After almost two years away, we find ourselves back in Singapore this week.
This is just a stopover en route to Manila, where Marlon and I will spend Christmas, but it’s also a chance to catch up with good friends and indulge in a few things we miss about this city.
My to-do list is mostly made up of restaurants and shopping. Some of the things we will try to tick off over the next three days (and a good shortlist for must-eats in the Lion City):
-Black pepper crab at Jumbo Seafood – a tradition from our long-distance dating days (almost nine years ago!), and our ultimate Singapore favorite. For us there is no chili crab—black pepper is where it’s at.
-Excellent Thai food (especially sticky rice and mango!) – preferably at the Golden Mile shopping centre, but easy to find anywhere in Singapore, really.
-Chicken rice at Wee Nam Kee in Novena – with a side of cereal fried prawns, please.
-Brunch at PS Cafe – truffle fries, I’ve missed you.
-Good ramen – Singaporeans love ramen, and this is where I learned to love it too. Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery is a great place for it, but I’m trusting my ex-bosses to take me to one of those holes-in-the-wall where the ramen is bound to be even better.
-Pork tonkatsu at Tonkichi in Shaw Centre
-Xiao long bao (dumplings!) at Din Tai Fung in Paragon Plaza or Wisma Atria
-Black sesame soft-serve ice cream at Azabu Sabo Hokkaido Ice Cream – there’s a stall at The Central in Clarke Quay, perfect for a post-Jumbo Seafood dessert… if we still have room.
I realized Indian food is not on my list because we can actually find reasonably good Indian food in Amsterdam (Thai and Japanese are another story). If I can squeeze in a kaya toast and iced kopi from Toast Box, I will be a happy girl! So much to eat, so little time.
Then there’s the shopping:
-Favorite Japanese superbrands Muji and Uniqlo
-Gap for baby clothes
-Sim Lim Square for electronics – a new lens for Marlon’s Olympus OM-D, and a replacement for a dead external hard drive.
-Perfumes and makeup at Takashimaya
And finally, I’m looking forward to swimming. In the sunshine. In December. Oh, the things I once took for granted.
