East Eats West

Elevated gambling in Singapore

Picture: Space-ship docking station at 200m above ground, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore.

Singapore used to be a port of vices, invested by pirates, harbor of sins and love was for sale at every corner. Then the British put an end to it and the Singaporeans took it to another level by banning chewing gums and skateboarding. For a long-time the Singapore government also banned gambling. But not any longer! On June 23, with a delay due to funding problems, the spectacular Sands Marina Bay casino opened. The delay of the 5.9bn USD project was caused by the near bankruptcy of Sands, due to the financial crisis. The casino with hotel and Sky Park, a garden elevated 200m above ground that hosts a 150m infinity pool, is now open and offers a view of Indonesia, Malaysia and the whole Singapore island. Apparently one can see Java from the top platform and the casino is already humming and jiving. Let's see if Singapore can offer "clean" gambling and keep the ladies of desire at bay! 

http://www.marinabaysands.com/

 

Best Peking Duck restaurant (in Singapore)

Picture: I am not sure if the duck is from China, but the cook is! 

Peking duck has become a bit of an obsession of mine since I had it for the first time in Beijing, ages ago. After having eaten many fatty ducks of varying quality in various countries I came to the conclusion that the best crispy duck can be had at Min Jiang Restaurant in Singapore. When it comes to the crispiness of the skin, the tenderness of the meat and presentation, this al fresco restaurant is the port of call for any duck-lover! Only the mainland Chinese staff is sometimes a bit slow in understanding English. 

Korea beats Singapore

Picture: Sometimes not even restaurants are as clean as the toilets in Singapore (Singapore Airport)!

Singapore can be proud of what it has achieved since its independence from Malaysia. It has every right to be proud of its efficient government, the cleanliness of the city, the harmony between races and religions and its ever-growing infrastructure. A crown jewel of Singapore is its sparkling airport with its airy design, amazing facilities (pool, gym, cinema, you name it) and business lounges. However, last year Seoul's airport was voted as the best airport in the world and that left Singaporeans fuming. A taxi driver told a friend what a shame it is and that Singapore is trying very hard to surpass Seoul. Without knowing Seoul airport I cannot make any judgements but I know that if toilets are a test for quality, Singapore with its meticulously clean toilets is on the road to sucess! 
 

Declining service standards in Singapore?

Picture: The reception at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

The Singaporean board of tourism is encouraging good service levels in retailing through mystery shoppers and a ranking system similar to the hygiene rating of restaurants. Officials now fret that service standards are decreasing due to an influx of workers without basic English skills (like the Chinese speaking staff at the Min Jiang Restaurant). I wonder if Mandarin is surpassing English as the predominant language?  

The future of luxury retailing in Singapore

Picture: No, not Las Vegas but Gucci in Singapore.

Singapore is ever changing and so is Orchard Road, the main shopping street. What struck me, next to the fact that there is now another shopping mall (sic.), are the brand-new shops by Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Miu Miu. The shops are big, bold, golden and brash and feature a bouncer and a waiting-line (at least during sales). And the shoppers seem to love it! Bottega Venetta in contrast, the high quality leather goods brand, has a much subdued shop and lacks the excitement and crowds of more bling-bling brands. In contrast to Europe there is no recession in Singapore and the shopping experience is a testimony to it. 

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple Singapore

 Picture: One of the hundreds of buddhas at the Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore.

Asia has abundant with temples that are impressive. Newer temples are often just cheap copies of older designs. One notable exception is the 2007 inaugurated Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore. The temple is built with traditional and modern methods beautifully combined (it has two lifts). The main hall features the biggest silk brocade (wall carpet) in the world with a massive and shiny dragon in the centre. The temple is founded by volunteers and most of it is handmade by expert craftsmen from Myanmar, China, Japan, among others. The design is mainly of the Tang dynasty era and over 300kg of gold was used for all the ornaments inside. The Buddha's tooth in the temple comes from Myanmar. The temple is very tastefully done and displays hundreds of colorful Buddha statues that look classy and not gaudy, as many contemporary statues do. It is clearly worth visiting.

PS: Do not forget to pay a visit to the Lotus Heart Tea House on the 2nd floor and savour their vegetarian the spring rolls.

 

Singapore government wants more sex

Picture: Can we now have sex?

The small Asian city state Singapore is trying to reinvent itself in order to continue on its growth path. It is for example fostering arts with new theatres and museums; it is building two gigantic casinos and just hosted the first ever night-time Formula One race. Singapore has currently about 4.2 million inhabitants and it is the Singaporean government’s goal to grow this number to over 6m. Unfortunately the fertility rate with one child per woman is very low as Singaporeans probably prefer to work long hours than having kids (or sex). Therefore the government is trying to boost inhabitant numbers through immigration and the encouragement of coupling and mating. The government even put up an own agency with a dating website that tries to boost dating and all that comes with it. Quiet an explicit approach for a government that is very strict with its citizens.

Find a perfect Singaporean partner here: http://www.lovebyte.org.sg/web/ent_p_home.asp

Straits Kitchen

Picture: The Straits Kitchen food islands restaurant. I am very fond of the ‘food islands’ restaurant concept. Food islands are little kitchen where chefs prepare the dishes à la minute. It is a fusion of a food court and a buffet-type restaurant. One of my favourite examples is the Straits Kitchen Restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Singapore. In a very warm and friendly environment all sorts of Asian cuisines are on offer. Yummy! Unfortunately we do not have it here in Switzerland!

If you are tired of big hotels in Singapore try the New Majestic Hotel

Picture: The most popular room at the New Majestic Hotel called Pussy Parlour.

The true charm of the New Majestic Hotel derives from the fact that an old and shabby hotel got transformed truly ingeniously into a stylish new designer hotel. Like the Scarlet Hotel it is located in Chinatown and consists of several combined ancient shop houses. This hotel is smaller than The Scarlet with its 30 designer rooms and excels in sheer cleverness of design: every single thing in each rooms has its clear purpose. Most rooms are designed by local arts people and designers and come in different flavours. Some rooms have an upstairs bedroom like in a tree-house, some feature outside bath-tubs and others have two bath-tubs prominently in the middle of the room. Clearly the most outrageous rooms are the boudoir-style Pussy Parlour room with a bold mix of colours and a neon-sign as well as the mirror room that is completely covered in mirrors (see picture below). I stayed in the Premium Garden Room that makes optimal use of limited space and features witty details as mirrors that enlarge the room and a hyper-modern shower. The bed can be retracted into the wall and has enough space beneath to store luggage. But the real attraction of the room is its outside bath-tub in a charming little setting.

Like The Scarlet Hotel I can highly recommend the New Majestic Hotel. If you feel like sumptuous boudoir-style, go for The Scarlet, the New Majestic clearly has the designer-edge.

Picture: The Premium Garden Room with outside bath-tub at the New Majestic Hotel.

http://www.newmajestichotel.com/

Deepavali in Singapore

Picture: Inside a Hindu Temple on Serangoon Road n Singapore.

The end of October Singapore is busy with festivals as the Hindus celebrate Deepavali (or Deevali) and the Muslim the end of Ramadan with Eid. Deepavali lets thousands of Hindus descend on Serangoon Road in Little India and celebrate the Festival of Light with candles, Henna, food and drinking.