Lion City 2024

False trees in their best imitation of filtering out the oppressive heat (OCBC Skyway, Gardens by the Bay)

Capping off a whirlwind month in Thailand hitching our horses together, Alisha and I escape for a Chakri holiday weekend to muggy Singapore for my first time. The second blog post in a row with no outdoor climbing or skiing?! This blog is forgetting its roots... time to plant new seeds.

Alisha glances back in surety before descending the infinite corridor (Chinatown Point, Singapore)  

If I ain't climbing or skiing you best believe I'll be chowing and cocktailing. Our first day is spent on food and being a tourist. Spoiler alert: Actually all of our days are on food and tourism. These Singaporean hawker stalls although a smidge chaotic is still far more orderly than Chinese ones.

A hawker readies her arsenal to answer the cannonade of hungry locals (Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice, Chinatown Complex Food Centre)

Salted fish, sausage and chicken in my first ever Singaporean meal (Lian He Ben Ji Claypot Rice, Chinatown Complex Food Centre)

A cloud forest on a piece of reclaimed land in the middle of a tropical island. Geographic insanity. (Cloud Forest, Gardens by the Bay) 

Steamed yams, or as I like to call them yamburgers. (Lion City Dim Sum, Lau Pa Sat)

A rice martini kicks off my return to cocktail tourism (Native, Singapore)

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We meet up with Alisha's local friends Aini and Will in the morn' to get our climbing fix.  The agenda for the rest of the day? How about something novel how about food and drinks.

Singapore gyms are way more geared towards beginners but every now and then there are a few bangers. (Boulder Movement, Downtown)

Not gonna lie, Singaporean Chicken Rice was kind of a letdown. Inferior to its Thai and Hainan counterparts. (Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Maxwell Food Centre)

Happy to finally eat, after a long queue in the food line and a long quest of finding seating (Maxwell Food Centre, Singapore)

So far I much prefer crushing Chinese dishes (Xiao Ya Tou, Duxton Hill)

A lil' pachydermal reminder of Thailand in this tiki drink (Cat Bite Club, Duxton Road)

This crab rasam cocktail might be the first drink in a long time that has wowed me (The Elephant Room, Pagar Road)

A homage to 1920s Shanghai in a Bund-themed cocktail program (Junior The Pocket Bar, Ann Siang)

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Feeling the effects of humidity and alcohol today, I bravely slog through our tourist checklist our last day in Singapore. Alisha acts the guardian angel guiding her cantankerous lesser-half around in his haze.

Warned against the chaos but to my relief I actually found Little India quite manageable (Little India, Singapore)

Kaya toast is a pretty decent combo of salty and sweet but anything with a ton of condensed milk and butter better be good (Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Far East Square)

An artisanal dance of coffee brewing and preparing soft-cooked eggs is a meal with an unintended show (Ya Kun Kaya Toast, Far East Square)

Black Pepper Crab is another local stunner but honestly I would have just preferred the Dungeness crab plainly boiled with a pinch of sea salt :\ (Long Beach Seafood, Robertson Quay)

Mobile ice cream hawker uncles (and aunts - why no one recognizing her support right there??) are a dying breed in a rapidly modernising Singapore (Uncle Magnolia's, Empress Place)

The majestic merlion the national mascot of Singapore. Also a euphemism for barfing (Merlion Park, Singapore)

I'd be remiss if I didn't get a Singapore Sling in Singapore. Actually, I didn't. This is just a tribute (Jigger & Pony, Amara Hotel)

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One last Singaporean breakfast. Trusty ol' noodle soup never lets me down (Tiong Bahru Yong Tau Foo, Tiong Bahru)

Me and 'lisha end our psuedo-honeymoon by failing time management, missing a visit to the Jewel at Changi airport. We lean on each other an exhausted pile closing out the weekend on the plane in the blink of an eye and watch some Three-Body Problem on Netflix. Time dilation feels so real. Goodbye Singhapura. Am I an adult now?

What is old and what is new, history and modernism, stitch together an unending tapestry (Southbridge, Clarke Quay)