Rediscovering Singapore

I had the opportunity to travel to Singapore in Nov’17. I had been to Singapore once before in  2010 but as I am realizing, going back to a place is so much more fun than I had imagined. You have already got the super touristy things off your list and so the second time around is the opportunity to really get to know the place through hidden gems at a more relaxed pace.

I am listing here the highlights of my trip to Singapore and the things I would highly recommend you do.

1. Haji Lane

A quaint little lane in the Arab Quarter, Haji Lane is full of colorful boutique stores selling everything from leather bags, to cloths, to jewelry. As you wander in and out of the stores notice the interesting murals all around. The lane is also full of cute cafes. My favorite was Goodluck Beerhouse where the apple cider was refreshing and the barman cute 😉

2. Gardens by the bay

Supertree grove with trees that are 25 to 50 meters tall are dotted all around the garden and are a sight to behold. There is an elevated walkway between the larger supertrees called Skywalk. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to do on this due to inclement weather. I would highly recommends the amazing light and sound show that takes place at night in the grove. The other major attractions here are the flower dome which has a huge variety of flowers on display and the cloud forest with a cloud mountain and a 35 meter waterfall. While the supertree grove is free to roam around (there is a fee for the Skywalk), there is a fees to enter the flower dome and cloud forest.

3. Marina Bay Sands observatory

On the top floor (around 60+ floors) of tower 3 in Marina Bay Sands is an Observation deck providing an amazing view of the Singapore skyline, the Singapore flyer, Gardens by the bay and the Spectra light and water show that takes place near the famous Merlion. Go to the SkyBar (half a floor above the observation deck) for a drink, or two.

4. Tree top walk

This is not on the typical tourist list but was one of my favorite activity on my trip. In the middle of the MacRitchie Reservior is a 250 meter suspended bridge that gives you a view from a 7 storey high vantage point. This tree top walk can be reached after a 3.5 km hike (one way). Being in the middle of a forest bang in the middle of city and doing the hike early in the morning is super refreshing. The reservoir opens at 8:30AM and I would highly recommend you do the hike early morning. As the sun comes up the humidity is a real killer!

5. The Quays 

Singapore has no dearth of eating options. While you can get a super cheap, and yet super tasty meal at the many food courts in the city, if you want something with an ambiance, there are the many quays. Clarke Quay with lots of clubs and pubs. My favorite was Crazy Elephant that had a live band from 9:30PM onwards.

Boat Quay is smaller in scale and has restaurants and pubs right next to the river offering amazing view. And finally there is Robertson Quay which is more quiet and not such a “party scene” as clarke quay.

6. Platform 1094

For all Harry Potter fans (and even those not a fan, like me) Platform 1094 is a must visit . Its a cafe with interesting drinks like Mr Lich’s flaming brew which is a whole show in itself. The deserts are tempting like the Seaker’s goal below. I was really happy that it was not just gimmicky and the food was actually really good. The eggs Benedict I had was really super yum.

These are the highlights of my recent trip. I haven’t mentioned a few things like Sentosa island, Universal studio, St. John’s island, China town and of course shopping! These were not on my must do list but feel free to add them to yours.

 

Origin by Dan Brown – My Review

Origin is the fifth book in the Robert Langdon series by Dan Brown and came out about 3 months back in Oct’17. There has been surprisingly little fanfare around the release of this book and the reason I picked it up was because Amazon suggested it! As I was trying to find out what the book is all about on goodreads I realized I had read every single Dan Brown book! And so I decided to give this one a go as well.

The central theme of this book is very intriguing – Where do we come from and Where are we going? Its a question that we have all pondered upon and the book makes you expect that great minds have come up with a scientifically fool-proof answer to the question. That lure, along with the usual fast paced, danger is knocking down at every turn kind of thrill that Dan Brown is known for certainly make the pages turn real quick. However, just like all his other books, the ending is quite anti-climactic and left me a little deflated on the hopes of finding the answer to that question.

Overall I found this book too formulaic and cliched. There is the totally committed and unquestioning  religious zealot as the front man of the big bad villain. There is the young attractive woman as Langdon’s side kick. (Maybe after 5 books Mr Langdon would finally decide to work with a man at his side?). There is the classic diversion where throughout the book you think a character is the friend/foe and turns out to be the complete opposite in the end. There is also the random Indian dude thrown into the mix (a continuation of the theme from the previous book).

Origin is the book where I feel Langdon’s knowledge and code breaking abilities are used the least. There is hardly anything that Mr Langdon does in terms of using his grey cells. The book fell short for me in creating the typical wonder for Robert Langdon’s brilliance, which has been the mainstay of the previous books.

The book paid homage to almost every worthy tech genius (person/company) in the last 5 years from Steve Jobs to Uber to Tesla to Elon Musk. Not sure why he needed to do this – was he trying to make the book more relevant and real-life like or was he trying to give credibility to one of the main characters?

On the plus point, the book is set in Spain and like all books in the Robert Langdon series it certainly makes you want to put the location on your bucket list. Dan Brown’s description of the history and the key locations in Spain makes it come to life and gives the place so much more character than any brochure/tourism website ever could. Personally I have been thinking of going to Spain and Portugal this year and I think this book just sealed the deal.

For that reason and pure nostalgia for the Robert Langdon series, I give this book 3 stars. Its a good book to carry on a long flight or to read while relaxing next to the pool. Happy reading 🙂

War on Grey

The world is not white or black. It’s grey.

But I don’t like Grey.

And so begins my journey to crack the grey – through travel, books and food.

Grey is a neutral or achromatic colour – meaning that it is a colour without colour. The problem with being neutral is that you stand for nothing. And if you stand for nothing then are you even alive?

I have always believed that what makes me uniquely me is the values by which I choose to live. And in my desire to define “me” I have created such strong boundaries around who I can and cannot be, what I can and cannot do, that there seems to be very limited space inside my boundaries and a whole wide world outside of it. The question now is should I stick to my guns and be “me” or should I open my wings, explore new sides and let the world change “me”?

My favorite hobby has always been Me 🙂 I love to work on myself and try to be better. But I am realizing that creating more boundaries around myself is not helping me be a better me. So I have decided to bust open my boundaries, let the world in and let the process of change begin.

I am still not conformable with “grey” areas, with ambiguity. I am giving myself the freedom to be green, blue, purple or any other colour but my equilibrium will still be a colour and not achromatic grey. And this self discovery for me will come through travel and books and food  – my three big loves.

My love affair with travel started with reading Razor’s Edge by Somerset Maugham and with every subsequent reading of his books and travelling this love affair has only gotten stronger. Reading is my introvert self’s best way to get to know people and learn from other’s experiences. And the love for food is my genetic heritage 🙂

So I am embarking on this journey from grey to one, two, or maybe a rainbow of colours. I hope you join me and help in this exploration. Onwards and upwards 🙂