Once I arrived in Singapore after a memorable #British_Airways First Class flight form London, I headed straight for the #GrandHyattSingapore Hotel. This is my favorite hotel in the Garden City as it’s right in the center of the shopping and entertainment district on world-famous Orchard Road. With 677 guest rooms and suites, this luxury hotel features rooms with swimming pool, garden or city views. All of the guest rooms come equipped with generous work desks, comfortable beds and luxurious baths. I had turned in some points from the #WorldofHyatt Guest Program and was booked into a spacious king-bedded room measuring about 580 square feet with a separate living area in a suite-type layout. I was also lucky enough to score an upgrade giving me access to the Grand Club Lounge on the 20th floor. This lounge offered a continental breakfast and all-day refreshments and seemed to be a popular gathering spot for pre-dinner drinks. The Grand Hyatt is famous for its award-winning dining experiences and claims some of the best restaurants in town are under its own roof. So once I settled in after my early evening arrival, I took off to look them over for myself.
Mezza9 is a contemporary spot on the mezzanine level serving both Asian and Western cuisine. It also features a glass-enclosed martini bar and a separate, 68-seat "party room" with hand-woven fabrics on the walls. Straits Kitchen on the lobby level is one of the best known restaurants in the city with endless buffets of Chinese, Malay and Indian dishes served from open kitchens affording diners the opportunity to savor popular local dishes in one seating. 10 Scotts is also on the lobby level and exudes an aura of sophistication and luxury with a great view of a 5-meter cascading waterfall. This is the place to go for afternoon tea, a leisurely evening cocktail or a dinner buffet with indulgent desserts. Oasis is an all-day restaurant located poolside offering a great BBQ buffet dinner or other BBQ favorites served directly to your table fresh from the grill. Finally, Pete’s Place feels like a warm and rustic Italian trattoria serving over 45 authentic dishes including wood-fired oven pizzas and a variety of pastas along with home-baked breads. Such a wide variety of fine restaurants in one hotel is world class and really places the Grand Hyatt in a league of its own.
After a good night’s sleep, I decided to explore Orchard Road. The humble beginnings of this now-famous thoroughfare date back to the early 1830s when it was home to fruit orchards, nutmeg plantations and pepper farms. Not so today. In 1958, TANGS became Orchard Road’s first department store when it was established by local merchant C. K. Tang. It marked the neighborhood’s initial step towards becoming Singapore’s most beloved shopping district. While I’m not normally a big fan of “retail therapy,” this street is known worldwide and so eventually I made my way to ION Orchard, one of the city’s most dazzling shopping complexes. This famously futuristic-looking mall contains over 8 levels of stores ranging from shops selling luxury brands to those offering high street fashion and entertainment. Connoisseurs of fine spirits will love the Grande Whisky Collection on the 5th floor. This is a museum boasting over 45,000 of the world’s rarest and oldest whiskies and a gift shop with a special selection of Scottish and Japanese labels.
I also took advantage of this visit to stop by Prince Custom Tailors on nearby Scotts Road, a fine custom tailoring boutique where I ordered several custom made suits a few years earlier. They offer an extensive range of top-quality fabrics and guarantee efficient and speedy service at a reasonable price compared with what you’d spend in the US or Europe. They even ship directly to your home. I had several sports jackets made and ordered a number of monogrammed dress shirts as well. It turns out they were running a special on dress shirts and sports jackets and somehow, I ended up with 29 shirts! I don’t think I’ll need any more in the foreseeable future.
During the afternoon I enjoyed a ride on the Singapore Flyer. This is a giant observation wheel at Downtown Core (city center) which opened in 2008. It features 28 air-conditioned capsules accommodating 28 passengers apiece. Each capsule is mounted on the outside of the rim structure, providing continuously unobstructed views. The Flyer rises to an overall height of 541 feet and was the world’s tallest ferris wheel until the High Roller opened in Las Vegas in 2014 to beat that record by some 9 feet. Nevertheless, the Singapore Flyer is worth a visit for its panoramic views of the city and the marina.
