as with my colourful guide to little india, i only want to share my highlight reel from our day spent wandering around singapore's kampong glam region. originally, i was supposed to be participating in gifted a food tour for review, but on the day, we realised the app the tour was guided through didn't work without wifi, and actually, there's not a lot of wifi in singapore. it was a shame, as we had planned our day in kampong glam around this app which was full of info and history, and suggested places of interest - so in the end, we just had to wing it and see where the wind took us. thankfully, we had a few recommendations from others as well, so we stuck with those and off we went. our day went a bit like this:
haji lane
if you're looking for something cool and quirky to do, you'll find it on haji lane. we made the mistake of heading down early, not knowing most of the colourful shops and cafes didn't open until a little later on - but that didn't stop us exploring. we wandered the brightly-coloured lane, moving from shop to shop, taking in the absolute riot of colour that welcomed us. the lane itself is lined with fusion food stops, independent fashion houses, and one-of-a-kind boutiques that will have you fascinated for hours. it's also a major instagram paradise, so expect to walk into photoshoots at every turn. if you fancy reading more about the stops you'll find along here, have a read of this post i found after the fact.
selfie coffee
this was a hilarious spur-of-the-moment deceision that we made because a) we were thirsty and hot, and b) it sounded insane enough that we just had to see for ourselves. the hint is in the name of the cafe, but the whole concept behind selfie coffee is that, well, your coffee is adorned with a thick head of cream with your face superimposed onto it. simple concept, yet wholly hilarious. it was also like $8 for an iced coffee, but it was well worth it for the bants of drinking an iced coffee with my own face on it. the coffee was great, too, but that was a minor regard in the whole affair.
find it here: 11 haji lane, singapore 189204
masjid sultan mosque
you will have seen this bad boy all over the 'gram too, but it has to be seen to be believed. the mosque is best seen from the walk up from muscat street, to get "that shot", but its beautiful dome and gilded turrets can be clearly seen from most parts of kampong glam. the building is considered to be one of the most important, and one of the oldest, mosques in singapore; originally comissioned by stamford raffles (of "raffles" raffles fame) for his pal, sultan hussein in around 1824. we hung around the area long enough to hear the incredibly moving call to prayer, but sadly couldn't go inside that day as it was being used for religious service. it's not often closed to the public - we just were very unlucky, i think!
find it here: 3 muscat street, singapore 198833
bar stories
this was another recommendation from a friend, that we actually decided to check out because of a monsoon that hit just as we'd planned to head back to the hotel. it opened around 4pm, which was perfect timing, and meant we were some of the first people in there. the basic gist of this bar is that there is no menu to select from, rather, the mixologists simply ask you three questions and then design you a cocktail based on those answers. the questions? how are you feeling today? what flavours do you enjoy? what spirits don't you like? from there, i was served up something very fruity and tropical, with mint and berries, absynthe and rum, and a whoooole lotta other ingredients. it was tasty, for sure - the guy had nailed what i liked, and i downed that drink in record time. it wasn't cheap, of course, but then - no alcohol is in singapore. it was worth it for the experience alone, and the bar was really very nice - and it was very cool watching the staff there doing their thing. or maybe that's the absynthe talking.
find it here: 55 haji lane, singapore 189248
have you been to kampong glam? i'd love to know what your "must-see" things were - let me know in the comments! also, i'd love to know if there's anything in particular you'd like to know about singapore so i can try and include some useful stuff alongside my one gazillion photos. let me know!
