Just An Ordinary Girl

Photo By: Elin Chow

I always love Christmas because it is the most joyous time of the year, where every shopping mall and street is transformed into a wonderland filled with bright lights and enchanting decorations. Last year, my husband and I decided to spend our Christmas in Singapore. It has been years since we celebrate Christmas in Singapore. This time, we decided to explore my home country as a tourist, revisiting the places we have been to before.

Hotel Mi
Official Website: Hotel Mi

During our 4 days 3 nights stay in the city, we checked into a Superior Double Room at Hotel Mi, a budget 3.5-star hotel set in the downtown core area of Singapore. The hotel is located just opposite of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, about 1 minute walk from Bencoolen MRT Station and 5 minutes walk from Bras Basah MRT Station.

Its location is very convenient as it is very near to the city center. There is a 7-11 and a Food Republic right across the road and lots of attractions, shopping. restaurants and bars within walking distance.



Hotel Mi is a fairly new hotel, offering 300 different rooms to suit different needs. The lobby was small but brightly lit and the check in counter was well-staffed. We were warmly greeted by the staffs upon arrival, which makes our day great.


The room has a modern and minimalist decor. It is small, but very clean and comfortable. There is not much space in the room for you to walk around after opening your luggage. It will be challenging to find space to place your luggage if you have more than one.


It comes with a queen sized bed and it was very comfortable to sleep on. The blackout blind was great because it shut out light completely. We slept well at night and felt refreshed in the morning.

The room comes with a small working desk - perfect for those who have some work to do. Other in-room amenities also include an internet TV, mini fridge, coffee and tea making facilities and complimentary bottled mineral water. Fast and free Wifi is available throughout the hotel.

The room does not have a closet for you to store your clothes. Instead, you will find a wall-mounted clothing hanging bar with a few clothes hangers next to the TV where you can hang your clothes up in the room.


There are  plenty of power outlets in the room for us to charge our smartphones and electronic devices. I love the USB charging port at the desk because it makes it easy for us to charge without a charger.


A complimentary handy smartphone is provided in each room for guest use, so you have one less thing to worry about. You are free to bring the phone out and enjoy unlimited international calls to countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, China, Hong Kong and United Kingdom. Other features also includes interactive maps, GPS and unlimited 3G/4G access.

Don't worry, all your browsing history and personal information will be cleared out once you checked out the hotel just to protect your privacy. With Handy, you do need to spend extra money to rent a Pocket Wifi to access to the internet. But you can still consider renting one if you would like to enjoy high speed internet as the speed of internet access can be a little slow on Handy.


The bathroom was small but luxurious. Fitted with wooden ceramic floors and glass shower, the bathroom was clean and brightly lit.


Basic toiletries provided includes bath towels, hand soap, shower cap, shampoo, bath gel and disposable toothbrush and toothpaste.
Overall, we have quite an enjoyable stay at Hotel Mi. Although the room is really small and fairly basic, it has everything you need for a comfortable stay. The staffs were very friendly and helpful too. They always greeted us with a smile whenever they see us, which made us felt very welcomed. Seriously, I have never expected to receive such great service from such a small hotel like this.

The housekeeping was also efficient and does a good job cleaning our room. The only bad thing was that soundproofing was really bad and we can hear people talking at the corridor and the hair dryer blowing next door. It can be pretty frustrating if you have a family with noisy kids staying at the rooms beside yours. 
Lunch at Food Republic

It was already 2.30 pm and we were starving. After settling down, we went out to grab a quick bite at Food Republic.


My husband was craving for Soya Sauce Chicken, so we decided to try out the You Men HK Roast stall. It has been so many years since we ate this because somehow, we could not find any place that sells Soya Sauce Chicken in Kuala Lumpur (KL) If any of you know any place that sell the same Singapore Hong Kong's Soya Sauce Chicken in KL, please let me know.


I ordered Char Siew Soya Sauce Chicken rice and my husband ordered Soya Sauce Chicken noodles. Both were disappointing. The chicken was dry, so was the rice. I actually find the the Char Siew a little too lean and it was tough to eat. But if you are someone who hates fatty meat, I believe you will like the Char Siew here.


As for the noodles, it has a strong lye water (kansui) flavor. The chilli sauce was not spicy and garlicky enough.


