After a 17.5 hour flight yesterday (thankfully my status came in handy for once and we were upgraded!), we landed in Singapore. For those who don’t know, Singapore is one of two southeast Asian countries I lived in as a child – this trip is a bit of “homecoming” for me, both to explore my former homes as an adult and to recapture and legitimize the few memories I do have of my childhood in Asia. As expected, Singapore is clean, easy to navigate, and incredibly accessible both for seasoned travelers and those who have never been to Asia. I keep joking that Singapore is “in the future” – and am keeping a running tab of reasons why, such as:

• For Singapore Airlines flights, you have the option to “check in” automatically, 48 hours beforehand – no manual input needed from travelers if you have your travel details (e.g., passport) stored in their system
• Plugs here have an on/off switch to conserve electricity (although woe to the jetlagged traveler who leaves their phone plugged in all night, but not charging, having not realized…)
• Their crosswalks are incredibly advanced and tailored for accessibility – I was blown away by the fact that seniors or other folks needing more time to cross can simply scan a card and the crosswalk will adjust to accommodate by providing more time
• The bus and subway system is impeccably clean – and runs on time (to the minute!)
• Dogs here wear shorts in addition to shirts (kidding, but this was hilarious!)

We started our Singapore adventure with a tour of my old “neighborhood” (so to speak) and a couple places I’d visited as a child, all of which are in the northern part of Singapore.

First up, we visited the Singapore Botanic Gardens, located in the Tanglin neighborhood. In addition to being an incredible green space in the city, the Gardens hold a special memory for me – we took my 85 year old grandmother when she came to visit us in the late ’90s. An avid gardener until she moved into assisted living at the ripe old age of 93, she was captivated by the National Orchid Garden and the butterfly enclosure. We retraced our steps, entering through the Tanglin Gate and then meandering our way past the Frangipani Garden and the Ginger Garden to the National Orchid Garden. It was absolutely stunning (although I will say, the humidity here made me feel like I was in a perpetual greenhouse).

The National Orchid Garden was incredible – it was the only part of the Botanic Gardens that required a ticket but it was well worth the $15.

The orchid displays were incredible, from styling on rock facades to incredible hanging displays within the “cool house” (my favorite part, although going from AC back into the heat caused both my glasses and camera lens to fog up hilariously) to beautiful covered walkways.

On the way out of the Orchid Garden, we had a couple exciting wildlife sightings, including a chicken and a couple baby komodo dragons (or at least, very small ones compared to the big ones I remember roaming around when I was a child!).

As I exited, I was also treated to a beautiful bird sighting – all the birds here are so vibrant!

After the Botanic Gardens, we headed to the famed Orchard Road, discovering the ease of using the Singapore bus system. Orchard Road is covered with a ton of malls and hawker centers (food stalls), ranging from budget to luxury. We entered the “luxury” mall, ION Orchard, which includes a multitude of shops, dining options and a beautiful lookout platform.

The changing, multi-colored ceiling and architecture also add to the vibe.

Attempting to find the observation deck on the 55th floor was quite the process (a similarly confused Singaporean man led the way as we all attempted to figure out how to access the elevator; it turns out that ION apparently runs an “art gallery” that was undergoing construction, so we basically were wandering through a variety of huge, freshly painted, empty rooms together). Finally, we ascended from the 4th floor to the 55th, where the observation platform is. It offered stunning panoramic views of Singapore and over to Malaysia in the north; amusingly, it also allowed us to observe some of Singapore’s quirky architecture from above as well (buildings have all sorts of cutouts, design features like the top floor of a 30 story building being shaped like a colonial-style home in the United States, all sorts of cutouts for multi-story greenspace on one site, etc.).

After that, incredibly sweaty still from our Botanic Garden trek, we decided to sit for tea at the TWG Tea location. It’s stunning and although incredibly pricey if you opt for lunch, a reasonable stop for a pot of tea and some snacks. We decided to try a couple things: my husband got a lovely iced tea (which comes with a reusable glass straw!) while I got a pot of delicious tea from Papua New Guinea (because sadly, I won’t be getting there anytime soon). We also got their “tea ice cream” sampler to share, which was great.

After our little tea stop, we headed to our next stop in the Orchard district: my childhood apartment complex, Leone Gardens. Although we couldn’t go inside, it was nice to see the building and put the few memories I had in context.

Finally, we headed to the last of my childhood haunts, Newton Food Centre. Famed for a brief call-out in Crazy Rich Asians, it’s probably the most well-known / touristy of the hawker centers (from what I understand). We unfortunately went after the peak lunch rush around 2pm, so several of the stalls were closed.

However, we were able to try a couple of the most famed stalls. First up was Kwee Heng (stall #13), a Michelin-rated stall known for its incredible “dry” (aka non-soup) braised duck (menu item #18), which was $4 SGD (aka $2.75 or so USD). It was a delicious plate of tender duck, herbs and noodles, served with a dipping sauce. Unfortunately, the second stall we really wanted to try (Hup Kee, #73, known for their oyster omelette) was closed, so we visited Heng Heng BBQ instead (#31), which is known for its rendition of the famed Singapore mud crabs in a sweet / spicy sauce. The crab was delicious (and comes at a price, almost $50 SGD), although you have to eat it with your fingers – hilariously, when I went to open what I thought was the “wet nap” (aka a wipe to clean my hands at the end) I discovered it was, in fact, a pair of disposable gloves (Singapore is LIVING IN THE FUTURE). We also probably should have ordered a side of rice, but since we were having noodles with the duck, we held off.

Several hand washes later, we were ready to head back to the hotel and relax for a bit before dinner.

We were able to get a reservation easily at Bar Kakure, which is rated on the World’s 50 Best list as one of the best bars in Asia (and apparently a pretty well-kept secret within Singapore?). It’s apparently usually pretty difficult to get in to and has a speakeasy vibe with a waiting room and passcode… but it was actually dead quiet tonight. Perhaps we went too early (~8pm) or on a Monday, but the vibe was a bit off. Upon arrival we were greeted by multiple doormen, despite the restaurant on the first floor and the bar being essentially empty. The hostess basically rushed us upstairs, skipped the waiting room, and put the passcode in herself, ruining a bit of the speakeasy magic.

Inside, the bar is absolutely beautiful and I can see why it would rank on the best of the best lists given the right number of patrons / atmosphere.

The menu features a variety of creative cocktails, as well as small bites. We tried a couple things: the “Drunken Pooh” Martini (which features vodka-infused with gummy bears), a wasabi cocktail (which included freshly grated wasabi on a shark-skin grater) and multiple bites, including the chicken lollipops, the Japanese style pickles, a Chirashi don bowl, and the prawn katsu sandwich. Overall, the food was incredible and the drinks were creative and definitely lived up to the hype.

I’d give the atmosphere a pass given we probably visited on an off day, so if you’re planning to go, I’d visit on a weekend and later in the evening. Overall, a great first day to Singapore!