Singapore – Part II (Clarke Quay, Marina Bay Sands, & Garden by the Bay)
Before you dive into Part II, please check out Part I for the first half of my trip sharing the wonderful places I explored and some amazing eats. In Part II I will share a few more of my favorite places with you.
The first place I will start with is Clarke Quay. Clarke Quay is a historical riverside wharf in Singapore that has been converted into a pedestrian mall. Clark Quay is more famous for its waterside restaurants with a variety of fresh seafood, waterside restaurants, bars, and clubs. I’ll have to be honest and say I didn’t visit Clarke Quay during the day, but there are definitely a ton of things to do. The evening is the best time to go. You will find yourself walking for hours stopping in the many restaurants and bars without a care in the world losing all sense of time.
My first stop in Clarke Quay was for dinner. On my list of top eats was Singapore’s famous Chili Crab. Singapore Chili Crab is one of the world's most popular dishes. It’s typically made with mud crabs simmered in a thick, sweet, savory and spicy tomato sauce. Since Clarke Quay is a tourist hot spot you will find there are many restaurants on the river walk that all have tanks of huge live crabs, a variation of lobsters, and live fish.
If I were alone trying to pick the best spot would have been stressful, but I had my nephew who had already explored the best spots and knew which place he wanted to take me. Once we were seated we ordered oysters on the half shell as an appetizer along with a few other dishes.
For the main course, we ordered the famous Singaporean Chili Crab that’s accompanied with mantous. Mantous are Chinese steamed or fried buns generally made with flour, yeast, and water.
At first sight, I wasn’t impressed at all with the Chili crab. To me, it looked like a king grab crab without the legs in a tomato sauce mixed with egg drop soup. The taste was underwhelming as I was expecting a much thicker sweet and spicier sauce with maybe some red chili peppers, cilantro, some ginger, and lots of scallions. What I pictured in my head was maybe how I would have prepared it for myself.
We had a few other dishes that I can’t remember and I didn’t take pictures because it obviously didn’t impress. As we ate my nephew promised me a treat the next day as he knew I would be disappointed. He would be making his own version of Chili Lobster he created after the disappointment of the chili crab when he had it. After dinner, we walked around a bit. At night
Clarke Quay was alive with people enjoying the amazing weather and beautiful views along the river walk. You could either hit up one of the many bars and restaurants or just sit on the side steps along the river to relax and watch the floating bars cruise along the beautifully lit river.
After a quick stroll, we walked around checking out the different bars and decided to go into a Vietnamese Restaurant & Bar called “Little Saigon”.
We sat down and ordered a bottle of champagne as the band set up. At that time it wasn’t many people in the bar. It was still early and it wasn't yet bustling with the bar hoppers.
Little Saigon has a regular in-house band called E.N.T. I didn’t know what to expect from this group of guys who seemed to be shy and a little out of place, but as soon as they started playing I was blown away. Quickly the bar started to get crowded and they were all there to see this band. By the end of the night, I was on the stage singing along to a Maroon 5 song with them. I immediately became a fan of this group! We ended up staying there until the bar closed. It was an amazing end to the evening.
The following night we went to the Marina Ban Sands hotel. The structure resembles a giant ship suspended at the top of 3 building towers. This large complex includes a casino, theater, shopping mall, and hotel.
The Marina Bay Sands is one of the gateways to several of Singapore’s most popular tourist attractions. If you’re wanting to do some shopping there are over 170 luxury and premium boutiques. You could spend hours just making your way through the shops. There are also over 80 restaurants and bars in the hotel, but we decided on CÉ LA VI Sky Bar located on the 57th floor in Tower 3.
We were able to get a table on the rooftop and the views were breathtaking!
We had a view of the Gardens by the Bay Cloud Forest, Flower Dome, and the Supertree Grove from our table. Because we weren’t very hungry since we had an early dinner, so we ordered cocktails and appetizers. We started with a dozen freshly shucked Atlantic oysters and the pan-seared Foie Gras in black truffle, pomegranate, violet mustard, and marigold. Though I’m not a big fan of raw oysters my nephew demanded I try these as they were some of the best he has ever had. He dressed it up for me and he was right. I then moved on to the Foie Gras. I’ve had Foie Gras before but this was on a different level. The moment the fork hit my mouth my taste buds were dancing and my foot was tapping. We were both looking at each other as we knew there would be a war for the last bite. I will say that was one of the BEST APPETIZERS I’ve ever had.
At the end of the evening, we walked around the hotel and then for a quick stroll at the Gardens by the bay. We walked around the towering illuminated metal tree-like structures that were wrapped in leafy vines. When looking up at these brightly lit structures if felt like you were in the future. It was amazing! I really wish I had taken many more pictures on this trip, but at that time I didn’t know I would be sharing my adventures with all of you.
I really wish I had taken many more pictures on this trip, but at that time I didn’t know I would be sharing my adventures with all of you. I definitely plan on returning so on my next visit I will have much more to share with you.
Thanks for visiting Verdia’s Spot!
Glad to see a good blog on your time in Singapore, make me realise how lucky i am to live here. Hope to see you all soon. Nat & Sasha