Other than food, my husband also bought his favorite Pokka Oolong tea. We will share a can of this almost every meal. It taste great and contains no added preservative or sugar. The good thing is you can now buy this at the supermarkets in KL.

After we finished our lunch, we walked back to the hotel to get some rest.

Dinner at Food Republic
6 pm. We were hungry, so we decided to have our dinner at Food Republic again. For dinner, we wanted to try out the Mala Xiang Guo (Spicy Stir-Fry Hot Wok) stall because it is always one of our favorite food to eat in Singapore. It is really addictive and we were surprised to find that almost every food court in Singapore have a stall that sells Mala Xiang Guo these days. I remembered there were only one or two places in Singapore selling this when we left the country years ago. It seems that Mala is a latest food crave in Singapore.

But sadly, this one does not taste good. It was very oily and bland. It was still numbingly spicy but somehow, we feel that the taste was lacking. Personally, we think Fragrant Hotpot at 313 Somerset Food Republic serves the best Mala Xiang Guo. The price might be a little higher but this will always be the place where we will always get our mala craving satisfied.

Gardens By The Bay

After dinner, we took a train to Bayfront MRT Station as we wanted to visit Gardens By The Bay. The reason why we wanted to come here was to check out the annual Christmas Wonderland Festival. We were awed by the beautiful pictures that we had seen online and since we had not been to the Festival before, we decided to check it out this time.


The entrance fee is SGD $10. It was a bit expensive for what you get. The experience was incredibly disappointing. The Christmas Wonderland is basically an annual Christmas market that replicates the traditional fairs in Europe. There were a collection of booths selling food and games, massive light sculptures and rides for children.




You will need to pay for everything at the festival and prices were high. The SGD $10 that you paid previously was just for entry, which is not worth paying for.


The most popular attraction at Christmas Wonderland every year will definitely be the luminarie light sculptures. There were over 50 light sculptures and every of it is handmade by Italian craftsmen using the best white wood from Italy. I must admit that the light sculptures look amazing, but still, it does not justify for the ticket price we paid.

Sitting in the center of the premise, you will find the majestic 22-metres tall luminarie mirror maze, decked out in gold. This was also known to be the largest mirror maze in Southeast Asia. The mirror maze is undoubtedly the main attraction of the Festival, where you can navigate through a maze of mirrors and take some insta-worthy photos.

But unfortunately, it was impossible to take a nice photo because everywhere was crazily packed with people (probably because it is near to Christmas). We did not get to walk through the mirror maze as well because we did not want to squeeze our way through the crowds.


Right beside the mirror maze, you will find the Singapore largest outdoor skating rink, featuring a 8-metre tall Christmas tall nestled in the middle. The outdoor skating rink is specially flown in from Switzerland and it is said to be the largest yet.


Next to it is Slice of SAVOUR, which was a small version of the SAVOUR Gourmet Festival where you will find a selection of accessible comfort food by some of the Singapore's trendiest restaurants. Prices starts from SGD $6 onwards, which was pretty expensive.


Making your way around the Supertree Grove, you will find the Festive Market, Inspired by European Christmas markets, the Festive Market featuring a collection of 24 wooden huts selling handmade crafts, vintage finds, food and beverages. We did not buy anything here because as I said, everything is overpriced.

We did not stay here for long (around half an hour) because there was practically nothing much to do. Overall, we feel that the Festival is over hyped, over-priced and certainly a waste of time. We will never visit again in the future.

Flower Dome


Initially, we did not intend to visit the Flower Dome since we have already been there twice. The entrance tickets were not cheap, so we did not want to waste any money. But we changed our mind right away after we read that Flower Dome was having a festive collaboration with Disney during Christmas where it will hosting lots of Tsum Tsums. So here we were.

During this festive season, the Flower Dome features over 40 Tsum Tsums characters stacked and hidden among a large field of more than 8,000 beautiful Poinsettias flowers. Some of the Tsum Tsums characters that you will see here include Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Dumbo, Donald Duck, Tigger and many more.


Passing through the entrance, you will be greeted by flying Dumbos up in the air, carrying some Christmas presents. We were so overloaded with cuteness!


