SINGAPORE 2018

MUST SEE EAT DO HITLIST

by CHEEKY WOMBAT 18 October 2020

Check out our MUST SEE EAT DO HITLIST video above for the highlights of our trip to the home of the Merlion, Singapore, in March 2018.

SUMMARY

First impression

After an unforgettable 5-day trip on the Genting Dream cruise liner, we had the pleasure of spending a week in Singapore. It’s an amazing city and one of the few places abroad about which we have told ourselves “we could live here!” While a holiday to Singapore can be pretty expensive (seemingly on par with Sydney), the city is extremely clean, organised and well-planned. As a couple that aren’t extremely well-travelled in Asia, Singapore was a fantastic “gateway” destination for a mild introduction to Southeast Asian culture.

Accommodation

While it was quite pricey, we had an incredible stay at the Marina Bay Sands (@marinabaysands.sg) luxury hotel and highly recommend it. It’s a minimum stay of 2 nights which gives you access to all of the hotel facilities including the rooftop infinity pool.

As you’d expect, the Marina Bay Sands luxury hotel rooms and suites are amazing. We were lucky enough to score the Bay Suite which was unbelievable. Spacious and modern, our suite had all of the comforts and features you would expect at a luxury hotel as well as a stunning view of Marina Bay and the city. Each time we returned to our room after it had been serviced, we were greeted with complimentary fruit, desserts and origami towel critters.

Hotel guests have exclusive access to the Marina Bay Sands infinity pool during operating hours (opens at 0630 and closes at either 2300 or midnight depending on the day). The infinity pool is perched atop the twin Marina Bay Sands towers and gives you an incredible view of Marina Bay and the city. The infinity pool area is not open to the public.

The infinity pool isn’t heated so it’s more popular and crowded in summer. There are also heated rooftop spas with great views but there’s only two so depending on how busy it is, you may be waiting awhile.

There’s also a few fantastic rooftop restaurants, cafes and bars with stunning views both day and night. There’s both indoor and outdoor seating at these spots so you have the option to avoid the elements if it’s windy, cold or raining.

Aside from the infinity pool, hotel guests also have complimentary access to Club55, the Banyan Tree Spa and the Banyan Tree Fitness Club. The SkyPark observation deck also provides a breathtaking 270-degree view of Marina Bay and the city but it is ticketed; tickets are available to both hotel guests and the public.

Club55 offers complimentary light food and refreshments at breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner to guests staying in suites and some types of rooms. We took advantage of this on a couple of occasions but mostly we were out and about.

We really enjoyed the rooftop buffet breakfast at the Spago Bar & Lounge. There was so much variety and everything was delicious.

Thankfully I could partially offset all of the delicious Singaporean cuisine at the Banyan Tree Fitness Club which was clean, well-maintained and also had a good variety of gym equipment and an inspiring view.

The Marina Bay Sands precinct is enormous and includes a casino, a theatre, a shopping centre and several food courts. For this reason, staying at the Marina Bay Sands luxury hotel was super convenient for us and meant that we could spend more time exploring and less time travelling to and fro.

Gardens by the Bay

After settling in at Marina Bay Sands, we headed off to explore the iconic Gardens by the Bay (@gardensbythebay) for the afternoon. The precinct is a sprawling collection of conservatories, gardens, sculptures, gangways and infrastructure. Due to our compressed itinerary, we only spent a few hours exploring the Gardens by the Bay but you could easily spend a whole day and night there. Our highlights included the waterfalls within the Cloud Forest conservatory and the butterfly sanctuary. I also really enjoyed discovering the amazing engineering, technology and sustainability initiatives employed by the precinct to optimise their energy and water efficiencies (and yes, I realise how nerdy that sounds!) Any trip to Gardens by the Bay would be incomplete without walking along the OCBC Skyway which connects two of the huge Supertree structures designed to provide shade and light. Our commentary doesn’t do the Gardens by the Bay justice so please check out their website for more information!

MUST SEE: Spectra

In the evening, we settled back in our suite and enjoyed Spectra which is a 15-minute-long audio-visual experience that uses water jets, lasers and orchestral music combined into this really awesome show. It’s located immediately in front of the Marina Bay Sands hotel and shopping complex. The public outdoor show is free and during our trip, it runs twice each night. 

Check out the marinabaysands.com website in advance to make sure that the shops you want to visit are open. The shopping complex has amazing food courts, restaurants, bars, and a giant fountain. You can even catch a gondola that travels along the little water channels throughout the shopping centre! The food court in particular draws a crowd because there’s always something exciting happening in the feature area in the middle. The theme of the feature area changes seasonally - sometimes it’s an ice rink, other times it’s a dance floor!  

