It was time to embark on our journey aboard the Singapore Airlines A380 in Suites Class. Suites Class is Singapore Airline’s First Class tier aboard their Airbus A380 where all the seats in the cabin are suites. If you want to read about the planning process for this flight and how we managed to get seats in the Suites Class, you can read my previous post on it here.
Not sure why we don’t do this more often, but taking cooking classes in a foreign country is a great way to learn about their culture and meet fellow tourists. We fell in love with Indonesian food during our stay in Bali, so I’m glad we got a chance to prepare some common dishes. Prior to the trip, we booked a morning class at Paon Cooking Class, which lasted from 8:30AM to around 1:30PM. I recommend the morning class because it includes a market tour (afternoon one doesn’t), so you see where the ingredients come from and taste some locally grown fruit.
I’ll admit, the main reason I wanted to visit Singapore was because I saw the Fung Brothers eating at the hawker stalls there. I think one of the most fascinating things about Singapore is that it is truly a city of immigrants. Malaysians, Chinese, Indians practicing a range of religions from Islam to Buddhism to Christianity. This diversity also lends itself to a diversity of flavors in Singaporean cuisine. Here are some of our recommended foods!
One of the strangest, most fascinating “theme parks” we’ve visited was in Singapore. Haw Par Villa was commissioned by the creators of Tiger Balm to educate the masses in Chinese culture. As such, the park’s attractions are all related to characters in popular Chinese folklore and mythology which can range from bright and colorful to grotesque. It was a failed business venture as Haw Par Villa incurred losses over the years, eventually making the admission free. Many of the statues and dioramas are still being restored. I suggest lathering on the sunscreen because there was barely any shade and we were baking in the sun! Sweaty and parched, it was still worth checking out the graphic displays (warning: some images are not for children…or they are, if you want to teach your kids not to sin and be banished to hell).
Prior to visiting Taiwan, I was doing some research and discovered that Spirited Away, one of my favorite Miyazaki films, is based on the coastal town of Jiufen 九份. And being a Studio Ghibli fan, of course I had to go see it in person. It’s a popular tourist spot amongst people all across Asia (there were a lot of Korean and Japanese fans). We went closer to night time to see the lanterns, but do note that the shops close pretty early (around 7pm)! During the day, you can get some awesome coastal views if it’s not too foggy. Wish we had more time to explore while it was still light out.
I was always more of a cat person growing up and so was intrigued upon hearing about Houtong Cat Village in Taiwan (猴硐貓村). A town overrun with cats? Count me in. Unfortunately we went on a rainy day so the cats were more damp than furry. Didn’t end up petting too many of them. Some of them were quite friendly and will snuggle up to your legs. We also saw a dog that was mostly ignored. It seems tourism is big business for this village as everything is cat-themed. The signs, the store displays, the souvenirs. Me-ow.
Our first stop in Singapore was the famous Gardens by the Bay, a pretty recent development known for its manmade Supertree Grove. It was slightly confusing trying to figure out how exactly we get there. From outside the Marina Bay sands hotel, on the side facing away from the water, there is an elevator that takes you up to a bridge. Cross that bridge to get to the trees. It was super hot that day so our umbrella, initially brought along in case of rain, came in handy. Honestly I have never visited a place as hot and humid as Singapore. The troubles of being near the equator! Here in New York we can have pretty long winters sometimes – definitely not accustomed to the heat.
Towards northern Bali, there are several waterfalls you can check out, including the more accessible Gigit Waterfalls. But we read somewhere that Sekumpul’s were much more beautiful and decided to do the hike there instead. We paid for a guide to get to the waterfalls (150,000 IDR); some people say it’s not necessary, but I certainly felt more secure having someone who knows his way around to hang onto. Plus, our guide explained some of the fruit-bearing trees to us along the way and even picked a mangosteen. We politely turned it down as it was covered with bugs, but he simply brushed away all the ants and ate it.
I don’t know what it is about monkeys that make them so photogenic. Maybe it’s because they’re so humanlike, without being self conscious in front of the camera. If you want to get up close and personal with them, the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud is a good place to go. For 40,000IDR you can monkey-watch to your heart’s content. You can also buy bananas to feed them if you want to get really close. Some precautions, however – they do smell, and they will hop all over you. So maybe white shirts are not a good idea, and for the females – there has been a history of monkeys pulling down anything strapless. The forest itself is incredible, and in the morning you can see a faint ray of light streaming through the trees. Very good for photos.
Bali, which is 90% Hindu despite the rest of Indonesia being mostly Muslim, has a ton of temples. Families in a village would share one, but there are some in particular that are especially beautiful and visited by many tourists. Here’s a quick list of the ones we visited. If you plan to go inside the temple instead of walking the perimeters, you will need a sarong (rental usually covered by the admission price). Our driver did inform us that Besakih Temple, however, overcharges you for admission, sarong rental, and a mandatory but unnecessary guide. So we decided not to go (and have read similar negative reviews about it). There are plenty of others anyway, as you will see, and the admission fees are generally quite cheap. Do note women on their menstrual cycle are not allowed inside the temples (though..how will they know?).