Apart from your favorite Disney characters, there were also fairy lights, jingle bells and festive baubles.


A highlight will be a christmas tree made from characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Stitch, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse stacked above each other.

With fresh beautiful flowers and larger-than-life-sized Disney Tsum Tsum at every corner, the Flower Dome offers a lot of photo opportunities. But seriously, it is not fun at all to visit after the sky turned dark. Even though it was not crowded by people (probably because admission is by paid entry), it was difficult to take any decent photo because most of it turned out dark.



Lunch at The Soup Spoon

The next morning, we took a train to Bugis Junction where we had an early lunch at The Soup Spoon. We used to eat The Soup Spoon almost every other week last time when we were still living in Singapore. But sadly, they do not have any branch in Kuala Lumpur.

Just as its name suggest, the Soup Spoon is a restaurant that specializes in soups. Other than offering
a wide range of wholesome soups, the restaurant also serves delicious salads, sandwiches, cakes and lean steaks. Prices are not cheap, considering that you are paying $6-8 for a bowl of soup. But it is actually very filling and I usually struggled to finish a bowl of it.

We ordered the sandwich set which includes a choice of available soups, a wrap or sandwich and a drink. For my soup, I had Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff, which is made with blended mushrooms with herbs. Just perfect for mushroom lovers!

The soup is thick, creamy and rather chunky in texture. You might start to feel heavy when you are halfway through the soup.


My husband had Tokyo Chicken Stew. This is also one of my favorite. If you are not a fan of cream based soup or prefer something light, this will be a good option. This is a chicken stew simmered in a broth made of sweet vinegars and soy sauce. It is very light and comforting. Other than chicken, the stew also contains an assortment of vegetables like lotus roots, mushrooms, and white radish.

Both the set comes with a bun. Served warm, the bun is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It goes extremely well with the soup.

Other than soups, we also ordered a Chicken Ham and Cheese Sandwich to share. The sandwich consists of Chicken ham, cheese, tomato slices, arugula leaves and honey mustard mayo. It is simple yet satisfying.

Personally, I think The Soup Spoon is one of the best place to eat if you are craving for western-style soups. It is a healthier choice since no MSG or preservatives are added in their soups. Most importantly, it is very filling and yummy too.

Universal Studio Singapore
After lunch, we took a train to Harbourfront Station and transferred to Sentosa Express to Sentosa. Since it was the most magical season of the year, we thought it will be absolutely wonderful to celebrate it at the place where all magic happens - Universal Studios Singapore. Universal Studios Singapore is only Universal Studio theme park in Southeast Asia, offering an enticing selections of attractions, rides and entertainment for families.

This was actually our third time visiting Universal Studio Singapore, but I realized that I have never blog about my visit. Since I took quite a lot of photos at the theme park, I shall share more about my trip this time.


The theme park consists of 7 themed zones - Hollywood, New York,Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt, The Lost World, Far Far Away and Madagascar. Each zones have its own theme park, games and souvenir shops. During Christmas, the theme park is decked in lights and enchanting decorations with your favorite characters dressed in festive costumes. A perfect place to celebrate Christmas!
The park is fairly large, so be prepared to walk a lot. It is best that you wear comfortable walking shoes and cooling clothes as the weather can get pretty hot during the day.

Hollywood

The Hollywood zone is the entrance area of the theme park. It is filled with Hollywood inspired architectures and palm trees, as well as a replica of Hollywood Walk of Fame.


For Christmas, Hollywood has transformed into Elf Town. The Elf Town will be the first to greet you the moment you stepped into Universal Studio Singapore. Passing though the ticket gate, we were  welcomed by Santa's loyal helpers and huge colorful toys. 





Lined along the colorful street, you will find a few interactive stations where you can take some photos. The town filled with cheerful elves, huge Ginger Men and houses.


At the end of the street, you will come by a stage where a special Christmas show and dance performance called "Presentation Day" is showcased. This was a delightful, original musical filled with singing and dancing. I actually love this performance very much because it was very entertaining and  joyful.


Just a few steps away from the stage, you will find a Marilyn's Has Great Legs food cart that sells roasted turkey legs. This is one of our favorite things to eat at Universal Studio Singapore.


