLAS’s art deco architecture makes you feel like you’ve stepped into the Great Gatsby. The cocktail menu has a strong theme of classic Jazz Age cocktails. ATLAS is also known for its (always booked) afternoon high-tea tea.
On the recommendation of one of my coworkers, Pearlyn, we had dim sum at Taste Paradise. The atmosphere at the restaurant felt very ornate and posh so we were on our best behavior. Patrick and I had so much fun with the dumpling menu and ended up with a large variety of delicious bites to try. I ordered the most popular tea, according to the waitress, which once again confirmed my conclusion that I don’t love tea. Don’t worry, I’ll keep trying.
On the way back to our hotel, we walked down the Clarke Quay, which is a bustling riverside area known for its restaurants and nightlife. It is also home to the Neko no Niwa cat café so you know we had to pop in.
When we finally made it back to the Fullerton Hotel, I wanted to enjoy Singapore’s year-around summer weather with a nap by the pool. I knew we were going back to the snowy scene of Switzerland in February so I was just soaking up the warm sunshine.
A short walk from the Fullerton hotel is the Fullerton Bay hotel. If you stay at one, you can use the facilities of both. The Fullerton Bay hotel pool bar, the Lantern, has phenomenal views of the Singapore bay, including Marina Bay Sands and the Esplanade theater.
On one of my favorite nights in Singapore we started at Native, which has a cocktail menu inspired by local culture. The Sarapan cocktail is based on the typical Indonesian breakfast. It had coconut distillate, toasted bread crumb, butter roasted coffee, soy gula melaka, and pandan egg strips. It was complex and tasted amazing. The bartender took us upstairs to a lab where the bar’s R&D team create the ingredients for the cocktails and test new concepts.
We asked the bartender at Native where he suggested for the next stop and off we went to Birds of a Feather. Birds of a Feather had a trendy atmosphere and delicious small plates. At Birds of a Feather, we asked our waiter for his favorite cocktail bar in Singapore which sent us off to The Elephant Room. The Elephant Room is inspired by Singapore’s Little Italy. The bartender walked us through his favorite liqueur that they make in house, ghee liqueur. There were a few locals sitting at the bar with us where we learned so much about their life and culture. Like many countries, including Switzerland, Singapore has required military service for males above the age of 18. One of the locals was wrapping up his military service and told us about his experience. Survival training in the rainforest doesn’t sound like my cup of tea, but I’m sure it is a very useful skill to have learned. Everyone at The Elephant Room suggested that our last stop be at Burnt Ends, downstairs. Burnt Ends turned out to be an Australian BBQ restaurant that was rated in the Top 50 World’s Best Restaurant and had a Michelin star. We got a number of small plates which turned out to be tiny with an exorbitant price tag. The two white pepper chicken necks were the size of a knuckle. We had fun laughing at the price/quantity ratio and listening in on a very pretentious man next to us who described his yacht for thirty minutes on a first (and maybe final) date.
It was such a fun evening full of new places with cool atmospheres and friendly people.
As you’re leaving Singapore, don’t forget to leave plenty of time to explore the Singapore Changi Airport. It is an eight-time winner of the World’s Best Airport and has hours of sights and activities to do.
While I had plenty of work to do while in Singapore, I think we fit in an incredible amount of activities and sites in a short amount of time. At the end of our visit, Singapore officially took over my top slot as the coolest city I had ever visited. If you ever get the chance to visit Asia, try to stop by Singapore and see why for yourself!
Pursuing Wonderment 