{"id":650,"date":"2010-07-31T09:21:55","date_gmt":"2010-07-31T16:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/?p=650"},"modified":"2010-07-31T09:21:55","modified_gmt":"2010-07-31T16:21:55","slug":"singapore-ok-lah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/2010\/07\/31\/singapore-ok-lah\/","title":{"rendered":"Singapore &#8211; OK lah!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Singapore skyline by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862843560\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4115\/4862843560_66bce5824d_z.jpg\" alt=\"Singapore skyline\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Total Miles Traveled: <\/strong>31,618<\/p>\n<p>Singapore is a city, state, and country, all rolled in to one island at the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia. \u00a0I also call it the &#8220;land of Lah&#8221; &#8211; the Singaporeans (and Malaysians, too) seem to add &#8220;lah&#8221; to the end of every sentence. \u00a0Much like the Canadians do, eh?<\/p>\n<p>Like Hong Kong, it&#8217;s built up and packed in, but it&#8217;s very clean, organized, and easy to get around. \u00a0Everything is well manicured &#8211; some people say almost antiseptic. \u00a0But there are good views and nice buildings (like the Singapore riverfront above and the\u00a0Fullerton Hotel below).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862226719\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4082\/4862226719_7eb674231c_z.jpg\" alt=\"Singapore\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">But, the things I remember the most are how there are tons of malls &#8211; we stayed on Orchard Road, the shopping district of Singapore (see how there are 6 ATMs lined up here?) &#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"6 ATMs in a row, City Hall MRT station, Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862849404\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4099\/4862849404_9447f1bc00_z.jpg\" alt=\"6 ATMs in a row, City Hall MRT station, Singapore\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">What did we enjoy most in Singapore &#8212; the food lah!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">First, let&#8217;s start with the famous drink from Singapore, the <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Singapore_Sling\">Singapore Sling<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Singapore Slings at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel, Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862841490\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4100\/4862841490_de6b2a9033_z.jpg\" alt=\"Singapore Slings at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel, Singapore\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ahhh, the Singapore Sling at the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel &#8211; it&#8217;s another one of those &#8220;checklist&#8221; travel things where people say you have to go and do the X in Y city. \u00a0 And this is one of those things. \u00a0Here&#8217;s the history and recipe (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.drinkboy.com\/Cocktails\/Recipe.aspx?itemid=151\">http:\/\/www.drinkboy.com\/Cocktails\/Recipe.aspx?itemid=151<\/a>); roughly, gin, brandy, grenadine, Cointreau, dom benedictine, pineapple and lime juice.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There&#8217;s a unique historical vibe to the Raffles Hotel and the Long Bar. \u00a0But to be frank, after you suck down your fruity, $20 (YES TWENTY US DOLLARS LAH!) drink in 2 minutes, and look up to see a bunch of other tourists doing the same, you ask yourself &#8211; OK, now what? \u00a0We ended up skipping the Afternoon Tea at Raffles, which is also supposedly a must-do, but after hearing several people say it&#8217;s way overrated and expensive, we bailed.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Fortunately, that was the only (and very small) disappointing part of our trip to Singapore.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Elsewhere &#8211; where the locals go &#8211; the food is amazing! \u00a0From Little India, to food courts, to the upper-end restaurants. \u00a0Here it is folks, food porn:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Murtabak\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Murtabak<\/a> &#8211; minced mutton,\u00a0garlic, egg, onion, wrapped in a delicious soft dough, with curry sauce on the side.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Murtabak - fried egg and other goodies folded inside thin piece of dough by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862842544\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4116\/4862842544_8d3e8fd2b6_z.jpg\" alt=\"Murtabak - fried egg and other goodies folded inside thin piece of dough\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">I love this photo because it reminds me of how the cultures mix in Singapore:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Laughing by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862224383\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4100\/4862224383_15a8c79724_z.jpg\" alt=\"Laughing\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The following dishes were from the Indochine restaurant along the Singapore river. \u00a0Beautiful setting and the food was good. \u00a0Here&#8217;s the stir-fried spicy soft shell crab.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Deep-fried Softshell Crab by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862225209\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4117\/4862225209_38d5066237_z.jpg\" alt=\"Deep-fried Softshell Crab\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">And a dessert we couldn&#8217;t resist &#8211; red bean filled pancake with passion fruit ice cream.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Red bean pastry with passion fruit ice cream by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862226189\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4141\/4862226189_b89820e684_z.jpg\" alt=\"Red bean pastry with passion fruit ice cream\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">We also took a trip to Little India on our friend Seema&#8217;s recommendation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Food in Little India, Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862848996\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4073\/4862848996_42f60281cb_z.jpg\" alt=\"Food in Little India, Singapore\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This is our meal at Famous A-1, a dive that serves you food on a banana leaf&#8230; eco-friendly indeed. \u00a0 We had the spicy chili crab with accompaniments, with the latter being better than the former:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Famous A-1, Little India, Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862848366\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4094\/4862848366_2ee8cacbc5_z.jpg\" alt=\"Famous A-1, Little India, Singapore\" width=\"480\" height=\"640\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This Andhara masala dosa at Sri Lukshmi Narasimhan blew me away. \u00a0I think it had a super spicy potato\/pea mixture inside the crepe. \u00a0Never had anything like it!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a title=\"Andhara Masala Dosai at Sri Lukshmi, Little India, Singapore by T. Chen, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/tony-chen\/4862847762\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4114\/4862847762_0024ab4284_z.jpg\" alt=\"Andhara Masala Dosai at Sri Lukshmi, Little India, Singapore\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Well, that&#8217;s it for Singapore. \u00a0We were only in town for 36 hours and looking back, we probably could have spent more time in the city just eating since we weren&#8217;t interested in shopping. \u00a0We look forward to being back! \u00a0Here&#8217;s the full set of photos:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">[flickrslideshow  acct_name=&#8221;tony-chen&#8221; id=&#8221;72157624533335463&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Total Miles Traveled: 31,618 Singapore is a city, state, and country, all rolled in to one island at the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia. \u00a0I also call it the &#8220;land of Lah&#8221; &#8211; the Singaporeans (and Malaysians, too) seem to add &#8220;lah&#8221; to the end of every sentence. \u00a0Much like the Canadians do, eh? Like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}