Tag: Singapore

Tea For Two

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For one of my final days in Singapore, my aunt and I decided to attend a tea ceremony.

My aunt knows all about my love of tea, which some might call an obsession (I have an entire tea cabinet) and so we set out to learn what it takes to have a proper tea party.

We went to “Teahouse by Yixing Xuan,” for a private tea lesson, in which I learned more about tea than I ever thought possible, like how all tea contains caffeine, including caffeine-free tea, because of how it grows in nature, and that white tea is often in skincare products due to its skin benefits. The takeaway was clear: drink white tea if you want to delay the aging process and only drink tea if you want to stay up at night.

The instructor walked us through a traditional tea ceremony while we ate dumplings. We watched as he strained hot water through loose leaf tea in an almost mesmerizing display and then we got to partake on the tea that we made. I was able to practice being the one to pour and make the tea until I felt ready to repeat the steps with my daily tea. 

After that we stopped for ice cream at a place called, “Birds of Paradise.” They specialize in unique ice cream flavors, which is how I ended up having chrysanthemum-flavored ice cream, a sweet, but not too sweet treat that I cannot recommend enough.  

I spent some time that afternoon at the Asian Civilization Museum, learning about Asia’s history from the silk road to the opium wars, and all of the major world events that I learned about in AP world history class. 

We ended our day by going to the Van Gogh immersive experience, a traveling art show that projects Van Gogh’s artwork while a narrator tells you about his life. You’re bathed in the artwork until you feel like you’re a part of it, soaking up the paint. It’s calming in a way that you wouldn’t expect, lulling you to sleep if you’re not careful. We learned about Van Gogh’s life, while mixed in with his stars and sunflowers.

Overall, it was a nice day of sipping tea, eating ice cream, and staring at art. What could be better?

Shortly thereafter, we called it a day, so that we could prepare for our trip to Indonesia the next day. More on that later.

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel

P.S.: Check out my previous blog post about my eventful day of gambling, drinking, and meditating, the perfect combination. 

Hit Me

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“BlackJack is not real poker”

–My grandfather who was drunk and also in a bad mood

I have been to many great art museums around the world and had a host of different experiences: The Ufizi– got told to move out of the way of the Birth of Venus painting by a man in a tour group who probably doesn’t support women; the Musée d’Orsay– was yelled at in French by a security guard who probably was telling me not to lean over the edge of the balcony so that I wouldn’t fall to my death; The Metropolitan Museum of Art– once watched Dracula there (1937) and a black and white German expressionist vampire film for some reason; The Guggenheim– got dizzy walking up it; MoMA– went to it during the pride parade in Chelsea and saw it in its fullest of glory; The Louvre– took a photo of the most photographed painting in the world

Of all of the art museums I have been to, The National Gallery of Singapore is probably my favorite. The paintings I saw there were largely of people and used bright, saturated colors, two things that I love when it comes to art. 

With the largest collection of Asian art in the world, The National Gallery of Singapore had much to show me. Walking through the gallery, I saw artwork that depicted moments in history throughout Asia that I knew nothing about. 

After the National Gallery of Singapore, I returned to Marina Bay Sands, this time to try my hand at poker at the Marina Bay Sands Casino.

I entered the smoke-filled casino with complete confidence. My grandfather taught me, my cousins, and my brother how to play poker when I was about nine, probably because he would rather be playing poker than babysitting children.

My cousins and I were more concerned with learning how to shuffle the deck than how to play poker, which might explain why I’d forgotten the rules of every form of poker, including five card draw.

I got a refresher course from my aunt and a few of the nicer dealers and then trusted to dumb luck. I stuck to playing blackjack and three card draw, because those were the easiest to relearn on the fly.

I felt all of the sensations of being in a casino, of losing money and believing that you can earn it back, of earning money and believing that you could earn more. It feels elating when you’re winning. It feels demoralizing the second you start to lose. You feel in your bones that you’re about to win and maybe you are right about that, though you probably aren’t. 

They have you on the line and on the line you stay. 

My aunt felt the epic highs and lows more than I did, mainly because she had to explain to my father anything that went wrong with me, like losing all of my money at a blackjack table. I perfected the hand movement for when I wanted to stay and tapped the table when I wanted the dealer to hit me, all while creating a nail-biter for a blood relative.

I lost, then I gained, then I lost again, and then I gained.

