Eating is definitely one my favourite pastimes when I travel. I’ve been known to plan entire holidays based on the foods I can hoover, especially Peruvian cuisine, which always showcases the local practices and ingredients of the region I am visiting.
So the thought of tasting and sampling my way around Singapore created much tummy excitement.
Sen Lek Neua – Oodles of noodles… smooth, slippery, slurpy, soupy.
You see friends; one of the best things about Singapore is the food. The multicultural background of Chinese to Malay, Indian to Peranakan is reflected in the variety of food it has to offer.
Yep….. Singapore and me, we be soul sisters, cause food is practically a national pastime for the locals too.
Strong mind strong body – Spicy soup – Perhaps red Tom Yum!
Lou said I had to check out the food courts (Hawker Centres) while we were there, they look exactly like a standard food court we have here in Australia, but are independent businesses who sell their own “brand”. Almost every cook has a specialty dish or two that they prepare everyday, many of which have reached a level of perfection that Michelin-starred chefs would envy.
Just as every fairy tale begins with ‘Once Upon a Time’, every meal in Singapore must begin with a bowl of hot soup.
Deciding where and what to eat was awesome, there’s all sorts of amazing [bleep] available. And any culture where there’s no shame in a big bowl of steamy noodles or laksa for breakfast, is something I wanted in on, so soup a plenty we consumed.
All this food sampling business had to be offset with some exercise and an up close and personal visit to Gardens by the Bay was top of the list, especially after seeing the light shows each evening from our hotel balcony.
I don’t think words can adequately describe the beauty and magic of the place, we spent almost a day there wandering around some of the 101 hectares it stands on.
Outstanding! Exquisite! Remarkable! Spectacular! And that’s big coming from me, because I’m not really that into gardens.
A magical misty fairy land – The Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay
Gardens by the Bay have been named one of the Top 10 Indoor Gardens in the world, it cost around $1 billion to construct and contains two of the largest cooled conservatories around too. We spent most of the time wandering up and down the platforms in the Cloud Forest, a 35-metre mountain covered in beautiful lush plants and one almighty waterfall that stood 10 stories tall. The conservatories have sustainable energy-efficient cooling facilities that allow savings in energy of around 30% to conventional cooling methods, a bit of an engineering feat I’d say.
It really was something to behold and perfect for disappearing into a cool fairy land with butterflies and dragonflies flying around at whim, taking you far away from the swelter and heat outside.
Gardens by the Bay – Cloud Dome
Wowzas Singapore, you sure know how to build some pretty freakin’ awesome stuff. And the extra few kilos I came home with…. Totally worth it!
I’d love to know, have you been to Singapore? Are you into gardens and what is your favourite soup?