MUST DO: Sentosa Island

The next day, we hit up Sentosa (@sentosa_island) which was definitely the highlight of our trip (we’ve already decided that we have to go back). We spent a full day and night there and still didn’t have enough time to explore everything. While we caught the express train to Sentosa, you can also catch a cable car from Mount Faber, drive, cycle or walk. Our highlights were the Skyline Luge, the Mega Adventure Park (high ropes course and huge 450m zip line), the S.E.A Aquarium, the Gogreen Segway Eco Adventure and the Wings of Time light show. 

Make sure to dress and pack appropriately (think activewear, backpack and sunblock) and be prepared to do plenty of walking between destinations. The forests and plantlife across Sentosa are beautiful but make sure to also pack insect repellent so that you aren’t eaten alive, especially at dusk!

MUST EAT: Raffles Hotel Long Bar

After a massive day of exploring a technology exhibition at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, feasting on some butter chicken in Little India and visiting the Fountain of Wealth (we’re still waiting on that million dollar cheque that we wished for to arrive in the mail), we decided to put our feet up and relax with a couple of cocktails at the Raffles Hotel Long Bar.

Any trip to Singapore would be incomplete without visiting the Raffles Hotel Long Bar. This place has been the iconic Singaporean bar of choice before Singapore was even an independent city-state! Colonial English used to drink at this bar and snack on peanuts, sweeping the peanut shells onto the floor.

You can recreate history with the infamous Singapore Sling cocktail and a bag of peanuts - and yes, they encourage you to pay homage to tradition and sweep your peanut shells onto the floor!

When we visited, the Raffles Hotel Long Bar had been temporarily relocated during renovations but now the renovations are complete and you can enjoy the refurbished Raffles Hotel Long Bar experience. We’ve already accepted that we’ll have to go back to get the full experience!

While we only ordered a couple of drinks and snacked on peanuts, their website shows that they also have lunch and dinner menus with more substantial fare.

MUST EAT: CUT by Wolfgang Puck

Thankfully we had dinner booked at CUT by Wolfgang Puck (@cutbywolfgangpucksg) to help us digest our Singapore Slings. Conveniently located in the Marina Bay Sands shopping complex, CUT by Wolfgang Puck is an incredible bar and dining experience that is our MUST EAT pick for Singapore. We don’t frequently dine at high-end restaurants but we decided to treat ourselves on this occasion and we are so glad that we did!

The venue is very tasteful and polished. The decor and furniture were luxurious and modern. The level of service was also beyond our expectations. We first grabbed a drink at the bar and their selection was very impressive! We ended up ordering three cocktails between the two of us because we couldn’t decide between our top three what we wanted to try.

We were extremely appreciative of the generous complimentary appetisers, canapés and desserts that were provided. These included bread sticks, sliders, assorted breads, dips, chocolates and a complimentary ice cream cake dessert for our anniversary! We were so full from the cocktails and initial appetisers that we ended up sharing a steak and mashed potato as our main meal!

While it was expensive, it was a really special anniversary dinner and among our favourite dining experiences of all time! We’ll definitely be going back, this time with a view of redeeming ourselves by not filling up on appetisers and behaving like children (the cocktails were extremely potent). We also plan to order a main meal each next time as they had a very extensive (and mouth-watering) menu! 

If you plan to be in the area, you must make a dinner reservation at CUT by Wolfgang Puck. Check out their Instagram (@cutbywolfgangpucksg) and website for their menu and other information.

Zero Latency

On the morning of the last day of our trip before we boarded our return flight back to Sydney, we visited a virtual reality game centre called Zero Latency (@zerolatencysg). Zero Latency is located in the massive Suntec City shopping complex which is also worth visiting and exploring. They offered several different games and we played one where we had to shoot robots that were boarding our spaceship. We wore an ensemble covered in sensors that included a backpack and a VR headset, and we held what felt like a very realistic assault rifle. 

They led us into the centre of a large empty room that gave us room to walk around and explore our virtual world. This was our first VR experience and it was super fun! They took some footage and photos of us playing the game and I think they also enjoyed watching us stumbling into walls and each other!

Singapore Flyer

On this particular trip, we didn’t visit the Singapore Flyer (@singaporeflyer) but we’ve both previously enjoyed it and recommend it. At the time of its construction in 2008, the 165m-tall Singapore Flyer was the world’s tallest Ferris wheel and remains an iconic part of the Singapore landscape. While Ferris wheels aren’t necessarily the most thrilling experience, the 30-minute “flight” is a really nice way to get acquainted with the city. At the top, you can see as far as the neighbouring islands of Malaysia and Indonesia. With the standard ticket, you share a Ferris wheel cabin with strangers but you can buy tickets that include combinations of your own private cabin, champagne and even a seated 4-course meal! 

Reflection

We had an amazing time in Singapore and can’t wait to go back. We encourage anyone planning to visit Singapore to watch our video and review our recommendations above. Singapore is a young, vibrant city full of amazing people, places and experiences that make it one of our favourite cities in the world.