CNY holiday #7: Week in Singapore

When I started this mini series of posts on my holiday I hadn’t thought that it would end up as a 7-part series… But 7 is a good biblical number! So here we go – a final post to recap my final week of overseas holiday.
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The experience of Changi Airport as Singapore’s gateway is always a pleasurable experience, even if there are queues (I experienced a long but fast moving queue at immigration).

My final week was a combination of going out doing touristy stuff and family gatherings in the evening. Additionally, this week would have been one of my most active weeks in terms of sheer walking! Each day, covering the required 10000 steps was a comfortable challenge.

We walked to Haw Par Villa even in the hot humidity. We ventured right around the main Orchard Rd strip of shopping malls, through the labyrinth of underground malls that make up the City Link Mall, right up to the Carlton Ritz hotel. On my own, I visited Sentosa Universal Studios, Marina Bay Sands & Gardens by the Bay.

During the evenings two specific highlights were the family gatherings. The first on the Tuesday night was with my uncles & aunts – all cousins of my mum. Spending that time with them all was a treasured moment, particularly hearing all the stories they could share about my grandfather, their uncle. The other occasion was when my cousins organized a dinner in Toa Payoh at a seafood restaurant called Mellben. This was the first time we were meeting up in Singapore separate to the main family in KL. The food was exquisite – it was the first time I ate crab noodles with a soup flavored similar to an Assam laksa!

The other highlight was eating at the Longhouse, a hawker centre in Bishan (Upper Thomson Rd). The chicken rice was one of the best I have ever tried and given the sale and imminent relocation, this was the last opportunity to eat there.

As you can see from my photos – food was again a major theme of the holiday. In spite of that, the walking helped me actually keep trim and possible lose some weight! It was in that spirit that I considered the holiday lifestyle of Singapore better for me than my regular Melbourne work lifestyle…

Some items not checked off my to-do list included:
– meeting up with 2nd cousins
– visiting the Changi Airshow
– visiting one of the casinos
– having a ride on the Singapore Eye

After all, one week is just too short to accomplish all that!