BEST BIRTHDAY EVER: YACHTING IN SINGAPORE

Do you remember when you were 9.5 years old? and then 9.75 and then finally 10!!?? Do you remember the days when another year’s passing couldn’t come soon enough and you were absolutely thrilled to add another year to your lifetime tally? It’s been a long time since I waited rapturously for another year to pass and another birthday to come. There seems to be a bell curve of birthday excitement that peaks around your mid-twenties and then starts to rapidly decline…….I think this makes it even more important that when another birthday does come and another year is added to your total – you absolutely must mark the occasion in a noteworthy way. Of course “noteworthy” becomes more and more difficult to accomplish with so many birthdays under your belt and so many reasons to invalidate proposals – “nah, we did that last year,” “we did that for xxxx’s birthday,” “we do that all the time,” “we’re too old to do that!!!” But then I conceived the BEST idea for a 30-something birthday that would take advantage of our fabulous location on a tropical island and mark the day with the appropriate level of pomp and circumstance – yachting in Singapore!!

We once were Yachters!

The birthday man, myself and 9 other friends rented a “luxury yacht” called “Pure Lust” and it was pure genius. We brought a cooler of drinks and food to grill and headed off from the Changi Marina (NOTE: it’s on the farthest eastern edge of the island). The yacht was pretty awesome – lots of lounge seating, a cool indoor cabin, drink fridges, a grill, bathroom, etc. We left about 5pm sailed over to the southern islands past all the huge tankers to a pleasant cove with clean water – we swam, we grilled, we drank, we chilled – we were supposed to sail to Sentosa and watch the fireworks but we weren’t fussed so we didn’t. We got back to the marina at 10pm and the only downside was getting a taxi in no-man’s land – I recommend you order some ahead. It was not quite as fabulous as P.Diddy’s white party but it was just right for breaking the norm and celebrating with friends. We would all definitely do it again some time.

Back to the marina

Lounging

Cabin lounging

**bliss**

There was some leg work involved in the planning. I’ll share what I uncovered in case you have the same tremendous idea and hopefully it will be easier to plan. First of all – I recommend booking well in advance if you can because there are limited options and if they’re booked then you’re out of luck. I planned a week before which complicated things….Also – pricing is really based on group size, length of trip and requirements so use the prices below as only a rough guide.

Pure Lust

Pure Lust was clean, nice and the 2 Singaporean brothers who own and operate the boat are very chill (which is important because they’ll be on the boat with you the whole time). It technically fits 10 guests (we had 11 plus 2 crew) and it worked out to roughly $100 a person for a 5 hour cruise and leaves from Changi Marina. They also have a yacht that can fit 20 people and a fishing charter: http://www.purelust.sg/ , TEL +65 8388 7655 , EMAIL jonathan@purelust.sg

Cutter Ketch was unfortunately booked already but the old school yacht looks nice and has sails! It  accommodates about 8 people for an evening cruise/ 12 for a day cruise and prices/timing ranged from 4 to 8 hours and from about $80 per person: http://www.cutterketch.com/

SAF Changi Marina has some options but these are more along the lines of a “boat” than a “yacht“. One accommodates 7 people and the other 11. Pricing for 5 hour trips would be in the $60 to $70 a person range. http://www.safyc.org.sg/index.phpoption=com_content&task=view&id=474&Itemid=446

Raffles Marina is on the edge of the west coast but Lady Olivia can accommodate 10 people for a 4 hour cruise. Pricing would be about $70 a person and there is no grill. http://www.rafflesmarina.com.sg/whatson_mar_boa_boa.htm

Mana Mana Beach Club – This is decidedly un-yacht like but if you wanted to get out on the water in smaller groups it would be fun. Their “VINDALOO” 21-foot, sloop rig keel boats only accommodate 5 people and don’t have real seats. With a skipper it would be about $50 a person for a few hours on the water. Mana Mana also rents all kinds of water sports equipment (kayaks! windsurfing! kitesurfing! etc.) and is conveniently located next to the East Coast Lagoon Hawker stalls: http://www.manamana.com/

Cruise Whatever: Leaves from Sentosa Cove, they accommodate up to 18 people on the yacht and also offer dockside rental for up to 30 (I think that means they don’t move the boat). They had complicated food service and corkage requirements which made things confusing but it seems to be about $100++ a person. Their yacht seems perfectly designed for a party. http://cruisewhatever.com

Lastly, if you have a big party and/or are a baller, their yachts are fabulous, luxe and expensive! http://www.yachtlongranger.com/

Pastimes for the Rich: Golfing in Singapore

The husband just got a new set of golf clubs. A friend taveling to Singapore bought them in the states which meant that instead of $3,000 they cost only $1,000 which still seems to me like a pretty hefty outlay for a sport but I’m told he got a good deal. I’m not a golfer. I’ve taken a few swings at a driving range before but it feels so awkward that I’ve never been tempted to explore the sport further. That decision is a happy one considering that is so expensive to play in Singapore.

