Visiting Singapore in 3 Days – Day 3

3rd DAY

– Ya Kun

On our 3rd and last day (I would stay for a month if I could!) we can almost state it was a quite gastronomical day! We started the day with the Asian and European breakfast delights at The South Beach Hotel (see), but decided to do a second breakfast, and here it got an entirely different dimension, in this case, my belly got a very big dimension!

We left the hotel straight to a typical Singaporean breakfast at the historical Ya Kun Kaya Toast that delights everybody since 1944. And what do they serve, you ask? A traditional breakfast of Singapore, full of sugar, but really full of sugar!

Kaya Toast is nothing less than a toast filled with a sugar cream, coconut milk and eggs, and also with butter. In this traditional breakfast may also be included some slow cooked eggs (onsen egg) and to go with, a coffee or tea! Of course we ate everything we deserve, and obviously we left there in the edge of exploding! But we couldn’t miss this delicacy. For me it’s just too sweet, and I like sweet things!

There are a lot of Ya kun Kaya Toast’s around the city, namely in shopping centres, we went to the one at Raffles City Shopping in the middle of town.

Well, now let’s go burn all these calories!

– Chinatown, Maxwell Food Centre, Chinatown Heritage Centre

From here we headed to the famous Chinatown, all the cities have one, and Singapore is no exception, even because a great part of the history, culture and costumes, and origin of the city goes through the Chinese people.

So, Chinatown, similarly to Little India, was born from the ethnic segregation policy kept by the former British colonizers, when Sir Stanford Raffles started planning the urbanization of Singapore, reserved to the Chinese minority (nowadays majority!) all the southwest area of the Singapore river.

This is one of the most complete neighbourhoods in town, however, I confess I found more real, with more identity, both the Little India and Kampong Glam.

Chinatown has a biggest spotlight because it’s also bigger and because we’re speaking of the quarter corresponding to the biggest ethnic class of the city.

At Chinatown we can find a lot of Chinese heritage, but also important details of the Hindu and Malayan legacies. The contrast created between the antique houses full of colour and the skyscrapers of the neighbour financial district provide an amazing view.

Buddha Relic Tooth Temple

You can easily loose an entire day at Chinatown, it has several temples, from the mystical Buddha Relic Tooth Temple – said to have a replica of a Buddha’s tooth; the magisterial Sri Mariamman Temple – a Hindu temple and one of the most visited in Singapore; the beautiful Jamae Mosque – that shines with its eclectic style in green tones; among other temples you can find.

Besides temples, Chinatown is also known for its stores and markets where we can buy typically Chinese products, gastronomical and pharmaceutical.

At Chinatown we can also find an adaptation of the Portuguese Pastéis de Nata, though very below ours! 

Another crucial point in this quarter is the gastronomy, worth of being tasted in the several restaurants, bars and coffee shops. Once we love the concept of the Hawkers, we chose to have lunch at the Maxwell Food Centre, and we couldn’t leave Singapore without trying one of the most traditional dishes, the Chicken Rice! Wonderful! We didn’t eat much, because our stomachs were still full of Kaya Toast!

Maxwell Food Centre

The famous space of Tian Tian Chicken Rice

Chicken rice

We ended our visit to Chinatown at the Chinatown Heritage Centre.

This place is a mandatory stop to those wishing to know the past, the stories, the activities and life of this neighbourhood and of the Chinese immigrants.

Here is recreated their way of living, so many times in so poor and unhuman conditions, and shows us their homes and professions recreated similarly to the past. A place not to miss, for sure.

The recreation of the usual homes of the Chinatown Heritage Centre

This place as an entrance cost of $15. It’s open from 9am to 8pm. Closes on the first Monday of every month.

Already quite tired we headed to our new Singaporean “home” to get some rest (and get a bit of tan), the historical and imposing The Fullerton Hotel.

After a deserved “sun bath” it was time to go to dinner, and the choice went to one of the most promising restaurants in town, the Meta. And I must tell you it was the right bet! But about this adventure João will write to you later.

The famous Merlion

– Merlion

Already with our bellies full of good food, it’s time to digest, and nothing better than a walk. Once we were staying in The Fullerton, we took the chance to get to know one of the mythical figures in town, the Merlion, right in front of the hotel, moreover, it’s inserted in the complex of the Fullerton Heritage.

Merlion is the touristic symbol of Singapore by excellence, a mythological figure half lion, half fish, like a feline mermaid.

The lion (“singa”), as I referred in the History of Singapor, was sighted by the Sumatra prince. This fish is a tribute to the historical paper of Singapore as an ancient maritime city.

This area is a park with two statues of Merlion, a small, and a huge one with a water jet coming from its mouth. The big statue is facing the water with the eyes caught on the Marina Bay Sands Hotel, and the back to The Fullerton Hotel.

Merlion can be visited at any time of the day, but at night its beauty is enhanced with the city lighted up around it.

At the park there’s also a small place where the aquatic taxis stop. An excellent option to those wishing to cross.

It’s time to go to sleep that tomorrow the adventure will continue in other lands! Indonesia here we come!

As I said we only stayed in Singapore for three days, much was left unseen and undone, although we were able to capture the complete essence of this so perfect city.

In case you can, I recommend at least five days. If so, here are some other places to see and activities to do:

– Ride the Singapore Flyer – the Giant Wheel of Singapore, the biggest in the world, the ride takes 30 minutes and with some luck, if the sky isn’t cloudy you can catch a glimpse of Malaysia and Indonesia at large.

– Visit the Art Museum Singapore – the contemporary art museum of Singapore, Southeast Asia and Asia.

– Go to the amazing ArtScience Museum – the museum in the shape of a Lotus Flower.

– Visiting the National Gallery

– Shopping at the famous Orchad Road – a huge avenue where one of the king sports of Singapore is practiced: shopping!

– Spend a day at Sentosa – an Island with beaches (artificial), theme parks, and lots of fun.

– Visiting the River Safari – a projected park to show the exuberance and diversity of the biggest rivers in the world and the ecosystem around them.

– Walking around at Singapore Zoo – one of the main zoos of the world.

After the zoo, enjoy the night to do a Night Safari, that stays in the same side of the zoo.

Singapore is probably one of the best places in the world to see, and it’s not me who says it, although I put my name under it!

It’s the country or State City or simply the cleanest, organized and safest city I ever visited.

The harmony, the people’s education, civility taken to a level that can’t be explained, make of this place one of the most interesting in the world.

It’s got a bit for every taste, the leisure options are infinite and the gastronomy is extremely rich given the junction of so many cultures.

A perfect combination of several histories, cultures, traditions and costumes!

Perfection!

We’ll miss this view a lot! 

Where to stay
The South Beach
The Fullerton Hotel

More informations
– Ya kun Kaya Toast
– Chinatown Heritage Centre
– Meta Restaurant

Versão Portuguesa

 Photos: Flavors & Senses

Disclaimer 
Flavors & Senses in Singapore with the support of Samsonite and of Singapore Tourism Board (STB) – #YourSingapore.
– During our trip we were accompanied by the tireless Naseem Huseni – STB’s Guide  

This is the 4th of 5 articles for our Singapore Guide