Shanghai Vaquera: Singapore

Showing posts with label Singapore. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Singapore = Wonderland? - hotel, luxury retail and other miscellaneous thoughts

Not surprisingly, we relied on Trip Advisor to find our hotel in Singapore - Royal Plaza on Scotts. I am not going to elaborate it more. In general it is not bad, a standard 5 star hotel in a very good location. It is clean, spacious, convenient and it met our needs.

Hotel lobby

There was a flower arrangement art exhibition in our hotel when we were there. I took a few pictures.

Orchard and Scotts = Luxury Retailing Ground Zero

In Singapore, because I stayed right on Orchard and Scotts (one of the premium shopping locations) in Singapore, I encountered one of the most overwhelming branded luxury experiences every time I walked out the front door. Honestly, even Fifth Avenue in New York does not compare. Orchard Road is like a luxury brand magnet. France's Hermes is one of the world's premier luxury brands. Within a 0.5 mile radius of my hotel, I saw 5 Hermes stores. (there are 3 more in the Changi airport). I never seen so many luxury stores in such a small area in my life. (OK, I had my game face on and didn't take as many photos as I probably should have done of the shops...but check out ION Orchard or other people's photos for a sense of what I'm talking about.)

Other observations from Singapore worth noting:

Singapore traffic relies on something called the ERP (electronic road pricing) system. If you want to drive in restricted (high traffic) areas during peak demand periods, you pay a variable fee. I know that Singapore is a very expensive place to own a car, and I'm sure Singaporeans have their own views about this, but one thing I noticed was the complete lack of traffic jams.

Food court trust system - people leave their cell phones on the table to reserve a seat.

Nice and clean subway system with air conditioning that works!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Singapore = Wonderland? - Amazing Marina Bay Sands and Changi Airport

Of all the places I visited in Singapore, I was most impressed by the Marina Bay Sands hotel/casino/shopping complex and the Changi Airport. Let's explore!

Marina Bay Sands

The complex is topped by a 340m-long SkyPark with a capacity of 3,900 people. The SkyPark is home to the world's longest elevated swimming pool, with a 146-metre (478 ft) vanishing edge, perched 191 meters above the ground. The pools are made up of 422,000 pounds of stainless steel and can hold 376,500 gallons (1424 cubic metres) of water.

Imagine yourself swimming in the pool and looking over the whole world!

Outside the complex - This is the first time I see a palm tree with stem protection.

The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands also boast close to 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) of retail space with over 300 stores and F&B outlets. This mall reminds of Houston Galleria but a cleaner, higher end and better food choices version.

Beautiful jewelry design with Chinese elements

Hotel inside: The resort is designed by Moshe Safdie, who says it was initially inspired by card decks.

Architecture, investment and social fun facts

Marina Bay Sands is developed by Las Vegas Sands, it is billed as the world's most expensive standalone casino property at S$8 billion, including cost of the prime land. Las Vegas Sands declared the undertaking as "one of the world's most challenging construction projects and certainly the most expensive stand-alone integrated resort property ever built".
Singapore citizens and permanent residents have to pay a S$100 daily entry levy or S$2,000 for annual unlimited access fee to get into the casino. As you can see, the government is more interested in making money from tourists and discourages their local people from spending too much time in casino. Considering the history of Chinese opium war, I think this is a very effective public policy. Comparing with Las Vegas where 60% income is from American local guests, more than 60% income of Marina Bay Sands is from overseas guests.
After two years of operation, Marina Bay Sands already got its initial investment back, and made S$19 billion
Singapore is the world's second-biggest casino gambling market, behind Macau, in front of Las Vegas. Let's look:

Las Vegas Sands - 2011 Casino Revenues (USD '000s)

Macao Venetian                      2,430,144
Macao Sands                          1,251,084
Macao Four Seasons               583,476
Total Macao                            4,264,704         57.3%
Marina Bay Sands                   2,364,922
Total Singapore                       2,364,922        31.8%
Las Vegas                                430,758
Sands Bethlehem                     376,618
Total U.S.                                807,376           10.9%
Total                                        7,437,002
Source: Company 10-K report

