The first leg of our trip, we stayed a few days in Singapore.
Singapore is a city-state/country on the very southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. Home to about 6 million people and the financial center of Asia.
We stayed at the Mondrian Duxton Hotel.
The views from our room and the pool. We record a welcome gift. Assorted goodies delivered in a tiffin tin.
Singapore is a tiny city-state measuring roughly 284 square miles (734 sq km), making it significantly smaller than any U.S. state. It is about 3.8 times smaller than Rhode Island, the smallest U.S. state, and roughly the size of the city of Atlanta. Well known for finance, shipping, Crazy Rich Asian movie, and street food!
Hawker Centers
Hawker centres are the heart of Singapore’s food culture—open-air food halls where dozens of small stalls serve affordable, iconic local dishes. You’ll find everything from chicken rice and laksa to char kway teow and satay, all cooked by specialists who often spend decades perfecting a single dish. It’s everyday dining for locals and a must-do for visitors.
One of the most famous is Maxwell Food Centre, especially renowned for its chicken rice, widely considered among the best in the country. Adding a fun pop-culture footnote: Lady Gaga stopped by Maxwell and ate at Table 174 while she was in Singapore at the start of her “The Mayhem” tour this year, cementing the spot’s global cult status.
We shared a roasted meat platter—the pork was outstanding—along with fresh sugarcane juice and a rich three-layer coffee. A peanut pancake made by a Vietnamese woman was a standout, and we grabbed noodles and pork to-go before Chad headed back to the hotel.
I took a stroll through Chinatown and some of the temples. Literally steps away from the Hawker center and the Singapore MRT Maxwell stop.
I enjoyed a surprisingly good S$1 ice cream cone, then stopped by the nearby market to pick up a few things for the room. Completely wiped in the best way, we called it an early night and stayed in.
More Than A Foodie 