I went in with 250 Singaporean dollars and then I left with 270 Singaporean dollars. 

The house did not win that day. 

I walked away, holding my head high, and feeling like I could do anything. Write a bestseller? Piece of cake. Travel the entire world? A walk in the park.

To celebrate, my aunt and I went to the Raffles Hotel for a few Singapore slings. A Singapore Sling is the signature drink of Singapore and it isn’t hard to see why. It is a smooth and fantastic cocktail that deceptively tastes like it has very little alcohol in it when in all actuality, you’ll be on your ass after two. 

My aunt and I enjoyed our fruity cocktails with thick wedges of pineapples, while enjoying the crushed peanut shell ambience of the Raffles Hotel. 

I learned a great many things about gambling that day, like, don’t play roulette; it’s a fool’s game. 

A few lessons went unlearned that day, including don’t hit on 18, because that wound up paying off for me, literally. 

That night we went to a meditation class where I took the greatest nap of my life. With a beautiful, astrological light show going on over my head and my jet-lag kicking in, I meditated so well that I took a fantastic snooze on a thin yoga mat. It was, however, an amazing, meditation class.

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel

P.S.: Check out my previous blog post about the Singapore Zoo

Going to the Zoo

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Most zoos are underwhelming and disappointing. You bake in the heat, walking around a heat-baked, concrete zoo, only to see a handful of animals who look about as miserable and overheated as you do.

The Singapore Zoo is not such a zoo. The animals are actually on display, front and center, feeling close enough for you to touch them. 

At some point, everyone goes to the zoo

Unlike all of the zoos I’d been to in the past, there often was little to no barrier between the animals and the zoo patrons. This is as cool as it is terrifying. The animals are right in front of you, not hidden behind glass or cage bars. 

The tigers and lions roamed around their enclosures. The elephants sat around, their ears slapping the sides of their bodies.

I felt like a little kid again, thinking about what kind of animal I would be if I had to choose, and always picking one of the more exotic ones, like an elephant, giraffe, or a cheetah. 

You could see every type of monkey swinging in its enclosure.

Amusingly, the zoo has monkeys that are not part of the exhibits. Because the zoo backs up to a wooded area, monkeys from the jungle, but not the zoo, hang around. 

The people who work at the zoo handle this by shooing away the monkeys with the same energy that New Yorkers shoo away rats or pigeons. 

My aunt got into a fight with one such monkey who had gotten hold of a plastic bag that had been left behind by a tourist and my aunt was trying to pry it from its hands. It is hard to convey to a monkey that you are acting in its best interest by not letting it play with a torn plastic bag that it is wrapping around its head. 

Overall, we had a fun time going to the zoo. The Singapore Zoo is considered to be one of the more ethical zoos in the world due to its focus on conservation and restoration. All throughout the zoo are signs outlining the status of the animals as endangered animals on the brink of extinction and where they can be found– if they can be found– in the wild. 

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel

P.S.: Check out my previous blog post about the Singapore Botanic Garden

A Walk in the Park

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For our fifth day in Singapore, my aunt and I decided to check out the Singapore Botanic Gardens, an orchid-filled crown jewel that was well-worth the visit. 

The botanic garden is a massive-Central Park-like area, complete with pigeons and chickens wandering around. It is a maze of flowers and pergolas with flowers sprouting in the orchid garden in the center of the park. 

After the excitement of my hike through a monkey-filled rainforest, the garden felt restful. It was still hot and humid, like walking through a sauna, but the experience was what I imagine it was to be in an oil painting. 

Everywhere we looked, we saw something pretty.

We walked down stone pathways, passing alongside waterfalls and lily pad-filled ponds. Swans glided through the water along the appropriately named “swan lake.” I walked through the gardens, keeping my eyes peeled for komodo dragons, which apparently can be seen in some of the more wooded areas of the park (either that or my aunt was just messing with me).

Many of the plants are named after influential people, including several U.S. presidents, the Pope, and the late Princess Diana. 

Our walk in the park made for a nice, chill day in Singapore. 

And if you ever find yourself in Singapore, you should take a stroll through the Botanic Garden and take the time to stop and smell the orchids.

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel

P.S.: Check out my previous blog post about my day at Gardens by the Bay

Gardens by the Bay

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The next morning, my aunt and I explored Gardens by the Bay in order to check out the SuperTrees grove. It had been described to me as a tourist staple in Singapore and it wasn’t hard to see why. 

