Singapore’s Chinatown

by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 11, 2012 | Trip Reports | 5 comments

Singapore’s Chinatown district was on my short list of things I had to see while visiting Singapore last week. I’m glad I did because it perhaps is one of the nicest districts that you’ll find in Singapore. Ample shopping and dining were obvious and I took the better part of a morning just strolling up and down each of Chinatown’s avenues.

Due to Singapore’s fantastic Subway system, getting to Chinatown is easy and can be reached quickly from most parts of the city. Once you reach Chinatown, it seems like the rest of Singapore melts away and you are surrounded by the great Chinatown atmosphere.

Like other “Chinatowns” around the world, you’ll find a wide variety of things to see, buy and eat in Singapore’s edition. What sets it apart from other Chinatown districts that I have visited in other cities, is the fact that not much has changed from the early days of Singapore’s Chinatown in terms of architecture. Walking through the streets, I noticed that the majority of buildings dated back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. So not only was there a lot to look at in terms of shops and dining, there was plenty of architecture to appreciate as well.

I for one am not a big fan of shopping the typical souvenir shops and stalls that I found in Chinatown (don’t like the shopkeepers coming up to me calling me their “friend”!!), so there’s not much for me to talk about it from a shopping perspective (though I did find an old “Schuco” Lufthansa 747 model….go figure!). I did however try to take photos of a wide variety of things that I saw, and for the purposes of this trip report will have be more of a pictorial than anything else.

When you first reach Chinatown, the colors and decorations will immediately draw your attention. Several streets are covered with hanging strings of very colorful lanterns. I imagine the must look fantastic when lit in the evening:

As I mentioned earlier, it was the architecture of Chinatown that I enjoyed the most. With the buildings being preserved to capture their 100+ year history, Chinatown is certainly a historic oasis in the middle of what otherwise has become a modern concrete jungle in Singapore.

Beautifully preserved buildings remind visitors of Chinatown 100 years ago

Most buildings are colorful and very ornate

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is the largest Buddhist temple in Singapore, and certainly one of the architectural centerpieces of Chinatown:

In addition to the Buddhist temples, there is a very interesting Hindu templed known as Sri Mariamman. It has a very unique tower at it’s entrance:

Examples of religious offerings such as this were evident throughout Chinatown:

Walking around Chinatown I came across a “people’s market” that housed hundreds of tiny little shops selling trinkets, low cost clothing and household items. However in the basement of the market I discovered a busy fish market that had several rows of vendors selling the day’s catch:

Fish hawker scaling the day's catch. Moving so quickly that his hand was a blur!

I’m sure they tasted as good as they look!:

As I said earlier, Chinatown is known for shopping and dining. Though I didn’t shop much, I did take time to treat my self to Singapore’s Chili Crab at a small restaurant in Chinatown. It was one of the best meals that I had while in Singapore:

Tasted as good as it looked!

Though not pictured, there was another stop I made in Chinatown for one of Singapore’s culinary specialities. Bak kwa is a traditional Chinese dried pork speciality similar to “jerky”. It’s usually a very popular item during the Chinese New Year, and people have been known to stay in line for hours at their favorite Bak Kwa shops. I stopped by Kim Hwa Guan for my first Bak Kwa experience. I had basically used “Google” to find a reputable Bak Kwa hawker and Kim Hwa Guan was very well reviewed. For those of you planning a visit to Singapore, I definitely recommend a stop there for Bak Kwa. It’s located on the first floor of the People’s Park Food Center, a large food hawker building near the heart of Chinatown.

In all, I enjoyed visiting Chinatown. Being there from mid-morning into early afternoon probably did not give me the best feel for it, since most shops and stands light up for the crowds in the evening. Since I was only in Singapore for 2 nights, and had already decided to visit the Night Safari I probably missed out on seeing even more of this vibrant district. However, I could imagine just how festive it must be at night, and if you are the kind of traveler that enjoys immersing yourself into a crowded market to shop and dine, there is no doubt that you will enjoy a visit to Singapore’s Chinatown.

Other Posts Related To My Singapore Trip:

Grand Hyatt Singapore – Great Hotel, Great Location

Planespotting from Singapore’s Changi Aiport

Grand Hyatt Singapore -Great Hotel, Great Location!

by Lufthansa Flyer | Sep 10, 2012 | Trip Reports | 5 comments

During my visit to Singapore last week, I stayed at the Grand Hyatt (10 Scotts Road) and had an excellent experience. From Check In to Check Out the hotel was simply a great place to stay. The fact that it is extremely convenient to public transportation and great shopping opportunities made it that much better.

Prior to my stay, I had confirmed an upgrade to stay in their “Duplex Suite” and I would not be disappointed. It’s perhaps among the larger Hyatt Suites that I have stayed in.

My flight on Singapore Airlines from Houston, with a brief stop in Moscow (More on that in a future post) arrived early, but unfortunately early was 5:00a and I was bit apprehensive about my ability to check-in at such an early hour. Being that this was my first time to Singapore, and not being familiar with their mass transit systems, and the fact that I was arriving pre-dawn, I had hired a car from the hotel to pick me up. I did not want to deal with navigating in a new city after spending 22 out of the previous 24 hours in the air (not to mention my positioning flight from Grand Rapids and 8 hour layover in Houston! It made for a long 2 days, and I wanted things to be easy at that point!

