Grub in Singapore

Hillary and I did quite a bit of eating!

The first real restaurant she took me was Spruce, sort of a family-friendly mod treehouse. We had dinner there my first night with her husband and daughter. I had ahi and avocado. About halfway through the meal I hit the wall and they put me into a cab and sent me back to my hotel.

When I woke up the next morning we headed for Hatched, a breakfast-spot located in a hostel. $50 bought two egg entrees, one cup of tea, one cup of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice and a lot of giggles at the crayon-drawing-style decor.

Dinner that night was at Jones the Grocer, an expat hangout featuring organic foodstuffs, private-labeled products, housewares and Spanish food. Seating was family style. This food emporium had an amazing cheese room, which I suspect Hil frequents given that she is married to a Frenchman.

We had lovely tea service in the middle of the ION Mall. We tried to get into High Tea at the historic Raffles Hotel in the Colonial District but were turned away lacking a reservation. It was worth the trip just to see the property, which opened in 1887 and has meticulously groomed grounds, a contrast to the overgrown greenery elsewhere in Singapore. Tea at TWG was good and offered people watching, too; people in Singapore eat alternatively with both hands.

Early that day we'd strolled down Arab Street and gone explored the Mustafa Centre, an open-all-hours store heavy on Indian imports: silk saris, gold jewelry, woven textiles. The top floor is all food and there were two entire aisles of Indian spices, a classroom-sized space filled with different types of rice and grain, and at least 50 different kinds of honey. Also in the neighborhood is the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, where the Hindus worship. It's one of Singapore's oldest temples.


Not far from there is the Sultan Mosque, the home to Singapore's Muslim Community. I'd never been in a mosque before and this one was beautiful and we had the good fortune to be there during the Call to Prayer.

Our last real meal together was a lunch in Holland Village celebrating my birthday. I don't remember the name of the French restaurant but it was excellent in terms of food, service and decor. Afterwards we rolled ourselves out the door to the Holland Mall and got reflexology massages. We'd done a lot of walking! While we both moaned and groaned during the massages, we both felt much better afterwards.