Singapore, Day 4

This morning we set off by taxi to the Easy Coast Park, a stretch of green along the coast from the airport to the city. I have travelled this road many times, and always thought it would be nice to stop.

It has a magnificent view - hundreds of ships of all shapes and sizes, all waiting at anchor to dock in Singapore. I once was working aboard a ship at anchor here, just like these. I don't know where else in the world that you can see them so close to shore. Added to the spectacle of the ships is the fact that Changi Airport is close by, and jets of all shapes and sizes take off overhead. A plane and ship spotter's paradise! We saw an A380 depart, and the Singapore air force fly circuits in their F18s.

Back to the park - we weren't sure exactly where to go but luckily the taxi driver could understand us well enough to drop us near the bicycle hire place. We hired a bike each for SGD10 for 2 hours. They had brakes and gears, but mostly for show. We were looking for the East Coast Seafood, a highly recommended hawker centre, and so set off towards the airport. The bike way was excellent - wide and alongside a footpath, with clear instructions as to who should be where. It was midday on a Friday, and so there weren't many people about.

There are several eateries, washrooms, a camping area, firepits, exercise area, a huge skate park and a neverending view of the coast and ships, through casuarinas and tamarind trees.

On our ride out we'd found the seafood centre and stopped in on the way back to the bike hire place. Luckily there were some stalls open - only about a third at that time of day - and Dom ordered a black pepper crab and I went with my favourite, Hiananese chicken rice (SGD5.50 today with wanton soup). We both really enjoyed lunch and will definitely come back again. I'd recommend it to anyone visiting - even just to come to the seafood centre on dusk for the food and the view would be fabulous.

I hadn't formed a solid plan on how to get a taxi back out of the park, but lots of people were arriving in them, so it was just a matter of hopping in. Off we went to Arab Street, my favourite place to buy batik and silk. I looked, but didn't buy this time. I have four pieces already from Malaysia, and there's only so much batik I can use at once. I love the silk that's available here, but I am still a little scared to use it at the price.

Our hotel, with our favourite in the background

Much has changed since we were last here. It's sad to see some of it go - Change Alley was an institution, and is now a hotel. They did save the facade, which was decent of them. There was a great dry market (as opposed to wet market, which has fresh meat and vegetables, a dry market has all the other household goods you could name that come in boxes or tins, or even dried out mushrooms and whitebait) near Arab Street that was always worth a look. That was gone this time. For all of their constant development and re-development, Singapore certainly has protected a lot of parks and greenways for their own recreation.

View from the bar

We hoofed it back to the hotel for a swim and a rest. It had been thundering and dark for most of the midday, but nothing came of it. We checked out a little more of Orchard Road, but again, there's a lot of construction going on, meaning some of our favourite shops were out of action. Cab back to Chinatown, and Ann Siang Road, a new favourite haunt after my pre-trip googling. We tried to go to a rooftop bar called La Terraza at the Screening Room http://www.screeningroom.com.sg/fivefloors.aspx the other night, but it was closed for a private event. Tonight we went again and thoroughly enjoyed the view of the setting day over the city, with a mojito and nibbles.

La Terraza

A wander back through the Chinatown markets which have had a facelift since our last visit, to the MRT and home.