Fortunately, I was one of the first passengers off the plane and there were no other arriving aircraft at the airport who’s passengers would need to go through immigration. I cleared immigration and was street-side within 10 minutes (the walk from the airplane to immigration took most of that time). I was pleasantly surprised to see a cheerful driver holding up a sign with my name on it. The driver was extremely pleasant and helpful with advice (like not chewing gum, since it’s against the law). The drive took about 20 minutes and I was in the hotel lobby within 30-40 minutes of landing.

Check In went much better than I had expected, since my expectation was that my room would not be ready. However, after a few minutes of formalities with a wonderful Hyatt associate at the Check In desk, I was on my way to my room. After the bellhop toured me around the Suite, I settled in and decided to take a nap until 9:00a. This worked out perfectly as I woke up rested and perfectly acclimated to the new time zone.

The suite itself was quite large and had separate living areas. Upon entering through the main door, you immediately step into a small Kitchenette complete with a small refrigerator and microwave. A nice bonus with the Kitchenette is that it comes fully furnished with stoneware and utensils. There is also a small half-bath adjacent to the Kitchenette.

The view upon entering the suite:

First view when entering suite

The Kitchenette, looking back at the main entrance:

Functional and well equipped.

The 1/2 Bath adjacent to the Kitchenette:

Half-bath next to Kitchenette

Once through the Kitchenette, you enter the main room of the suite that features a separate and large dining table and adjacent to that a spacious living area with a large couch, chairs and office area. For you Diamond members, you’ll find your complimentary amenities on the coffee table. In my case it was 2 liters of Evian water, 6 perfectly ripened plums, a box of truffles, a box of vegetable chips and a box of pineapple pastries. A perfect snack at arrival! The minibar is in the credenza in the living room and was full of your typical beers, juices and candy bars.

The Dining Area (Large enough to host a dinner party!):

Plenty of room for friends and guests

The Main Room:

Spacious living area

In between the Dining and Living area is a work-space area complete with a comfortable chair, desk, lamp, etc. A nice feature of the desk area is that it housed one of the 2 safes in the suite. The safe is hidden in a drawer and was large enough to accomodate my 15″ MacBook Pro, Ipad, Cameras, travel wallet, etc.

The Suite’s Work Area:

View Of The Living Area and Dining Area From The Bedroom:

At this point you may be wondering about the color “scheme” of the Suite. It is quite “brown on brown” and doesn’t have that “pop” that I had experienced in other Hyatt Suites. The use of teak wood was obvious throughout the suite and did not help the tonal brown look of the suite.

The bedroom area is adjacent to the Living Area and is separated by a pocket door for privacy. There is also another entrance to the suite from the bedroom area.

The bedroom was large and the king size was extremely comfortable (something that has been pleasantly common for me in every Grand Hyatt that I’ve stayed in). I have never complained about not getting a good night’s sleep in a Hyatt. A nice feature in the bedroom is the Ipod/Ipad compatible alarm clock.

The Bedroom As Seen From The Foyer Of The Second Entrance:

A View Towards The Bathroom,Second Entrance & Walk In Closet:

A large bathroom and walk-in closet are a few steps from the bed. The bathroom was very nicely decorated with Marble through out. A separate shower contained a fantastic “rain” shower head that could literally lull you to sleep if your not careful. The bathroom contains two vanities and came very well appointed. Tooth brushes, Combs, a sewing kit, emery board, razors and shaving cream were readily available in a small box on the vanity. June Jacobs toiletry amenities were used throughout with a theme of Green Tea/Cucumber. A high power hair dryer is also provided next to the vanity.

The Bathroom:

Beautiful and well appointed

As seen from the bathroom's entrance

Across the hall is a spacious walk in closet furnished with more than enough hangars, an ironing board and storage drawers. Being that I only packed for 3 days, I did not take advantage of all the storage space that’s provided:

Wish my closet at home was this big!

My specific Suite had a “city” view which was fine. Fortunately there were no tall buildings immediately near my window so the suite receives plenty of natural light.

Looking out from the bedroom

A greenspace breaks up the monotony of the buildings

Final thoughts:

I genuinely enjoyed the Suite. With room enough to house a family, it gave me plenty of room to spread out and not feel like I was doing everything in one room. The entertainment system was impressive and had approximately 30-40 channels of varying themes from around the world. It also had several radio channels built into it as well. Another feature that I appreciated was the dual voltage outlets. As long as your device can operate on 220-230v you can use your “USA” style power cords for your electronics.

Things That I Liked:

The Space: Plenty of room to relax and spread out.
The Amenities: Fresh fruit, snacks and plenty of water after a long, long day came in handy.
Convenient Location: A short walk from Shopping-Centric Orchard Rd and Subway Station.
Friendly Staff: Each interaction with a hotel associate started with a pleasant smile from them.
Early Check-In: Forget about check out times, in this case being able to check-in at 5:45a was great!
Clean: The room and hotel grounds in general are spotless. As is the rest of Singapore! 🙂

The One Thing That I Would Improve:

Suite Color Scheme: The Suite is too nice to just have a monotone brown theme. This can be easily remedied with some bold and bright accents such as flowers, vases, artwork and furniture pieces. The brown on brown theme gives the impression that the suite is old and tired when in fact it’s not.

On the scale of my Experiences with Hyatt Suites in the past year, I would rank them as follows (but I recommend staying at any of them!):

1. Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong (click for review).
2. Hyatt Regency, Hong Kong (click for review).
3. Grand Hyatt, Singapore.
4. Park Hyatt Macka Palas, Istanbul (click for review).
5. Andaz Liverpool Street, London (click for review).