Global Wanderer

8/10/25

A wonderful two weeks in Japan came to an end as I boarded a flight at Haneda airport bound for Singapore. I haven’t been to Singapore in a good few years (possibly a decade!), and I was curious to see how the city had changed on – an 8 hour daytime layover provided the perfect opportunity.

After landing in Singapore, I dropped off my bag, and took the MRT across to St Andrews. The Formula 1 had recently come through town for the Singapore Grand Prix, and a great number of streets had been fenced off – the local cleanup crews had only just begun to dismantle them, and it was quite interesting to walk along the blocked-off streets where just a few days earlier, F1 cars had been zipping past at hundreds of kilometres an hour.

The fences still erected around Singapore’s F1 street track, and the stately Fullerton Hotel, nearing 100 years of age

I continued along the road up to the iconic Fullerton Hotel and Merlion Park, where you can look out over the bay to the Marina Bay Sands building – the last time I had been to Singapore, this was still under construction, and it was pretty impressive to see the completed building dominating that particular skyline!

The impressive Marina Bay Sands, with the iconic boat-shaped rooftop, and the Merlion statue, gracing Singapore’s waterfront since 1972

I am a firm believer that layovers in South East Asia are the best, because of the fantastic food you can get your hands on – and Singapore was no different in this regard! I made my way up to Chinatown, to the hawker centre there – considered one of the best and most accessible food centres in the city centre – where I scarfed down a delicious plate of kway teow (one of my favourite noodle dishes!), and an enormous fried spring roll – for a total cost of $9. Even in Singapore, the most expensive country in south east Asia, good food is easy to find, and incredibly affordable!

A delicious plate of char kway teow – a south-east Asian Chinese dish consisting of stir-fried flat rice noodles and prawns, amongst other things

I spent the next hour wandering back through Chinatown, and into the downtown area, before hopping on the MRT again, and making my way back to Changi airport. Singapore certainly has changed since my last visit, and it continues to grow upward and develop at a frenetic pace – but thankfully, the food remains fantastically tasty!

The Jewel at Changi Airport