After breakfast in the lounge on the following morning, I wanted to enjoy the warm weather and spend the entire day outdoors. My first stop was the Singapore Botanical Gardens. Founded way back in 1859, these gardens are located at the fringe of the Orchard Road shopping district. They showcase the very best and most spectacular of tropical flora to be found anywhere. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, they remain the first and only tropical garden to be so honored. The National Orchid Garden is part of this complex and is at the forefront of orchid studies and a pioneer in the cultivation of hybrids, complementing the nation’s status as a major exporter of cut orchids. The Orchid Garden features over 1,000 species and 2,000 hybrids on display. The splendor of these beautiful blooms is a sight to behold and makes a visit to the gardens well worth your time.
Before long it was time for lunch. Singapore’s food scene is one of Asia’s most vibrant and the hawker centers are among the best places to eat. The hawker center offers multi-ethnic Singapore food at its finest. Whether you choose a simple noodle dish or a three-course meal of BBQ’d fish, chili prawns and stir-fried vegetables with rice, the cost is a fraction of what you would pay for a similar meal in a restaurant. Low prices aside, the experience is unique and an integral part of life in this food-crazy city. The hawker center I stopped at was busy over the lunch hour so I had to share a table with others. Who cares? My table mates were super friendly and that’s all part of the fun and tasty experience.
In the late afternoon I made my way to Gardens by the Bay. This is a 250-acre nature park in the central region of the city adjacent to the Marina Reservoir. The park consists of 3 waterfront gardens; Bay South, Bay East and Bay Central with the largest of these being the Bay South Garden at 130 acres. Its Flower Dome is the largest glass greenhouse in the world. Gardens by the Bay was part of the city’s plan to transform itself from a “Garden City” to a “City in a Garden” and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city state. It’s best known for its Supertree Grove, where “trees” made of concrete and steel soar skyward. They’re designed with large canopies that provide shade by day and come alive twice each night in a coordinated light and music show called Garden Rhapsody. The first show's scheduled at 7:45pm and the last one starts one hour later. I caught the early show and can attest it’s a sight to see as the Supertrees were bathed in green, blue and violet light during the show and appeared to look so very futuristic. Once returning to the Hyatt, I enjoyed another restful night’s sleep after all that fresh air.
On my final day in Singapore I went to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel at the edge of the city’s harbor. This is a beautiful hotel consisting of 3 curved towers that overlook the bay. It's as iconic an image for this city as the Statue of Liberty is for New York. The hotel practically put Singapore on the map and was built to a height of more than 656 feet. During my visit, I was so surprised to encounter a symphony orchestra smack dab in the middle of the main lobby. Their classical performance brought a smile to my face as I boarded the elevator up to the Sky Park and Observation Deck. From here, it was a 360-degree panorama, with nothing between us and the dramatic views but a sheet of glass. The guided tours of the Sky Park are worthwhile and conducted at 10am, 2pm and 9pm on a daily basis. Be advised that each tour is limited in number and registration starts one-half hour before on a first-come, first-served basis. It was well worth it; instead of just gazing at the city below, the tour enabled me to get a much deeper insight into all the amazing sights together with a brief history of Singapore. We also got a chance to see the world’s largest infinity pool that’s normally reserved for hotel guests only. Unfortunately, we weren’t given enough time to sneak a quick dip in the welcoming water.
No trip to Singapore would be complete without a visit to the Raffles Hotel. It’s a colonial style luxury hotel established in 1857 and named in honor of Sir Stamford Raffles, the British statesman and colonizer of Singapore. Of course, the hotel has been refurbished many times over the years. The most recent, multi-year renovation was undertaken in 2017 when the rooms were redone and brought up-to-date with their windows soundproofed. The Raffles Hotel is a very busy place and a tourist attraction in its own right. The hotel is the site of the famous Long Bar, home to the iconic Singapore Sling. It was first created in 1915 by Raffles bartender Ngiam Tong Boon. Primarily a gin-based cocktail, it also consists of pineapple and lime juices, Curaçao and Benedictine. Giving the drink its pretty pink hue are grenadine and cherry liqueur. For much of 20th Century Singapore, Raffles was the community gathering place, the Long Bar was its watering hole and “the sling” was among its favorite libations. A visit here was a great way to cap off a great trip to Singapore.
My next stop on this itinerary was the enchanting island of Bali. II’ll tell you all about that in a future post.
Until next time…safe travels.
Wonderful tour of the Garden City. Very descriptive and informative. Makes one want to visit.
I love that "somehow" you ended up with 29 shirts!. You are a star!...