We started with a late breakfast at Maxwell Food Centre in Chinatown where I got to try the authentic Singaporean dish of Haivanese (chicken) Rice. It was so tasty I forgot to take a photo! Our cooking class the other day told us there were three main things we should aim to eat while here that are truly authentic, traditional Singaporean food examples:
⁃ Chicken rice
⁃ Char Kway Teow
⁃ Carrot cake (the name of this is very misleading!)
⁃
So, one down two to go. B has also added chilli crab to this list because he doesn’t care if it’s not authentic…he intends to eat it! Apparently it’s the national dish and very popular, but isn’t a traditional dish as Singapore was originally not a wealth country and crab is too pricey.
After breakfast, I bought some dresses and pretty tops in Chinatown (I’m still refining my bargaining skills but they are getting better) and we also searched for presents for the kiddies back home. I’ve started a tradition of stuffed toys for the nephews and niece from each country we visit.
We then caught the MRT to Gardens by the Bay. We used the shuttle service to get from the entrance to the Flower Dome ($3 well spent as my back is playing up) and started there. All up, for both domes and the shuttle x 2 it was $62. The flower dome was very impressive!
B was particularly taken with the dragon sculpture.
We then went through the cloud forest (second dome) which was also amazing! The lines were quite short but I can imagine how crazy it must get when busy. The cloud forest was my favourite of the two domes.
Before starting the Skywalk, we had lunch at Majestic Bay under the flower dome. The food was quite tasty but pricey and there were screaming children everywhere…to the point where B had to repeat himself so I could hear him say “this reminds me, I need to book that vasectomy”. We had Shanghai dumplings, Peking duck pancakes and 2 cokes and it ended up being over $65 so not a cheap option, but very convenient. The food was good too, shame about the noise level.
After lunch (and with my back feeling a lot better) we headed up to the skywalk. This is an additional cost of $8 and unfortunately it was closed due to the rain, and had apparently been closed most of the day so far. We asked if it would re-open as the rain had stopped at that point but couldn’t get a straight answer. Some googling indicated that it often closes for the whole day after rain so we opted to head back to the hotel for a bath and a rest and try again another day.
HFC Perk 4: the bath tub in the room is amazing. I’ve had three baths since we got here!! It’s a great deep soak tub
Mel's Travel Blog 