We visited Singapore to celebrate Chinese New Year with family and friends and had a great time eating, visiting, eating and...eating. The food there is uber-yummy and every get together revolves around enormous dinners. I especially enjoyed the pork rib soup, chili crab and curry fish head. The best thing about eating in Singapore is the hawker stands (think outdoor food court but all local) where you can get all sorts of amazing SE Asian food at such cheap prices almost anytime day or night.
It was This White Boy'sfirst trip to SG for Chinese New Year and, well, I didn't even KNOW they had so many people. The population is about 5 million and 4.9999 million were jammed into the streets of Chinatown -- with everybody eating everywhere: in the open air restaurants, on the sidewalks, in the street, sitting in cars, on top of buildings -- it's really an orgy of gastronomy. It's just a great time of year, visiting ALL the relatives and friends, seeing the wife's old stomping grounds (at least the ones that haven't been lost to developers) and everybody is incredibly welcoming -- plus we got almost as many Hong Bao as we gave out! Shout out to all the friends & family who put us up, fed us, and were so gracious & hospitable. Cute kids, great company, a beautiful pool and a couple bottles of Dom Perignon later, I'm in no pain. If it weren't for the 90% humidity 12 months of the year, I'd be Singapore dreaming.
Though my Significant Other may disagree, I find Singapore to be increasingly vibrant and -- dare I say semi-dynamic? -- every time I visit. There just seems to be something new (and big) being built or a new happening area to visit every time we return. We even saw Singaporean graffiti artists! I really liked checking out Dempsey Hill, the Portsdown Road area's old bungalows, and Little India is always fun. The new Esplanade performing arts center (the big Durian) was just ok, but the nearby Marina Bay will be quite some neon-drenched sight when they finish constructing the enormous casino complex. Check out a couple of these fun Singapore links:
