From the Maldives, our overnight journey required another boat ride and 3 flights, so the majority of our first day was spent trying to keep ourselves awake...and when we couldn't do that anymore...catching up on sleep. Since Mike's favorite thing is to take pictures of Alexis sleeping, clearly this was captured.
With clearer heads, we quickly discovered the appeal of Singapore. The city is spotless and extremely safe, the subway system is efficient and cheap (a big plus given Mike's passion for public transportation - according to his expert opinion, it's the best system we've visited so far), and the outstanding food incorporates many different cultures. Plus, as a bonus, everything was in English!
As a testament to the variety of food the city has to offer, two of our favorite meals fell on completely opposite ends of the restaurant spectrum. On one end, we had $2 chicken rice at a hawker (street food) center.
And on the other, we had chilli crabs at a rather touristy (ahem, touristic) restaurant on the riverfront. We figured this was an impressive enough dish to violate our usual ban on food pictures...
Mike was very impressed with the high-quality bibs. And that proved to be important as we proceeded to make the biggest mess of any table there. By a long shot.
The food was so good, we found ourselves looking to fill time between meals. Not surprisingly, this resulted in some time at the bar...but in Singapore the bars come with a view!
The roof of the Fullerton Bay Hotel feels a bit like Miami and provides a great view of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
And for a reverse view, we went to the top of the Marina Bay Sands to see the rest of the city.
Finally, in true tourist fashion, we also paid a visit to the home of the original Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel.
While absurdly overpriced and a bit sweet for our tastes, we did what we could to rationalize our purchase by eating our weight in free peanuts. Also, the bar itself was quite cool.
Another major highlight was seeing old friends (and a fellow Amherst alum) now living in Singapore. While sadly we didn't take a picture, we had a great time catching up with Dan and Ana Gach who are currently teaching in Singapore. In addition to a fun night, they also provided us with a number of recommendations for the remainder of our time in Asia.
While we tried to experience the major highlights of the city, we did skip one widespread attraction - shopping. Given our limited luggage capacity and the fact that we need to carry everything we buy, we largely stayed away from the endless shopping malls, with the notable exceptions of admiring the vast food courts, cooling off in the AC, and buying a ton of sunscreen after we quickly depleted our reserves (and then some) in the Maldives. While we were both impressed with the level of prevention available...
...this was even a bit much for sun-phobic Alexis. Do they even make sunscreen this strong in the US?
Our Asia visit is off to a great start, and given Mike's passion for fashion and high end shopping, we're sure to be back in the future!
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