The SuperTrees are 164 feet high steel trees, covered in thousands of different types of plants and flowers, scaling towards the sky with wrap-around walkways. The trees are lit up at night with lights running through the foliage. 

I walked across the Supertree skywalks, feeling the full force of the sun beating down on me, but getting an incredible view of Singapore. 

While at Gardens by the Bay, we walked through an orchid garden where we saw several indoor, man-made waterfalls and art installations, which was Jurassic Park-themed at the time, as part of a promotion. 

Walking through the orchid garden smells like walking through a room of expensive candles where everything is fresh and mossy. We went into an art installation where a child mistakenly grabbed my hand in the dark and started pulling me with him through the room and I was hit with an intense wave of baby fever. 

Afterwards, we stepped inside Marina Bay Sands, a shopping center, to cool down and grab lunch. When I refer to Marina Bay Sands as a shopping center, don’t picture the decaying mall in your hometown with its half empty food court and germ-infested Christmas Village.

Marina Bay Sands has a casino, a 360 rooftop infinity pool, and indoor canals, complete with gondolas. Every high-end luxury brand is there, brimming with clothes that you can’t afford, and restaurants that are far better than any food court. We stopped for ramen and then continued with our trip. 

In the late afternoon we went down to a part of town called Arab Street. Specifically we went to Haji Lane, a brightly-colored street known for its boutiques and shopping centers. There we checked out all of the clothes and Persian rugs on display.

The day highlighted for me just how unique Singapore is. Nowhere else in the world would I hope to explore an indoor super mall, hundred feet tall cyber trees, indoor waterfalls with flowers and art installations, and a vibrant, bustling shopping center all in the same day.

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel


P.S.: Check out how I spent my previous day in Singapore, getting lost in a real forest of trees with monkeys that chose to give me a hard time.

The Forest Through the Trees

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My East-Coast-to-Singapore-jet lag had me waking up at 4:00 in the morning as an energizer bunny, much to the chagrin of my aunt, but on my third day in Singapore, it actually paid off, as we got up bright and early for a treetop walk at Windsor Park.

(When I tell people that I’m “feeling outdoorsy” it really just means that I am leaving the house) and yet here I was at a nature walk that was in fact oozing nature all around me. 

The Treetop Walk is a 5 mile long hike that takes you through a monkey-filled rain forest. Long wooden walkways sprawl up and down hillsides with thick swaths of trees on either side of you. A narrow suspension bridge carries you over the trees. 

Monkeys stared at me from the trees, looking almost as fascinated by me as I was with them. The mothers walked around with their babies strapped to their chests. 

They crawled on top of the metal structures for the construction site that was happening next door and then ran alongside joggers, like they were their running partners. 

The monkeys are famous for trying to snatch items out of tourists’ hands in an attempt to bargain for food. At the beginning of our hike, a monkey started chasing my aunt around, trying to get her water bottle from her. That same monkey ran out in front of me and I ran screaming in the opposite direction. I was too terrified to get anywhere near it, much to the amusement of the other tourists around me. I eventually was able to walk by, unassaulted by the monkey, and continued on with the hike. 

The Treetop Walk is not for the faint of heart. The humidity was so strong it was like I was swimming just walking around. I sweated more than I thought was humanly possible with sweat stains going from my arm pit to my hip. It felt like every hot yoga class I had ever taken. I was so hot and sweaty that at some point I stopped making sense. 

We walked across a swinging suspension bridge which had a strict weight limit and instructions for what to do if a snake fell onto the bridge in front of us (panic).

For much of the hike, I wore a beautiful sunhat that my brother gave me as a birthday gift. It looked like I had a satellite dish on my head. Once I put it on, it actually kind of made me look like the flying nun. 

At some point, my aunt and I had seen countless monkeys and bravely walked across a swaying bridge. We wanted to go home, but, after much denial, we realized that we were lost. We had been wandering on the trails for a while and suddenly could no longer see the forest through the trees. 

We walked over the tree roots that all looked like kimono dragons to a tired and dehydrated traveler. We asked people for directions that only made us more lost until the trail we were walking on spat us out on a random sidewalk along the highway, an anticlimactic, but much-needed end to a treeline hike through the forest.

From there, we jumped on a bus going in a direction– we weren’t sure which–and then wound up at a McDonald’s. After returning to civilization, our legs destroyed from all of the walking and our bodies nearly wrecked from heat stroke, I went for a swim in the pool to cool off. 

