shopping & eating in singapore

we arrived at singapore in the early evening on friday, the 21st of december. fortunately, we were able to send our luggage from linz til manado, so we didn’t need to care about it and were a lot faster to get to our hotel. we stayed for one night in the grand plaza park hotel city hall which was really nice and comfortable. the ten-story atrium hotel is strategically located in a vibrant quarter of singapore’s city centre, just a step away from singapore’s business hub, shopping haven and nightlife.

     
we didn’t rest long in our rooms because we wanted to go to a food market and were bursting with curiosity! a cab driver brought us to an old big chinese market where we ate too much but extremely good food. satay, shrimps sweet sour, dumpling, … anything that you like and can imagine – or not. we also saw some strange dishes there! i just found a „tutorial“ for such a food market in singapore:

1. first, find yourself a table. sharing tables is common, especially at peak periods, so don’t be shy to ask about unoccupied seats.
2. next, it’s time to assemble your meal! for safety’s sake, don’t leave your belongings unattended. It’s easiest if someone stays behind to reserve – or as we say, ‚chope‘ – the table.
3. remember to tell the hawkers your table number so they can deliver your food. at self-service stalls, wait until your order is ready so you can cart it off yourself.
4. explore the stalls to see what is being offered. most display photos of their specialties, and you can watch them being prepared. ask the hawker or other customers if you want to know more – they’ll be pleased by your interest. stalls with long and persistent queues are usually worth the wait!
5. follow the locals and share a wide variety of dishes, for maximum pleasure!
6. do remember to keep plates and utensils from muslim and chinese stalls separate, in order to respect religious restrictions concerning food preparation.

for as little as sgd 5, you would be able to enjoy a full meal at the food court or hawker centre. however, if you are ordering barbecued seafood, do check the price with the hawker before confirming your order, as seafood is charged by weight, and the market rate per kilogram fluctuates.

after our dinner we took a cab ‚home‘ to our hotel because we wanted to do some shopping before the shops would close. well, many had already closed at the time we arrived but one next to our hotel was still open – unfortunately for me! i bought some equipement for my canon 350d but i think that i made a prettygood deal. everything was really much more cheaper than in europe and actually i wanted to have these things for a long time.
very tired but very happy we went back to our hotel to have a last drink at a bar (with supersexy karaoke songs) but then we went to bed early. jetlag is a bitch! :)