Courses range from about $50 for 9 holes (at the cow pasture like golf course called Green Fairways over in Bukit Timah) to around $120++ (7% GST, 10% Service charge, and 3% admin fee!!) for 9 holes at the much more plush and centrally located Marina Bay Golf Course – of course if you don’t have your own clubs – you have to rent them (more $$), if you don’t have proper golfing shoes – you have to rent them (more $$), and they also seem to need a monthly swing test (more $$) to ensure you know what you’re doing. So all in all it’s quite an expensive affair. Seemingly this doesn’t weigh very heavily on most of the golf-playing population of Singapore but there is a more economical option. The driving range is comparatively a super good deal. The driving range at Marina Bay Golf Course costs only the price of the balls you want to hit which, depending on timing, ranges from 4 to 7 cents per ball. So even at the peak time it’s only $3.50  to hit 50 balls. The range also seems more fun to me (though clearly I don’t have the golfing mentality) since you get to drive balls at a variety of targets in front of you without the frustration of trying to get the ball into some frickin’ hole – just saying.

So all of this golf talk interests me very little but having accompanied my hubby to the range the other night to cheer him and his expensive habit on, he introduced me to the Canopy Bar at the Marina Bay Golf Course. This place is a find! They serve pitchers of Tiger for $19 bucks (and a mix of decent but not very exciting food) and they have quite possibly the best view in Singapore. Their open air tables overlook the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands and all of downtown, just beyond the greens of the golf course in front of you. It’s really very pretty – especially at dusk. The Canopy bar has a pretty basic interior with plastic tables and chairs and totally lacks pretension which I find refreshing with all the many hopped up rooftop bars in Singapore promising a view. It’s a great place to enjoy a relaxing beer and enjoy the famous Singapore skyline. I think it will be added to the visitor playbook going forward because the view is that good and it’s just down the road from us!

The photo doesn’t do the view justice – you really need to experience it in person =)

Best Dinner Buffet in Singapore!

Singapore loves food and there are certainly no shortage of buffets to choose from. Western, Asian, dessert buffets, high tea buffets, shabu shabu, there’s no limit to the options…. but I find that most buffets offer such an overwhelming assortment of food that I inevitably over do it and leave feeling uncomfortably full. Then I head straight home and lay on the couch complaining about how I shouldn’t have eaten so much, that I shouldn’t have had a whole plate of cheese, etc. etc. (Yes – I am this much fun). But I feel compulsed to TRY EVERYTHING and so if there weren’t so many darn things to eat, I might be able to control myself.

This is a big reason why I think that the Oasis restaurant, poolside at the Hyatt Hotel is so great, but certainly far from the only one. Their restraint in keeping from overwhelming you options is coupled with quality execution of the options they provide. It’s like being at someone’s BBQ but with waiters graciously refilling your glass and no need for anyone to do dishes afterwards. And like a BBQ it’s open air so not that great for a rainy day and you certainly won’t need a sweater.

The BBQ is only on Friday and Saturday nights from 6:30pm to 9:30pm and it pays to make a reservation well in advance because they only have about 20 tables. They serve steak, shrimp/prawns, lamb chops, salmon, chicken, lamb patties, sausage, (and probably more I’m forgetting) all coming straight off the grill. There were a number of sides including corn on the cob and an assortment of really delicious salads (potato salad, greens, squash and feta cheese, walnuts, rocket leaves and parmesan, tomato salad, olives, etc.).  There’s also soft-serve ice cream and few local Singaporean dessert options. AND there’s bottomless margaritas (not that great), red or white wine, and Tiger beer. All for the price of S$75++ which is one heck of a deal for Singapore.

It’s a great way to start your Friday or Saturday night and since it’s not full of heavy foods it doesn’t make you feel like you’re ready for a nap. Instead, it makes you feel like you’re ready to rock out at Brix….but I’ll save that for another post =)

WANDER LUST: TAIWAN

All I do is Lin, Lin, Lin

My friend Maureen is currently living in Taipei, Taiwan but will be moving to good old Singers over the summer. Before she moves, it was absolutely imperative that Rob and I get over there to visit her and check out the scene. Thank goodness we did; it was freaking fantastic.

