Singapore La(yover)..

"Nobody in Singapore drinks Singapore Slings. It's one of the first things you find out there. What you do in Singapore is eat. It's a really food crazy culture, where all of this great food is available in a hawker-stand environment"-Anthony Bourdain.

I was too excited to find that I was rostered for the Singapore flight. New destination for me after all, and before I went in there, I did my quick research of what to eat and what to see as a first time visitor and in my wishlist:

• Eat the Decadent Chilli Crab
• Eat Singaporean Laksa
• Take Selfie by the Merlion
• Eat in the Hawker style food park

Seafood Dimsums

But then, before you go to a place, you ask for recommendations and do some research. Despite asking for recommendations, I was readying myself for some impromptu meal choices!

Day1
We reached the hotel--Rendezvous by Bras Basah, about 1115 am--tired, sleepy and often yawning, ready to hit bed for about 2-3 hours and then out for the city tour, till someone complained of being hungry! So, there you go, "See you all in the lobby in 15-20mins was the call". After getting into my room, I was too cosy and too lazy to step out for some quick lunch, but then, the "Gentleman" has given his word--cant avoid! I changed my clothes and then off for some good lunch! When I say, "good lunch", I really meant a good one.

Singapore Chilli Crab

After a little bit of run around, we found a seafood restaurant right behind the hotel, with a decadent menu featuring fruits of the sea and and lots of asian delicacies! But then, I went there for something else...Singapore Chilli Mud Crab, oh yes please! The server took me to their aquarium to show me the crabs they have in stock, "live"--the Scottish mud crabs about SG$68.00(USD50) per KG(promotional price--original being 80SG$).
I also ordered some dimsums as my appetisers before I decided to hog in the entire crab!Dimsums were nice and then comes, the much coveted Singapore Chilli Crab. How was it? When you pay about SG$81 (USD60) it ought to be delicious. Not spicy as you would expect (and you know, I cant stand spicy food). I dont know how long did it take me to finish, but I was asking fellow colleagues, if they would like to try (and save some space before I get tired of cleaning up the claws and pick out the meat). No desserts except an ice-cream to finish it off and then off to sleep!

Singaporean Seafood Laksa

The plan for the evening was to have some laksa (meaning Lakh/one hundred thousand). I remember, back in my tenure in Chennai, I would often make Laksa, and since then had fallen in love with it--didnt get to have a good one since 2009 and Singapore made my wish come true. Just for SG$3.50(about 2.60 USD), I had a good bowl of Laksa with seafood.For dessert? I found a place churning premium homemade Japanese flavoured ice-creams--Macha with Redbean, one scoop in a cone.

After a short while, met some of the crew of the flight and had a quick chit chat with them--shawarma and some mocktails to go! By local time 11pm, I was too tired to stay up. Ordered some hot chocolate from room service and then off to bed!

Merlion of Singapore

Day 2

I was up by 7am--did my morning water ritual and had my breakfast--not much time I had for that day--needed to sleep for at least 2 hours before the wake up call and off for some walking around the city.
Merlion, or the "Sea-Lion", conceptualised back in 1970s, represents the name of the country, "Singapura", located in front of The Fullerton Hotel. And yes, I took my selfie and as almost like all the visitors, I did drink a lot of water!

Selfie done and then it was time to go to eat in a hawker style food park--where the food is cheap, good and lots of people around.I moved on to Chinatown using the inexpensive MRT(Singaporean Subway/Metro) and onto Maxwell Food Centre. You must come here to believe--arrays of food stalls, with people queuing up for some freshly crushed sugarcane juice or some cheap lunch, as cheap as just SG$4.00. Did I ever tell you, that in asia, if you need to eat good food, you need to come to these places?
I ordered a fried fish croquette and the laksa again. All I could hear was "slurp"!But then, FYI, most of these restaurants, never give you a tissue. Either you carry yours or else, buy one!
In this layover, I had been a complete glutton. I love the asian flavours (despite, I had been a lifelong servant of European cuisine)be it Hong Kong (where I would love to go over and over again), Saigon (You eat really good food, without even breaking your bank)or here in Singapore(where there is something for everyone).