Singapore - Day 1 (Orchard Road)

I've been to Singapore three times but have never really explored it. The last time I went there was back in 2003 for business trip. It's almost 16 years! How time flies. Then recently, Air Asia Big is having sales promotion from Kota Kinabalu to Singapore round trip ticket for only RM 260 per person. It was a last minute decision and we decided to go ahead and spend our early Christmas in Singapore. So we woke up at 6.30am, took the 8.35am flight and two hours later we're in Singapore.

Since it's quite rush to have our breakfast at the airport, we decided to order light snack on board. I had assorted sandwiches comes with four different breads with fillings comprised of chicken apple mayo, chicken floss, BBQ chicken and smoked chicken toast with cheese. Chicken apple mayo was my favourite followed by chicken floss.



Assorted sandwiches - RM 10 and Pendang natural mineral water - RM 4


We took Grab car from Changi Airport Singapore to Old Airport Road Food Centre (Cost: $ 13) approximately 20 minutes ride (16km) and had our brunch there. We ordered wanton noodles from Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee and Cho Kee Noodle. Both stalls are located not far from each other. You can choose either spicy or non-spicy for your wanton noodles. My partner ordered spicy wanton noodles from Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee and it was indeed very spicy for me. Whereas for Cho Kee Noodle, I decided to order non-spicy wanton noodle. Overall, I wasn't really impressed with both their wanton noodles.

Apart from that, we regret ordering 2 glasses of sugar cane drink because it was too sweet for my liking. Ended up I couldn't finish it. After we had our meal, we walked over to Whampoa Soya Bean stall and had a bowl of soya bean pudding with grass jelly. We read few reviews saying the soya bean pudding is really good but it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for me. It wasn't really that good and has a course texture. Somehow, Funny Mountain located in Ipoh still serves the best soya bean curd dessert.



51 Old Airport Road Food Centre


Sugar cane - $ 3.60 each


Hua Kee Hougang Famous Wan Ton Mee stall


Wanton noodle - $ 4


Cho Kee Noodle stall


Wanton noodle - $ 3.50


Whampoa Soya Bean stall


Soya bean pudding with grass jelly - $ 1.80


Address:
51 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Singapore 390051


After we had our dessert, we dragged our bag to Mountbatten MRT Station (Circle Line) just 5 minutes walking distance (400m) from Old Airport Road Food Centre and took MRT from Mountbatten to Bras Basah (Cost: $ 0.97). We bought an Ez Link card (contactless smart card which can be used on MRT, LRT and buses). The card cost $ 12 ($ 5 non-refundable card cost and $ 7 travel value) and valid for use up to 5 years from the date that it is encoded.



Mountbatten MRT station


EZ link card


MRT


Underground MRT


Bras Basah MRT Station


Carlton Hotel Singapore is just 2 minutes walking distance (160m) from Bras Basah MRT Station  (Circle Line) and Church of Saint Peter and Paul is just opposite the station. Since we had our luggage with us, we didn't enter the church. We checked in Carlton Hotel at 1.30pm, took a nap before heading out for dinner.



Church of Saints Peter and Paul


City Hall MRT Station (East West Line / North South Line) is just 4 minutes walking distance (350m) from Carlton Hotel Singapore. We took MRT from City Hall Station to Somerset Station (Cost: $ 0.77) and ended inside 313 @Somerset Mall. This mall is located in Orchard Road with plenty of places to eat and drink including Haidilao Hot Pot. We heard that the queues were insane so we were there before 6pm. We were lucky to be offered a table on the spot. This restaurant provides great customer service. All the staff were very friendly and not to mention very efficient too. On and off we were offered hot hand towels as well.

The lady that served us, was very nice and since it's our first time here we requested her to recommend us their top rated soup base. So we ended up with four types of soup base - tomato soup, pork stomach & chicken soup, Sichuan pickles soup and Sichuan spicy soup. My favourite was the Sichuan spicy soup followed by Sichuan pickles soup and pork stomach & chicken soup. She recommended us to try their signature smashed shrimp and it was good. Apart from that, we ordered slices of beef, pork and fish. It's fresh and delicious.

There's more than twenty condiments for your sauce and we have no idea how to mix and match the condiments. Luckily the lady that served us helped us to make her signature dipping sauce and it turned out to be good. By the way, you need to pay extra $ 4 per person for the condiments which includes fruits and dessert. We had free flow of drinks (soya, winter melon or plum) which costs $ 3 per person.

Glad that we came early because after we had our dinner, we saw a lot of people sitting outside waiting for a table. Haidilao do provide you a place to sit and enjoy some light snacks while waiting for your table. Besides that, there's free manicure and kids playing area. There's a staff stationed at the play ground to watch over the kids as well. Overall we had a satisfying dinner but I tend to get thirsty after drinking their soup.

(Total bill: $ 139.47)



Haidilao Hot Pot


Snacks while waiting for a table


4 types of soup - tomato soup, pork stomach & chicken soup, Sichuan pickles soup and Sichuan spicy soup - $ 25.50


Seasoning buffet - $ 4 per person


Seasoning buffet


Chili sauce


Special mixture of sauce made by the staff


Special mixture of sauce made by the staff


Special mixture of sauce made by the staff


Special mixture of sauce made by the staff


Black pork (half) - $ 10


High quality beef (half) - $ 14.50


Signature mashed shrimp (half) - $ 9.50


Quail eggs (half) - $ 5


Tiger Garoupa - $ 40


Beverage buffet - $ 3 per person


Fruits


Fruits


Pumpkin porridge


Pudding


Complimentary sweets


Christmas decoration at 313 @Somerset Mall


313 @Somerset Mall

Address:
Haidilao Hot Pot
313 Orchard Road,
#04-23/24, Singapore 238895
Tel: 0065 - 6835 7337
Opening hours: 10.30am to 6am


We spend the rest of the night exploring Orchard Road, enjoying the Christmas lighting before heading back to the hotel via MRT. It's so convenient to get back to our hotel as we just need to walked over to the Orchard MRT Station (North South Line) and stopped at City Hall MRT Station which cost us only $ 0.77.

Note: $ 1 = RM 3.055



Orchard Road


Orchard Road

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