Singapore in 28 hours

Ted. One of the joys of slow travel is being able to take a leisurely layover when changing planes.  That is exactly what we did on our way from Indonesia to South Africa. 28 hours is not nearly enough time to get to know this great city but we decided to take a break from our journey and see what we could see.

Arriving late at night, we headed to our modest 2 star hotel on Joo Chait Road. This area is known as a well-preserved neighborhood of Straits Chinese. Of course, the lady at reception was named Ling-Ling. 

Since breakfast was not included, we walked a couple of blocks up the road to a little Chinese restaurant called Poh Ho for a couple of coffees. There is a tiny stall at the front where an elderly Indian couple peddle their wares.  Known officially as “Mr & Mrs Moghan’s Super Crispy Roti Prata,” they are know throughout the city for their excellent fried flat breads served with curry. I couldn’t stop eating them!

I had caught a cold in Indonesia and didn’t feel like a lot of sightseeing so after Judy wandered the neighborhood for a while, we headed to the airport to spend the rest of the day before catching our flight to Johannesburg. Singapore Changi Airport is by most measures, the best in the world. Not quite as big as Atlanta’s, it has hands down, more ways to kill time than any airport we have ever visited. We enjoyed the orchid garden, the butterfly garden, cafes and people watching.  They even have free movie theatres where first run movies are shown continuously. Naturally they have free wifi everywhere. 

So the time passed quickly and when we finally boarded our flight, we concluded that Singapore was definitely a place we’d like to visit again. And next time, we’ll even see the city!