Singapore: Not just for the Crazy Rich Asians

“Singapore, that’s like the other side of the world. Who even goes there??”

Well folks, I went there and after recovering from 21+ hours of flying, I’m here to say that visiting Singapore isn’t just for the Crazy Rich Asians but also the moderately wealthy (think middle-class Americans who have been budgeting) who want to experience Asian culture and food in a foreigner-friendly environment. I was fortunate enough to visit Singapore, one of the few remaining city-states* in the world (Monaco and Vatican City are two other modern city-states) over Chinese New Year 2018. And as it is that time of year again (February 10th, 2024 is Chinese New Year), I’m coming at you with a Chinese New Year-themed travel post. Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (新年快乐) my lovely readers! That’s “Happy New Year” in Mandarin!

*** City-states were far more common in the ancient world (think Rome, Athens, etc). They are defined as sovereign microstates that usually consist of a single city and its dependent territories.

Year of the Dragon

This year, 2024, is the year of the Dragon so if you’ve been noticing lots of red Dragon-themed decorations around Chinatown and more authentic Chinese restaurants, that’s why! Fun fact, there are 12 chinese zodiac signs and each year on Chinese New Year, the animals change so 2 people born in January/February of the same year could have different zodiac signs depending on what day Chinese New Year fell on that year. If you’d like to go down the Chinese Zodiac origin story rabbit* hole, you can find it here.

***The rabbit is one of the Chinese zodiac animals. You’re welcome for that great pun 😛

So without any further ado, let me tell you why Singapore deserves a spot on your travel destination bucket list.

1. Gardens by the Bay

What kind of plant lover would I be if I neglected to mention the Gardens by the Bay?! Other than my sister residing there at the time, the gardens, and in particular, the supertrees, were a huge draw for me to visit Singapore. These large metal tree sculptures which function as vertical gardens are awesome in their own right but what makes them even more amazing is how they were built to be super sustainable. 11 of the 18 Supertrees found in this park are solar-powered*, generating lights for the spectacular nighttime show, in addition to collecting rainwater, and acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories.

Visiting this park for the Supertree show (7:45 pm and 8:45 pm daily) was one of the highlights of my trip. We arrived around 6 pm to walk around the park and eat at Satay by the Bay, an outdoor food court in the park that specializes in satay. Around 7:20 or so, we returned to set up camp (lay down blankets) underneath the supertrees. The best angle for viewing is horizontal to the ground so I highly recommend bringing a blanket or something else you can rest your head upon for the duration of the light/music show.

*** You can read more about the supertrees in this CNN article

2. Food, Food, and More Food
   
   Food-hunting is a legitimate hobby here and with that in mind, there is no end to amazing food stands and restaurants to try while you’re here. There’s absolutely no reason to go searching for the nearest McDonalds here unless you want to try the special-to-Singapore menu items.

In no particular order, here are some dishes you should try:

1. All of the tropical fruit!
   • Mangosteen
     • Queen of the Fruits. She kind of looks like some kid constructed her of playdough but she’s also the perfect mix of sweet and sour.
   • Durian
     • King of the Fruits. Plug your nose and then dare your friends to try this one first. Said to have a custard taste by those who enjoy it. Everyone else can agree it tastes/smells like a dumpster and an onion plucked out of that dumpster, had a baby.
   • Salak aka Snake Fruit
     • This sweet fruit looks like a dragon egg. Enough said!
   • Passionfruit
   • Jackfruit
   • Dragonfruit
   • Bananas, freshly picked!
   • Coconut
2. Nasi Lemak
   • Fried chicken with coconut rice
3. Teh Tarik
   • Hot milk tea. The name translated means “pulled tea”
4. Taiwanese Snow Ice and/or Korean BingSu
   • Creamy shaved ice with a variety of different toppings
5. Golden Lava Buns (Liu Sha Bao)
   • These buns consisting of salted yolk custard filling are simply delectable
6. Cheese Naan with all of the sauces
7. Roti canai
   • This Indian-inspired flatbread is better than pancakes in the morning!
8. Rendang
   • Rich meat dish cooked in coconut milk
9. Laksa
   • There’s nothing equivalent to this spicy-sour curry dish except maybe tomyum soup
10. Satay
    • Always a safe tasty dish, it often comes with cucumbers, rice, and a variety of dipping sauces
11. Char kuey teow
    • A flat rice noodle dish that can’t be beat straight from the food cart wok
12. Kaya toast
    • Kaya is a sweet and fragrant coconut custard jam. It’s great between slices of buttered toast
13. Kuih
    • Malaysian pastries that often have sweet pandan leaf in them
14. Bak Kut Teh
    • A pork rib dish cooked in a savory broth.  

3. The People & Ease of Travel

As an English speaker, you can relax a bit knowing that 96% of the population speaks English, most people are super friendly, public transportation is readily available with signs that include English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil language on them, and the crime rate is ridiculously low.

Honestly, there is no better country to dip your toe into southeastern Asian culture than Singapore.

And no better time to plan that trip than the present. Bon voyage!

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

– Author unknown (falsely attributed to St. Augustine)