Eating in Singapore.

17.11.11

The last few days in Singapore have been really enjoyable and leisurly.

We've done a fair bit of walking. Yesterday we went to Chinatown, to

find a recommended Hawker centre for lunch. We tried a selection of

food, including Char Sew roasted pork, dumpling soup and crispy fried

wontons for mains. All of which were simple but delicious. Then Chris

went to point at a selection of odd looking drinks and deserts that

he'd seen people having and came back with Jellygrass tea. This is a

clear black coloured cold drink with lumps of jelly floating around!

It has a strange after taste, but is drinkable, until it starts getting

lumpier! We also tried soya milk, which is very popular and beancurd

with warm sugar cane, which none of us could really get in to, the texture

was too unnusual! It was a really lively, bustling atmosphere sat amongst

the food stands in this market. Chinatown was quite interesting to walk

around, but quite geared towards tourists.

We headed back to Geylang to get showered and changed and then got back

on the MRT to Marina Bay. We went to see the casino at the marina, which

is quite a new addition and huge. Gambling was only recently legalised

in Singaore and the casinos opened in 2009. The floor space is about 50% fruit

machines and then tables of Marjong, black jack and some other dice

games we didn't recognise. There is no poker played here much to the

disappointment of Martin and Chris. Singaporeans have to pay 100 SD

to enter and play at the casino.

After wandering around we went to dinner at Cut, which was just an incredible

experience for me (Martin had been before). It is an upmarket steak restaurant.

I'm not really a connosieur of steak so I needed some help choosing the cut of

my steak. The cows are bred specifically and are reared on a particular diet

in order to make the meat really succulent and get a particular taste. After

ordering we were presented with a selection of breads to choose from, including

olive bread, very exciting!! The meal itself was phenomenal. All the cuts of

meat melted in the mouth. I didn't realise there was any difference in taste

depending on the cut of steak. The vegetable side dishes were amazing too and

we also enjoyed a bottle of Cianti.

I felt very spoilt! Thank you Chris x

Today we got the MRT back to Orchard and then walked the length of Orchard

out to the Botanic gardens, which took about 45 minutes, longer than the

boys were happy about! Once we left Orchard road we were in a wealthy area

with plush apartment blocks and then huge mansions, with private security

booths and acres of land, so it was quite interesting gawping at these

properties, trying to decide who would live there etc.

The Botanic gardens were really pleasant to walk around, with various different

types of gardens over a vast area. You didn't feel like you were in a city.

The Orchid garden in particular was worth a visit, housing so many different

types of Orchid. I didn't realise that the Orchid is supposed to be the

largest group of flowering plant.

For dinner we went to find another recommended hawker centre in one of the malls

on Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City. Martin and I tried Carrot cake which we think

is slices of a tofu type substance and veg fried, in this case in a black bean

sauce. Not too sure about it! We also tried some deserts - mango pudding,

which was like a mango jelly, really good.

Then this evening we went to the marina to watch the Immortals, and before hand

the boys played a game of bowling while I wandered around the shops.