After a long, hot day of being chased around by monkeys, walking across a suspension bridge, and getting stranded on the side of a road, I can finally say that I have seen nature in the wild. I have looked a monkey in the eye. 

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel

P.S.: Check out how I spent my previous day in Singapore, exploring Chinatown.

Singapore: Day 2

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The next morning, we started our day with prata and mutton sauce at the Tin Yeang Hawker Center for breakfast. The Tin Yeang Hawker Center is an open air cafeteria, known for its prata, a crispy Indian dish dipped in a smokey curry sauce. It is a popular breakfast dish in Singapore and Malaysia. 

And it tastes incredible. 

We got ours filled with egg, onion, and cheese. I inhaled the first batch and then some of my aunt’s, wiping my bowl clean of the mutton sauce. 

Once we finished breakfast, my aunt and I explored Chinatown. We started around the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and then walked down the colorful, bustling streets, dipping into shops that sold talismans, jewelry, and small wooden elephants, and drinking dragon fruit tea that we bought at a tea stand. Everywhere we looked there were paper lanterns, statues of Buddha, and murals of Bruce Lee. 

For lunch we went to the Maxwell Hawker Center so that I could try chicken and rice, the national dish of Singapore. I tried it at a Michelin-star food stall, called Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, made famous by Anthony Bourdain. Every other tourist had the same idea as us and we had to wait in a fairly long line, but it was worth it. Though it sounds simple, the juicy, buttery pieces of chicken over rice are a must-try. Food was quickly becoming my favorite part of the trip.

After that, I decided to check out another bookstore, appropriately named Littered with Books, and then called it a day. My jet-lag was still kicking my ass, hovering over me no matter what I did. I chugged every form of tea I could get my hands on, from matcha to thai tea to dragon fruit, but I still felt like I was walking through a fog.

It was a perfect second day in Singapore, filled with prata, mutton sauce, dragon fruit tea, and chicken and rice. 

(And for those who are considering traveling to Singapore, I would recommend a day in Chinatown with a stop at the Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice food stall for a chicken and rice lunch and a prata breakfast at The Tin Yeang Hawker Center).

The Tragic Queen,

Raquel 

P.S.: Check out my blog post about how I spent my first day in Singapore

Singapore Swing

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For the second time this year, I got my passport stamped. This time, I was traveling to Singapore, to visit my aunt, following my completion of my classes at Columbia. 

It was my first time traveling to Asia and I have been wanting to see Singapore ever since my aunt moved there nearly a decade ago. After meticulously researching all of the best cites, I made my way across the world to visit this island nation atop the equator.

I touched down in Singapore and discovered a nation of hawker centers, towering skyscrapers, and sweltering heat. It also is a nation of facial recognition at the airport, indoor shopping centers a la Rodeo Drive, and a concrete jungle, surrounded by actual jungle. 

It is a one-party system that takes pieces of democracy, socialism, and capitalism and combines them for their own style of government. It shouldn’t work, and yet, it works almost too well, being one of the cleanest and safest countries in the world. 

After more than 19 hours of travel, I landed in Singapore Changi airport, an airport that puts all other airports to shame. It is a tourist attraction in and of itself with its butterfly garden and waterfall, making for a very warm welcome into the country. 

From there, I got my bearings, going to the Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza in the Orchard Road shopping center, where I spent hours at Kikokuniya Books. I got lost in the rows of books and found a pretty stack of books to bring home, as I can be counted on to do wherever I am in the world. 

On my first night there, I went to a Hawker Center, one of the main things that I wanted to try when visiting Singapore. A hawker center is an open air market, filled with dozens of food stalls, as seen in the movie Crazy Rich Asians. I waded through the crowds, trying out all of the different kinds of incredible food while my mouth watered. Steam wafted up from nearly every food stall. I drank out of a coconut and ate, among other things, some of the best Indian food that I have ever had.

The Raffles Place Hawker Center was the perfect place to start my adventure in Singapore. There would be many hawker centers in my future, as well as more bookstores and shopping centers, all of them explored to the fullest extent. 

I would be going everywhere from nature sites to urban centers. Keep reading for tales of monkey forests, super trees, and botanical gardens.

The Tragic Queen,
Raquel 


P.S.: Check out my blog post about my recent travels to France