Tag: marina bay sands

Singapore’s Clarke Quay: Life through time

~ Swisa ~ Leave a comment

This trip I’ve been to Clarke Quay already three times and everytime it gives me a different vibe. It’s strange this area by the Singapore River but I like it and am at the same time impressed by it.

The first time I went there this trip was on a group tour to take the “Bumboat.”  I’ve been to Singapore so many times but never took the bumboat and so I decided to join it this trip.  I enjoy being the tourist no matter how “touristy” it is and I especially enjoy anything to do with water and rivers.  It’s so calming and relaxing.  We get there at around 9.30am and Clarke Quay resembles a deserted town.  All the shops and restaurants are shut and not a single soul is to be seen.  It’s quiet.  This part of Singapore has not yet awakened.  Only after nearing the crossing roads do we spot a few people.  They are runners out for their morning jog. Healthy people.

It’s quite educational this trip.  I learn that this beautiful area where the shops are painted in different colours and there are outdoor seatings by the singapore river was once the “Stinking sewer” of Singapore.  After the advent of large containers, the bumboats that used to bring goods back and forth to Singapore were abandoned as were the trading houses and warehouses along this river.  People disregarded the river and everything you shouldn’t throw into the river was thrown there.  It stank and it was polluted.  Then in 1977 the Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was said to utter the words “Clean it up.”   It took ten years for the government to clean out this stinking sewer and today its waters are quite clean and it has become a popular place for all to hang out in the evenings.   It gets crazily crowded.


What amazes me though is that this area is also part of the Singapore reservoir and that the long term goal is to make the water drinkable. Imagine that.  Even the bumboats are now operated by batteries so that they don’t pollute the water.

And so in the morning, I am riding down the singapore river in a bumboat with the breeze in my hair. I pass by Clarke Quay, Boat Quay, the Merlion and then out to Marina Bay.  I see a beautiful view of the Marina Bay Sands and hundreds of white balls filled with New Year Wishes of Singaporeans.  It’s relaxing and a great overview to the main sites along the waterway in Singapore. 

I return later that Saturday evening to meet wonderful friends who take me out to enjoy the famous pepper and chilli crab at Jumbo Seafood.  It’s mouthwatering and I eat more than I should.  Food in Singapore is always good and even better when you are with good friends.  We walk around after dinner and the hoards of people are overwhelming.  There are people everywhere,  I hear a couple languages being spoken.  There is a brazillian bar that lures guests with some brazilian dancing.  Guys stop dead in their tracks to watch blocking the passageway.  I wonder if the gimmick works and people actually go in to order food. 
Then  there’s a bar that resembles a clinic. Guests sit in wheelchairs and drink out of hanging blood bags.  It’s a bit too much for me.  At almost midnight, Clarke Quay is still humming full of life on a Saturday evening.

My third visit to Clarke Quay was Sunday evening just before the sunset.  It was not crowded, the shops were open and it was just  lovely to walk along the Quay with my cousin.  I love having relaxing strolls.  If only Alex was here it would be great.  I go have dinner at the Hot Stones restaurant which allows you to cook your own steak on literally hot stones.  Its fun.  The steak stays juicy and delicious.   I make a mental note to buy myself a stone for cooking at home one day…..

There is a certain charm to Clarke Quay.   It’s a mixture of history with modern day life.   Who would imagine 100 years ago that these trading houses and warehouses would one day be converted into restaurants and bars? 

“Cut”: Steak to die for

~ Swisa ~ Leave a comment

On trips that bring you away from family and friends for a week or so things can get a little quiet (but that is significantly helped by the wonderful technology of Skype and sim cards.)  Of course, no technology can replace the warm feeling one gets when one is with close friends and I have to say that I feel especially fortunate to have such wonderful friends in Singapore who take great care of me.  From having the skinny pizza with Dalin, pepper and chilli crab with Mark, hot stones steak with my cousin to the wonderful steak house “Cut” with Rasina,  I have to say I am truly enjoying my stay in Singapore.

Today I’ll focus on “Cut” which some of you might be wondering what it is.  (No it’s not a salon where you can go cut your hair, nor is it a nail spa.)  It’s a steakhouse that was brought to Singapore along with the Marina Bay Sands and is by Chef Wolfgang Puck.  Reviews tell me me that in the USA his restaurant has been considered “one of the top steakhouses” and that the one in Beverly Hills goes by the same name. 

