Singapore Travel Guide

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Kaya Toast of Singapore

February 3, 2012 at 5:07 PM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

It can be tempting while traveling, especially for more than a week or two, to revert back to ordering the comfort foods with which you grew up. This maybe means eggs and bacon for breakfast or something similarly boring. Of course we urge you to overcome the temptation and, instead, take even more to the local menus. In Singapore, this means Kaya Toast for breakfast.

Kaya jam, which can be bought in jars in the grocery store, is a mix of eggs, sugar, coconut milk and pandan leaf. It's spread between two thin, toasted piece of bread and cut to neat rectangles. Adding butter is optional, depending on how decadent you feel.

Yes, it's green, but once you get over that and just bite in, you'll immediately forget the color for the flavor.

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Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: The Outdoor Pool. Yes, a Pool.

Where: Singapore-Changi International, Singapore, Singapore
February 2, 2012 at 5:38 PM | by | Comments (0)

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The famous pool atop Changi Airport's Terminal 1

Look, you have to believe us when we say that one of the terminals at Changi Airport has a swimming pool. Why? Because, crazily enough, it's true. You'll find the clear blue waters of the outdoor pool above Terminal 1, just follow the "swimming pool" signs and an escalator to reach it.

Technically, this pool (and whirlpool) is part of a hotel in the terminal—the Ambassador Transit Hotel—but it's actually situated across a landing from the hotel reception and, thus, quite easy to check out on your own before paying the $13.91 SGD ($11.15 USD) to actually use the facilities and take a dip.

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Hanging Out at Singapore's Changi Airport: Riding the 4-Story Slide

Where: Singapore-Changi International, Singapore, Singapore
January 31, 2012 at 12:56 PM | by | Comment (1)

There's a reason Singapore-Changi International Airport consistently wins awards; it's because the place is ah-may-zing. After spending much time at the three main terminals earlier this week, we're sharing with you our favorite, can't-miss bits of this massive travel hub.

Today: The 4-story flume slide in Terminal 3

The line is full of kids shrieking with joy, their parents looking on with cameraphones at the ready. At first glance, a traveler could think that the slides (yes, there are two slides) at Terminal 3 are for children only, but they're not. They're so not.

In September 2010, Changi Airport debuted the twirly, stainless steel fun tubes, one only as high as a single story and free, the other four stories and requiring a ticket which can be obtained for every $10 SGD spent at an airport store. We stocked up on cheap accessories at one such store and headed to an Information desk to collect our ride—2 rides, since we had spent $20-ish.

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Onboard the Singapore Airlines A380: In-Flight Dining and Drinking

January 23, 2012 at 4:36 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

1. The Grand Tour
2. The Singapore Girls
3. Eating (and drinking) all the way to Singapore
 4. Everything you ever wanted to know about Business Class
5. Design details

One time we actually attempted to cook a recipe straight from the Singapore Airlines cookbook. We're amateurs, but after watching the firsthand preparation of a service previously, we had some confidence. Truth be told, what we accomplished on land in a large kitchen will never equal what's enjoyed by passengers at 37,000 feet.

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Beginning the Year of the Dragon with a Healthy Dose of Fireworks

January 23, 2012 at 9:48 AM | by | Comments (0)

恭禧發財!

Just a quickie video to start the week off right—or rather, year off. Today marks the first day of the Year of the Dragon; it's Chinese New Year and yep, we're still chilling in Singapore, where we managed to take in the holiday fireworks with a view from the top of the RItz-Carlton, Millennia.

Whether or not you're passing out red envelopes or dining on Yusheng "prosperity salad," we bet you appreciate a good fireworks display now and then. And it was good! The pyrotechnics in Singapore burst above the Marina, surrounded on all sides by tall buildings from which to view the spectacle. There's the Central Business District (CBD) to the north and west, a gaggle of high-rise hotels to the east (where we are) and—we briefly pan over to it—the triple towers of the Marina Bay Sands to the south.

Pardon the fact that there's no sound; it was all people talking and our camera clicking, so you aren't missing any of the big booms.

Disclosure: Flights and some accommodation in Singapore are as a guest of Singapore Airlines. Regardless, all photos/videos and opinions presented are utterly and completely our very own.

[Video: Jaunted]

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Onboard the Singapore Airlines A380: The Iconic Singapore Girl

January 20, 2012 at 5:14 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

1. The Grand Tour
2. The Singapore Girls
3. Eating (and drinking) all the way to Singapore
4. Everything you ever wanted to know about Business Class
5. Design details

This is how you usually spot The Singapore Girl: whizzing through an airport in a swirl of color, turning heads with her poise, polite smile and designer luggage. And then, just like that, The Singapore Girl has vanished beyond the security check and you're left wondering...who is she? where is she off to next? how does she keep her figure?

Naturally there are answers to all these questions, some of which we've discovered over the last few days in Singapore, both from flying for 20+ hours with them on the inaugural Singapore Airlines A380 flight on the route JFK - FRA - SIN and from visiting the official SIA Training Facility near Changi Airport.

Spoiler alert: The Singapore Girl keeps her figure thanks to "extracurricular activities..."

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Foreign Grocery Friday: The Chinese New Year 'Yusheng' Salad of Singapore

January 20, 2012 at 11:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

This Sunday night is more than just any old Sunday night; it's the Chinese New Year, when the year of the rabbit ends and the year of the dragon begins. The celebrations surrounding the lunar new year are many, and based on tradition. There's the giving of red envelopes containing money, the eating of mandarin oranges and sweets, and the gathering with family. And with almost every other special occasion ever, Chinese New Year mandates the preparation of special dishes to celebrate.

In Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, the new year means eating a special raw fish salad called Yusheng, with ingredients added one by one, and each with its own deeper meaning (salmon for abundance, deep-fried crackers symbolizing gold, etc). Just as important as serving Yusheng for the new year is the act of mixing the salad with a toss called "lo hei." The higher you toss the salad, the greater you'll soar to new heights in the new year.

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Onboard the Singapore Airlines A380: The Grand Tour

January 19, 2012 at 3:38 PM | by | Comments (4)

On Monday, January 16, the massive Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 took off on its inaugural flight for the epic route JFK - FRA - SIN. This is flight number SQ 25, and we'll be sharing tons of details and photos from it for the next several days.

The Jaunted Singapore A380 Series:

1. The Grand Tour
2. The Singapore Girl
3. Eating (and drinking) all the way to Singapore
4. Everything you ever wanted to know about Business Class
5. Design details

We're going to be totally straight with you; jetting off into the sky onboard an Airbus A380 makes our eyes well up a bit. No, it's not quite tears, but it is being overwhelmed by the thoughts surrounding what exactly is happening right then. It's the fact that one can be cozy in an engineering masterpiece, a double-decker airplane, which can lift off from the ground as gracefully as any tiny aircraft and then manage to fly to places it once took weeks of travel to reach by uncomfortable boat.

On this route, the famous SQ 25 running New York-JFK to Frankfurt to Singapore, Singapore Airlines has now traded the 747 for this fresh A380, an upgrade on every level and totally deserved by passengers who spend over 20 hours traveling on it. Just before zipping away on this first run, we quickly snooped around the plane, peeking into all the leather-lined nooks and meticulously clean crannies to discover just why the Singapore A380s have been causing a hubbub since debuting in 2007.

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Airports Need More Gigantic Flume Slides, Just Like at Singapore's Changi

Where: Changi International Airport, Singapore, Singapore
September 1, 2010 at 5:28 PM | by | Comments (0)

Gothamist posed a very important question today, when they heard that Singapore's Changi International Airport installed a 4-story slide. They mused: "Do New York Airports Need Slides?" Without a doubt the answer is yes, but we're pretty sure that JFK, EWR and LGA don't have an atrium as impressive as Changi's for putting one in.

Despite the fact that the New York-area airports need some funning-up like what comes from installing a gigantic silver tube slide, we may have to save up our pennies and take a trip to Singapore to experience this impressive airport slide. What do solo travelers do with their luggage while sliding, we wonder? And did Changi take this from the Carsten Höller exhibit of about three years ago when the artist installed very similar slides for the public at London's Tate Modern?

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Confirmed: Singapore's Changi Airport Is Absurdly, Famously Decadent

October 29, 2009 at 9:14 AM | by | Comment (1)

A new survey is out on travelers' favorite airports, this one claiming to be among the most comprehensive to date. 14,500 frequent travelers representing 160 countries from around the world were polled, and after everything was tallied the winner was Singapore's Changi Airport. Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok and Amsterdam's Schiphol were 2nd and 3rd respectively.

We're not sure how actually legitimate these results were and if there was any campaigning in the background. Whoever's responsible for the airport's PR seems to have an ambitious streak, and someone has gone so far as to insert copy into Wikipedia: "the designer airport is one of those anomalies where the phrase 'I spent all my time in the airport' is likely to be a positive."

So maybe this was a commissioned survey. But as the old saying goes, if you've got it flaunt it. And the Singapore Changi Airport certainly seems to have it.

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Don't Leave Singapore's Airport Without Your Oxygen

April 1, 2009 at 10:40 AM | by | Comments (2)

We've spent many an hour in transit at Singapore's Changi Airport without chancing across the curious range of delights that await us at the Plaza Premium Lounge in Terminal 2.

A shower for S$8 ($5) is pretty reasonable; having to pay for a three-hour nap (S$30; US$20) is something we're less sure about, because it's not clear what kind of private place we get to catch our Zs. And somehow we're just not hip enough to pay between S$15 and S$23 for the oxygen.

To be sure, this place doesn't have the sleek appeal of the Singapore Airlines first class lounge, but then the sleek place doesn't offer oxygen. Or perhaps it does, but it's gratis. Take your pick.

Related Stories:
· Singapore's First Class Lounge Invites Great Experiences [Jaunted]
· Changi Airport Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Steel Wool]

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Singapore's First Class Lounge Invites Great Experiences

Where: Changi Airport, Singapore, Singapore
February 25, 2009 at 1:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

Some airlines fascinate us with bidets in their first class lounges, but Singapore Airlines has won us over with what we can only describe as style and sophistication.

This is their hometown lounge at Changi Airport and we like it for its late-night, Lost-in-Translation vibe. This is an airport lounge where elegant strangers fetch you drinks and (we figure) anything can happen.

The nice part is that Singapore Airlines actually lives up to the expectations this lounge gives you: remember their fancy-looking first class cabin on board? Attractive strangers welcome in either spot.

Related Stories:
· British Airways [Jaunted]
· How First Class on Singapore Airlines Spent Christmas [Jaunted]
· Singapore Airlines Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Richard Moross]

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