The Turkey leg is big enough to feed two, but since we had an early lunch, we had one each. It tastes like chicken, but a bit more chewy and flavorful. Roasted till perfection, it is crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The meat is actually a little harder than chicken, so it takes some time to bite through it.

New York
Passing through the Hollywood zone, you will arrive at the New York zone next. The New York zone modeled after the original New York city and features various landmarks that are commonly portrayed in movies.

Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase


At New York, we decided to check out the Sesame Street Spaghetti Space Chase ride. Even though we have already been here twice, this was actually our first time checking this ride out as I am not a fan of Sesame Street. It is catered more for young children and it was actually pretty boring. But it is something you can enjoy together with your kids.

The Sting Alley 



Then we headed over to The Sting Alley (inspired by 1973 movie, The Sting) located next to KT's Grill. It is the quieter part of the theme Park. Timeless red brick buildings, little shops with quirky old-fashioned doors and windows, metal staircases and balconies offers great photography backdrops. This is also the main reason why people visit the Sting Alley.

Betty Boop Step Into Christmas
Outside of Palace Theatre at New York,  Betty Boop and her besties can be seen tap dancing and singing.



At New York, you will also find a replica of the New York Public Library where a giant Christmas tree stands.

Sci-Fi City

The Sci-Fi City features tall futuristic buildings, robots and world's tallest intertwining roller coasters.

Transformer: The Ride

The Transformer ride at Sci-Fi City is our most favorite ride at Universal Studio Singapore. This is basically a 3D thrill ride where you put on a 3D glasses and sit in a cart that flings you around the city streets while being chased by giant fighting robots. The 3D experience is incredibly awesome and it makes you feel as though you were there in the movie.

The Transformer ride is probably the most popular ride at the theme park, so it  usually has the longest queue. Be prepared to wait for at least an hour for a 5 minutes experience. We queued for an hour and a half before it was our turn to ride, but I can ensure you that it is definitely worth the wait. However, please note that this is not for people who are prone to motion sickness.




Battlestar Galactica: Human or Cylon?

This is one of the biggest attraction of Universal Studios Singapore, boasting the world's tallest intertwining roller coasters. We did not go on a ride on the roller coasters because we were not a fan of it. It just look scary. I used to like it a lot when I was young. But as I get older, I just don't enjoy the thrill as much as I do as a kid.


Accelerator 

Located just beside the Battlestar Galactica, Accelerator is a seated spinning ride that will leave you dizzy at the end of the ride. It is just the typical spinning teacup ride, except that you are sitting in a circular shaped car instead of a teacup.

Ancient Egypt 


The Ancient Egypt is based on the historical adaptation of Ancient Egypt during the 1930s Golden Age of Egyptian Exploration, featuring obelisks, pyramids and Pharaoh's tombs. It is a heaven for Archaeology lovers and amateur Egyptologists!

Revenge of The Mummy Ride

The Revenge of The Mummy Ride is somewhat like the Transformer ride except that you will be flinging around in complete darkness. It is a roller coaster built in an indoor space with sudden acceleration, climbing, tilting, dropping and backwards motion.

Treasure Hunters

The Treasure Hunters ride is suitable for family with small children. You will get to ride in older style jeeps and drive around an abandoned Egyptian excavation site, discovering treasures and mysterious artifacts along the way.

The Lost World



The Jurassic Park Rapids Adventure is the biggest attraction at The Lost World. Ride on a round boat that seats up to nine passengers and drift, rush and plummet through the river rapids with animatronic dinosaurs.

Waterworld



We managed to catch the Waterworld stunt show for the first time. To be honest, we did not plan to watch it in the first place because we thought it would be boring. But we still decided to go for it since we did not have much to do.


The show is pretty fun and entertaining. It is filled with breathtaking stunts, jet-skis chase, dramatic fights, real explosions and fire. There are a few shows throughout the day, so it will definitely be worth scheduling in one of it. But you might want to avoid sitting at the Splash zone if you do not wish to get wet.

Far Far Away






The highlight of this zone is the beautiful Far Far Away castle standing at 40-metres tall. Walking into this zone makes you feel as though walking straight into the movie. The castle houses Shrek 4D Adventure, which is the main attraction of Far Far Away. It is a 4D adventure where you will be required to put on 3D glasses while being seated in chairs that will move in sync with the actions occurring in the movie. It is a 4D ride that both adults and children will enjoy.