I spent a year living in Shanghai and I love all things Chinese (the FOOD!, the language, the customs, the markets/bargaining, etc.), so it was sort of odd that I never put much thought into traveling to Taiwan until I sensed the ticking clock on my free place to stay! I also know there’s a serious political division between China and Taiwan (it’s actually fascinatingly complicated) and it’s not reasonable to blindly lump the 2 into one category but there’s also enough cultural similarity that it would be a struggle not to at least compare them.

Knowing how much I LOVE to travel, this could easily become long-winded so I’m going to give you the highlight reel of our adventure, Letterman style:

10. Smells like…I haven’t been back to China in over 5 years and so maybe this has changed but I remember a lot of smog and a general, inexplicable stink being pretty pervasive (no, I’m not talking about the stinky tofu). Taiwan is nowhere near as clean as Singapore, and has a bit of a run-down appearance in many places but the air is pretty clear.

9. Infrastructure – Again, Singapore takes the cake on this but after traveling by bus, MRT, taxi and car, it was very easy, clean and orderly. I was impressed.

8. People! Almost everyone in Taiwan we met was very nice, friendly even, and smiley! Like woah.

7. Price! Compared to China, Taiwan isn’t very cheap. Compared to Singapore, Taiwan is amazingly inexpensive. **Sigh** Also, as an American, I can get a free visa on arrival to Taiwan. China thinks I should pay $200 for a single entry – utter nonsense.

6. Language! I speak very poor Mandarin – the kind that works in taxis, at markets, in restaurants and occasionally for short bouts of small talk. In Singapore, no one even bothers to try to converse with me. Maybe no one understands me with all the local dialects and my angmo accent but either out of necessity or effort, they understand me in Taiwan (mostly) =)

5. Shopping! I love the markets; the hunting, the haggling, the oddities around every bend. We saw an old lady dance troupe in Yi Lan, Giant Snakes in Snake Alley, and I bought lots of things that felt like they were free compared to pricing in Singapore.

4. Nature! Taiwan has some sweet nature. We drove along the cliffs and saw the (cold) beautiful water and very green rolling hills. We hiked in Taroko Gorge and enjoyed some natural hot springs. It was great and only a long-ish drive from Taipei.

3. Din Tai Fung! Everyone knows the chain which does a very good business in Singapore but the ORIGINAL is in Taipei and it puts the others to shame! It’s an experience in itself – crowded at all hours and a stack of floors connected by narrow staircases slinging Xiao Long Bao among other delights. It was DELICIOUS.

2. The Food! Man, I love Chinese food. In Singapore it’s hard to find some of my favorite mainland Chinese dishes – like Grandmother’s Tofu, Egg and Tomatoes, and dumplings – but you can get them. But I’ve NEVER had a Bao zi done right in Singapore. Bao zi are steamed bread-like buns generally with a flavorful pork meatball in the center. Done Right, they are amazing but here they seem to be too sweet – maybe Cantonese styled? They do them MORE than right in Taiwan – we even tried a baked variety and a lamb curry one. I was blown away. I thought about trying to bring 100 back and freezing them but I thought better of it…

1. My friend Maureen! It was great to catch up and see her. Maybe I’ll convince her to Guest Blog one day =)

Holy Bao zi! (This wasn't posed at all)

Photoworthy

I saw this on my way to work. Notice the “Provoke” and “Anti-Cops” slogans covering the motorcyclist’s helmet. He was very careful not to pull ahead of the police car. Classic. Happy Tuesday!!

BEST HAPPY HOUR IN SINGAPORE EVER.

I mean it. The Morton’s Steakhouse happy hour is as good as it gets, especially in Singapore. There are $13 martinis – real martinis, not mini-tinis and they come in 5 different varieties. Classic (Gin or vodka), Lychee (pretty good – not too sweet), Apple (a bit tart with a cinnamon rim), Cosmo (pretty standard & pink!), and Chocolate (looks like a dessert but I didn’t try it). My drink of choice is the classic vodka, extra dirty with olives – they even have blue cheese stufffed olives!! Man, I love olives. But these are serious drinks and you start to feel it pretty quickly so that’s where the steak sandwiches come in. The waitstaff walk around with platters of free, delicious, beautifully medium rare steak sandwiches. It’s divine. The sandwiches are seriously good and considering the cheapest steak you can get at Morton’s if you order off the menu is about $90 bucks, FREE is a screaming good deal.

It’s also conveniently located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel on the 4th floor which happens to be about a 10 minute cab ride from our place. So if anyone knows of a better happy hour, I’m all ears!

WARNING: I’ve made it to 4 martinis in one sitting and the outcome isn’t pretty….