Changi Airport

Between traveling in Singapore and Malaysia, I ended up spending a fair amount of time in Changi airport.  Before I came to Changi, I considered Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok airport to be the world's best airport. It is clean, nice, highly efficient, and has lots of shops. Now Changi airport just added another level of amazing fun to me. While it's usually the threat of a long security line and missing my flight that makes me show up early to the airport most of the time, at Changi you'll want to arrive early! Depending on how much time you have, here are some of the fun things I found that will make your travel experience so much better.

Visit a butterfly garden in the airport (20 mins)
Get a FREE foot massage (15 mins)

Rediscover the beauty of nature at one of the themed gardens - Cactus garden, Orchid Garden, Fern Garden, Sunflower Garden and Koi fish ponds (15 mins)
Try a fish micro-massage therapy at the Fish Spa & Reflexology (30 mins)
Refresh with a quick shower (20 mins)
Have a go at the FREE Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 (30 mins)
Soak up the sun and take a refreshing dip in the rooftop swimming pool (30 mins)
Catch a blockbuster movie for FREE at the movie theater (2 hours)
Join a FREE Singapore tour and get a glimpse into Singapore's ethnic heritage and tourist attractions (2 hours)
Catch a nap at one of their FREE quiet rest areas or check into napping facility (60 mins)

And let's not forget mentioning the various lounges, huge amount of food choices and business centers with Bloomberg terminals, free internet, hair and beauty services and airport hotels. I bet I can live in Changi airport for a month without feeling too bored!

And have you ever seen this anywhere in the world? Complete with name and photo of your "sanitation engineer"...

toilet seat sanitizer

Singapore = Wonderland? - food!

I love watching travel food shows, and I am a fan of Anthony Bourdain. Most advanced foodies think Taipei and Singapore are the best food towns in Asia, and many of them relentlessly debate which city has better food. I went to both places this trip. I have my own views. Let's look at food in Singapore first.

As I mentioned before, Singapore hawker food has the world's best management and business model. They are usually in large scale, and offer huge variety in a clean, orderly and convenient environment. Not only there is competition between stall owners, but also there is cooperation and complementary services.

Vegetable and fruit market

Indian and muslim snacks - I did not have room to try

Vegetarian food - I did not have room to try either

Fresh fish market

Check out the desserts at McDonald's in Singapore!! They also sell TIRAMISU MCFLURRY! We had one, it was delicious!

Fresh handmade soup dumplings by Din Tai Fung

Steamed cupcakes! - less fat, better taste!

Cold Poached Chocolate - it looks beautiful, I did not have room to try

We had the following in Singpore!

Charcoal roasted chicken wings

Sambal veggie

This is Burmese food. It is quite fresh, with a little bit spicy and peanut flavor

Famous Singaporean icecream sandwich. And yes, icecream with a slice of bread. I was talked into getting the durian flavor by the owner (honestly I felt my mouth was kind of stinky afterwards). I should have ordered taro flavor.

Laska noodle! You know it is good when you see Steve's happy face.

My veggie noodle soup, fresh and light!

Steve's turnip cake, and my steamed chicken feet (well, I am Chinese indeed) .

We found this place nearby our hotel

Steve had Indonesian food

I had Hainan Chicken Rice, it was not as good as the one in Penang

Steve visited Singapore 20 years ago, and ate at this place. He still remembered how good it was.

The best dosa I've ever had. I felt like I had an aroma explosion. It has green, red, and yellow curry sauce, coconut sauce and yogurt. All the spice and fresh ingridents blend in my mouth perfectly, I would not know how it would work otherwise.

Since we visited Taipei, we are emotionally connected to food here. We found this Taiwanese chain restaurant in Singapore. I tried traditional Taiwanese food oyster noodle, it was delicious