Puss in Boots' Giant Journey

Puss in Boots' Giant Journey is fairly new attraction opened only in 2015. This is a roller coaster set atop a giant beanstalk. Inspired by the character Puss in Boots from Shrek film series, this ride is catered more to young children.

Madagascar 




During the festive season, you will get snow fall at certain times, which makes everything magical. As the snow fell from the sky,


The highlight will be the Christmas parade at New York zone. This year Christmas parade is said to be the biggest ever in the history of Universal Studio Singapore, featuring wildly embellished floats, snowfall, 50 merry characters and dancing elves.

As the night falls, thousands of people flocked and gathered along the street of New York, waiting for the parade to start. We managed to secure a nice spot to watch and film the parade.

The parade began as Christmas music began playing with stunning projection mapping on the buildings. Santa came out to greet us in his huge Sleigh, together with elves and toy soldiers marching down the streets.

The parade lasts only about 5 minutes. At the end of the parade, there were tons of snow falling from the sky, followed by a Santa's Christmas Light Up Party where you can take photos with your favorite characters at the meet & greet session. There were Minions and Sesame Street Friends dressed out in Christmas outfits.


I wanted to take photos with the Minions, but the queue was crazily long and we did not want to wait for our turn. But anyway, I still managed to take a photo with the Elves before heading back.



Dinner at Vivo City

It was almost 9 pm when we finally arrived back at Vivo City and we were starving. So, we decided have our dinner at Kopitiam at Vivo City before heading back to our hotel.




After dinner, we went to get our favorite milk tea at Koi. We were surprised to find that Koi is so much cheaper in Singapore than Malaysia.


After getting our Koi, we visited the Sky Park at Vivo City where a brightly lit 107ft Christmas tree stands. It was truly enchanting sight!

Hong Ji Claypot Bak Kut Teh

The third day, we met up with my newly-made couple friends who I got to know online, who brought us to Hong Ji Claypot Bak Kut Teh for lunch. Hong Ji Claypot Bak Kut Teh is located at Blk 19 Marsiling Lane food court . It is a little inconvenient to go to because you can only reach there by bus but they do have a few other branches scattered around Singapore.


Hong Ji serves the herbal soup type of Bak Kut Teh instead of peppery soup, which is quite uncommon in Singapore. I will call this Malaysian style Bak Kut Teh and it really suits our taste very well . My husband and I are not a fan of peppery soup (even though I was born in Singapore), so we seldom eat Bak Kut Teh in Singapore.


Served in a claypot, the pork ribs are tender to eat. The soup is light yet sweet and the herbal flavor is very mild. It also comes with other ingredients such as tau pok, mushrooms and lettuce. I suggest eating this with white rice because it goes very well with it.


Other than that, we also ordered Braised Pork Trotters and Pig Intestines. Braised in dark soya sauce, the pork trotters were very tender, soft and flavorful.  I am not sure whether the pig intestines was nice or not because I don't eat animals' internal organs.

After lunch, we took a bus back to Woodlands Interchange and I went back home afterwards. We spent the rest of the day at my parents' house, catching up about life.

Lunch at Food Republic

The next day, we took a train to Somerset MRT Station and walked to 313 somerset, where we had our lunch at Food Republic.

Besides Fragrant Hot Pot, our favorite stall here is Formosa Delights Handmade Noodles. It is quite popular because there is usually a long queue at the stall.

We ordered a bowl of beef Dao Xiao Mian (or knife-shaven noodles) to share. The noodles are handmade where the chef uses a knife to shave block of dough into a large pot of boiling water. As a result, the noodles are irregular in shape and length.

Every strand of noodles is fat, wide and thick. The noodles was very soft, slippery and chewy, with a nice bite and soup was flavorful. But somehow, we feel that it does not taste as nice as before.

I also ordered a plate of fried carrot cake from the other stall, but this does not taste nice at all. It was too sweet and I prefer mine with lots of preserved chopped radish and green onions. But obviously, this one does not have much.