Rasina tells me that this place has been open for only a couple of weeks and that it has been getting good reviews. Of course it’s a must try.  For steak lovers, I highly recommend this place. They have all kinds of steaks ranging from the U.S.D.A Prime , Wagyu to the Australian Angus aged 45 days.  There were so many I had difficulty choosing…I think it took everyone a good 15 minutes to decide.  

In the end, I chose the U.S.D.A, prime Sirloin which was also half Wagyu.  They have a name for it, but I forget.. Apparently this is just roughly 50% Wagyu so you get less of the fat, but just enough to make the sirloin meat tender and juicy.  How they do it I don’t know..but it’s perfect.

Once you’ve chosen your steak, you can also order toppings for the steak and any side dishes to share.  I love mushrooms and therefore of course my topping was mushrooms with side dishes of creamed spinach and potatoes.  The brocolli was also wonderful as well as the Armagnac sauce.

The steak? It was amazing. My medium-raw steak was perfectly done and the beef so tender it just melted in my mouth.  Now, generally I am not much of a steak lover, but this one was good.  It was out of this world and definitely one of the best steaks I’ve had.  This is one meal I’d remember for years to come.  It earns a place next to the Michelin Star Restaurant in Brussels which serve exquisite Lamb chomps.

I enjoy every bite and almost finish my entire 150grams.  Oh, the desert is equally good so make space for it…. I roll out the restaurant, but I roll out happily.  Good food is always great for the soul. Thank you Rasina 😀

So if you have an opportunity to come to Singapore and you are looking for a great steak place other than Lawry’s I recommend “Cut” by Wolfgang Puck.  If you don’t want steak, they also serve Lobster and Chicken that looks equally tempting.  Before you go, please make Reservations as all the tables were booked.  Price?  The smallest steak was roughly S$70 and  prices ranged from around S$150-300 per steak depending upon cut, type and size.

And yes, here is the website :  http://www.marinabaysands.com/Restaurants/CUT.aspx    And No, I am not being paid to write this.  Bon Appetit!

Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands Casino

~ Swisa ~ Leave a comment

I don’t gamble, but if there is something new that has to be seen then I’d go see it even if its a casino.  Singapore has just recently opened it’s Marina Bay Sands  Hotel and the area has both Shops and a Casino.  Coming from Las Vegas, they brought the concept here and I must say I felt like I was no longer in the island country of Singapore.  Even the restaurants and the Casino come from Las Vegas.  The casino has 500 tables and 1500 slot machines. Imagine how big it is.  It is a mega gambling empire.

After an extremely delicious meal of scrumptious steak at the newly opened restaurant called “Cut” (which I will write about tomorrow), my dear friend in Singapore took me to see the Casino from a bird’s eye view.  We were standing on the third floor balcony overlooking the 500 tables.  The feeling is unlike any I’ve had before.

Upon first seeing it you are just dazed and awed. It’s all a gigantic space of curves and lights. For a few seconds, I didn’t realize what I was seeing until my senses started adjusting.  Then you see it. It suddenly appears to you just like that.  Beneath all the curved lights in the middle of this large encircled area, which for some reason reminds me of a futuristic behive, there are hundreds and hundreds of tables.  Upon looking even closer, you see them covered in green or blue and cards are being decked out.  It really feels like a behive. I feel like I am in part of a sci-fi movie.  The yellow lights and curved walls give it a strange luminescent glow.

Then once your eyes have adjusted to the sight, your ears suddenly start being aware of a peculiar humming sound that gently vibrates and wavers through the air.  It’s not like the sounds you hear in the Pachinkos in Japan, but instead the sound is like a monotonic “E” that softly hums and rings.  It rings and somehow I feel it go through me.  There is some sort of eerie silence mixed with the sound of slot machines and people playing black jack that makes this monotonic “E.”  Perhaps its because I’m standing high up where the sounds mix and have some lagged effect but nevertheless its a strange feeling.

We take pictures but at the slightest indication of a flash being used, a security guy dressed in a black suit with some wiring to his ear appears out of nowhere and asks us to stop taking pictures.  He leaves just as quickly as he appears and we make our way home.