3 Days In Singapore: Cable Car to Sentosa & Gourmet Street Food
For our first full day in Singapore we decided to check out the island of Sentosa, which gave us the perfect excuse to try the mud baths at Spa Botanica located on the island. From the description it seemed like the whole island was comprised of various amusement parks and attractions, so there should be plenty to do, even if it rained as much as was predicted.
You can cab to Sentosa Island, but we thought it would be more fun to take the cable car, which, hopefully, would give us a great view of the city. The view was great, but skewed towards Angry Birds, which was fun but unexpected and a little overwhelming.
It definitely did a good job distracting me such that I forgot how afraid of heights I am, until the cable car left the loading area and we sailed off with an immediate 100+ ft drop into the jungle below. Despite the clouds the view was still amazing, unfortunately I was having difficulty keeping my eyes open.
 
- Trying to smile
Once we made it to the island it was fun. It felt like Orlando, FL except with walking paths between Sea World and Disney rather than highways. I had wrongly assumed the public bus system would be easy to use, and it probably was, except the sidewalks on Sentosa are labyrinths of tunnels and turns so we spent 15 minutes just even trying to figure out how to get across the street to catch the bus in the opposite direction.
The bright side of wandering was we encountered all the beautiful new year decorations, as well as seeing all the familiar brands such as Chile’s and Universal Studios.
 We finally gave up and caught a cab. A cab with a driver who assumed we wanted to go back into Singapore (which I narrowly caught before it was too late) and then had no idea where the spa or hotel was. We wound up having to reverse down the main street because I’d seen the spa entrance he’d missed. Not a very restful start to the spa treatment.
When we got out of the spa it had started to rain again so we decided against the outdoor marine life park and headed back to the hotel. Other than fighting over the yellow chair in the room (I lost), our other big plan for the day was the Hawker Food Buffet at Straits Kitchen.
I’d been reading reviews about the best street food in Singapore and the restaurant in our hotel frequently came up. Really? A buffet?I was surprised, but upon reading further, this didn’t sound like a typical buffet, more like unlimited visits to various street food stations.
I love trying new dishes and figured this could be a safe, though expensive, introduction to all the options I might have when we visited real Hawker stalls on Monday. Also a great opportunity to try a little bit of everything and just buy our favorites the next day.
I’d forgotten Sunday was the actual Chinese New Year and the restaurant was packed and intimidating with people everywhere who knew exactly what dishes they wanted so there was alot of pressure not to hold up the line. We went first to the Indian food station which was off to the side and empty.
Oh man. There were lamb and chicken kebobs, great naan, maneer tikki. I could have been happy with just that one station.
 Of course there’d be no fun in just going to one station, so my next stop was the grill for satay — beef, chicken, and mutton, Otak Otak (fish paste in banana leaf I think), nasi goreng, and some other fantastic spiced meat dishes I never caught the name of.
From there I went to find the famous chili crab I’d heard so much about. It was crowded at that station so I just grabbed a claw and moved on, only to discover it had been so long since I had crab in the shell that I had no idea how to get the meat out with just a regular fork. Thus ensued 5 humorous (for my friend) and frustrating (for me) minutes.
I’d also selected some fried carrot cake, which wound up being more like the turnip cake you get at dim sum, and a bowl of fresh prawn noodle soup. I truly am a wimp because the the prawn had giant black eyes and a feelers like 4 inches long and I just couldn’t eat it or look at it.
At this point I was full to bursting, but I had to make a stop at the dessert section to try things I’d never seen before.
I was meh on the sweet potato fritter and coconut milk but a big fan of the mango pudding!
And I’m not a big fan of jelly desserts, but loved the look, particularly the one that resembled a fried egg (wrapped).
After finishing up and realizing the bill was 20SGD higher per person, $80USD each, because it was holiday pricing (yikes!) we went across the hall to 10 Scotts Road which I had been dying to try.
Fortunately we’d made it in the time frame for half price drinks and enjoyed glasses of Perrier Jouet for a little less than we’d pay in the US. I also loved that the glasses were poured from a giant Perrier magnum 🙂
I fell in love with the decor of 10 Scotts Road, not surprising since it’s vaguely reminiscent of the Blue Duck Tavern at the Park Hyatt DC and would have spent hours there if I could have afforded it.
Next: Real Hawker Stall Food & New Year Sights
3 Days In Singapore Trip Report:
Finally Getting to fly Singapore Airlines First Class
Overnight at the Sheraton North Houston
My Flight is Cancelled. Or is it?
Singapore Airlines First Class: Houston to Moscow
Race to the International Business Lounge Shower in Moscow + General Impressions
Singapore Airlines First Class: Moscow to Singapore
Spa in the Sky
Grand Hyatt Singapore Review
Grand Hyatt Singapore Club Lounge Review
Nude Swimming Experience
Free Ice Cream & Rained Out Twice In An Hour
Acrophobia Over Sentosa & Gourmet Street Food
Chinese New Year Walking Tour and Hawker Stalls at East Lagoon Food Village
A Shift in Hippo Karma At The Night Zoo
A Visit To The Private Room At SIN
Singapore Airlines First Class SIN-IAH: Blind Champagne Tasting
How Much Did the Trip Cost?
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