After lunch, we took a walk around 313 somerset because I wanted to take some pictures with the yearly Christmas light up decorations. This year, the Orchard Road Christmas Light-up will feature Disney and Pixar themed decorations. There are a total of four different zones - Disney Princess, Mickey Mouse and Friends, Frozen and Toy Story.

We only managed to explore the Disney's Frozen theme zone at 313 Somerset due to time constraints. In this zone, we were excited to see Frozen characters like Anna, Elsa, Olaf and Kristoff. The good thing is there are not a lot of people when we were there, so I can take a few nice photos with the characters.

Irvins Salted Egg Chips

Then we took a train to Dhoby Ghaut because we wanted to buy a few packets of Irvins Salted Egg Chips to bring home. There are a few outlets around Singapore and the nearest to us is Plaza Singapura.


At Plaza Singapura, we bought our favourite Gong Cha drinks. I got Taro Milk Tea while my husband had Oolong Milk Tea.


And the Irvins Salted Egg chips next. My favorite is the Salted Egg Potato Chips but it was already sold out at the time when we arrived. So we decided to try out their newly launched Hot Bomb Salted Egg Potato Chip and Fish Skin Chips instead. The Hot Bomb flavor is pretty spicy and if you are someone who cannot take spicy food at all, the Hot Bomb series is definitely not for you.


Freshly produced and packed in a sealable pouch, the chips are crispy and crunchy with generous salted egg seasoning and abundant curry leaves. The good news is it is now Halal-Certified by MUIS, so Muslims can enjoy the snacks without any worries.

Then we decided to walk back to our hotel (8 mins) to drop our shopping bags and take a short rest before heading out later in the day again to meet up with a friend for dinner.

South Beach Avenue




My friend suggested that we meet up at South Beach Avenue, a fairly new mix development consisting of office spaces, luxury residence, JW Marriott Hotel, restaurants and bars. It is connected to Esplanade MRT Station and City hall MRT Interchange, so it is convenient to get to from our hotel.

Fasta

We decided to dine at Fasta, which is an amalgamated name of "Fast" and "Pasta". Fasta is a fusion pasta cafe that serves a selection of fusion meals in either warm or cold versions. You can customize  your own pasta bowls or order from a standard list of pastas.

The restaurant is quite small and has limited seating. But we were the only group dining at the restaurant that day, so we pretty much had all the space to ourselves.


I ordered the Scallop Wallop Pasta and like it very much. The scallops are pan-seared and the pasta is cooked with crab meat, bacon bits and diced tomato. A simple yet delicious dish.


My friend ordered Siow Ba Mee and it was equally delicious as well. It consists of chinese-style glazed pork belly atop pasta, served with semi-dried tomato and garnished with chilli flakes.

My husband had Ocean Toss, which comes with prawns, squids and mussels - just perfect for seafood lovers.


Overall, the service was fast since it was cater to busy office workers. As it name suggests, the restaurant serves fast pasta, so you do not need to wait long for your food.

Kith Cafe

After dinner, we walked to Millenia Walk and since it was still early, we decided to have some coffee at Kith Cafe. The atmosphere of the cafe is very relaxing, which makes it a great place for friends to gather. They do have a few outlets around Singapore and one of it is just located just right opposite our hotel, next to the 7-11.


The cafe has a pretty extensive menu offering an variety of  salads, pasta, sandwiches, hot and cold drinks, as well as beer and wine. I ordered iced chocolate while my friend had Mint Citrus Tea and my husband had Cappuccino.


I was craving for some sweet treats, so I ordered a slice of Yuzu Cheesecake as well. It tastes like the classic cheesecake with a lovely Yuzu hint and a solid biscuit base.

With that, we ended our trip to Singapore. It was quite a fulfilling trip and we managed to do so much in just a few days. Singapore has changed so much over the years and when you have been living abroad for long, it makes you started to appreciate some of the little things that the city offers. The clean streets, the convenience to travel around, the efficiency and how safe is it to walk on the street at night.

But on the other hand, it is still a stressful city to live in. It is nice to visit Singapore for leisure, but I still prefer the work-life balance that Malaysia offers.

Be sure to follow me on my Facebook or Instagram to get the latest updates on my travel adventures! Also, do not forget to share my blog posts with your family and friends if you find them helpful. In the meantime, you might also want to check My Wanderlust page for some of my other travel adventures.