Neighbourhoods & Gardens by the Bay

The morning started with a WhatsApp message from our guide, Chan, letting us know where to meet him.

We headed out early and hopped on a bus across the city. Even at 8:30am the heat was already intense 🥵

I’m definitely built for cooler climates 😂

Chan began the tour with a quick overview of the history of Singapore, before taking us through three of the city’s most distinctive neighbourhoods of Kampong Gelam, Little India and Chinatown.

I won’t go into every detail here… you’ll just have to come and visit yourselves 😂

But here are a few interesting things we learnt along the way:
• Around 25% of Singapore is reclaimed land
• Residents over 60 can get a transport card that also extends pedestrian crossing times at traffic lights 👏
• On escalators… stand on the left walk on the right … left Fiona left - said Alex a hundred times 🤪
• The three main languages used on signs are Mandarin, Tamil and English (alongside the wonderfully unique Singlish)
• The traditional streets of colourful buildings are called shophouses, where merchants lived above their stores
• The shaded walkways in front are called “five-foot ways”, the minimum width required during colonial times
• Modern buildings must replace greenery lost from the ground by adding plants on rooftops or balconies 🌱

One of my favourite stories was about the mosque in Little India.

The beautiful Abdul Gafoor Mosque, with its distinctive golden dome, was designed by an Irish architect. Members of the local community contributed what they could during construction… including glass bottle collectors who donated some of their bottles (their livelihood), which were embedded into the base of the dome.

Another interesting piece of history: the famous hawker markets were created by the government to move street food vendors off the roads and help reduce pollution in the rivers while improving hygiene.

> Lunch at a Hawker Centre

After four very interesting and very sweaty hours of walking, we said farewell to Chan and headed straight into one of his recommended local hawker centres for lunch.

I ordered a bowl of Tonkotsu ramen with pork belly, along with some Gyoza on the side.

Rich, warming and packed with flavour… I could practically feel the strength slowly returning to my feet 😂

> An Evening at the Gardens

Our evening plan was to visit Gardens by the Bay, so we headed back to the accommodation to shower, rest and do some washing.

Well… two out of three happened.

Laundry will have to wait until Tokyo 😂

After navigating the now familiar “Happy Hour” gauntlet of restaurant hosts, we made our way down to the gardens.

What an incredible space… lush greenery everywhere 🌱

We visited both the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest first.

A useful tip: these domes are wonderfully cool inside ❄️, so they’re a perfect escape from the midday heat.

Inside the Cloud Forest there was even a Jurassic Park themed exhibition, which made the experience even cooler 😎

> The Supertrees

Finally it was time to see the famous Supertree Grove.

The scale of these structures is incredible… towering above the gardens and glowing beautifully as evening approached.

They’re not just decorative either the Supertrees also help collect rainwater, generate solar power and act as vertical gardens.

We walked along the OCBC Skyway just as the evening light show began, which was the perfect timing.

Later we headed up to the observation deck at the top of the largest tree, which offered a calm and peaceful view across the city skyline and the bay.

> Satay Street

On the way back we passed Satay Street, which seemed like a good excuse for one more snack.

We ordered a mixed satay set which included chicken, beef, mutton, squid & prawn.

All served with rice cakes and plenty of rich peanut sauce. A perfect way to end the evening.

Another fantastic day in Singapore… packed with history, flavours and incredible architecture.

It still feels like there’s much more left to explore… so I suspect another visit will definitely be required 👍Read more