July 19, 2025: Singapore (Author: J)
On our last trip to Singapore, we were fairly successful at defeating jet lag within the first few days of our trip. So, we revived our jet lag playbook on this trip. On our first evening, we stocked our room with some snack cakes from 7-11 in case anyone woke up in the middle of the night hungry. (These proved a better choice than the wasabi chips we picked up in 2022). And we all committed to staying in bed until at least 5 am, even if it meant laying there with our eyes closed.
We executed the plan as well as could be expected. While I won’t say that anyone had a great night of sleep, we did all manage to sleep for large chunks of the time between 10 pm and 6 am. At 6 am, I made a cup of coffee using the hotel coffee machine and enjoyed it with some pandan cake while reading my book. Because our room at the Pan Pacific was small, my activities eventually woke everyone else up (despite my best efforts to read by phone flashlight). We all got ready for the day, and then headed to Marina Square, one of the malls attached to the Pan Pacific.
Armed with directions from the concierge, it was quite easy to find the entrance to the mall. There’s an exit on the 2nd floor of the hotel that puts you directly outside a door to the mall. At 7:30 on a Saturday, the shops were all closed, but we weren’t there to shop. We headed directly for Ya Kun Kaya Toast to order breakfast. For those who are unfamiliar, Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a chain that serves a common Singaporean breakfast spread of toast with butter and kaya (pandan and coconut) jam, soft-cooked eggs, and coffee (kopi), along with some other breakfast items. Because we had breakfast included in our hotel stay in 2022, we didn’t get the opportunity to try kaya toast then. It was time to remedy that now.
The Ya Kun Kaya Toast location in Marina Square is a little island in the mall with a counter and open kitchen, and some dinner style seating. After you order at the counter, they set up your tray and slide it along as they fill it with your food. We quickly learned that you shouldn’t grab the tray until your number is called; it seems like the way the tray is set up tells the cooks what to put on each tray.
I had a kaya toast set with regular kopi (coffee with sweetened condensed milk). D had a French toast set, which was served with kaya jam, soft-cooked eggs, and kopi. P had a muffin and some water. There was a bit of a wait for our food because there was initially only 1 cook on duty, and the French toast order disrupted his efficient toast and eggs assembly line. When the rest of the kitchen crew arrived, the restaurant turned into a well-oiled machine with dine-in and delivery orders going out at a quick clip.
We enjoyed our food. I was a little worried about the eggs because gooey textures are not always my favorite, but they were cooked enough that I could enjoy them with the contrast of the crunchy toast. D was happy with his French toast and especially delighted by the kopi. P’s muffin was a muffin.
After breakfast, it was time to attend to the highest-priority item on our agenda: finding P some monkeys. (P has loved monkeys since he was a toddler, and his lifelong dream has been to become a primatologist. So, over D’s grumbling, I always prioritize monkey-watching on our trips). We liberally applied sunscreen and bug spray, and then I called a Grab to take us to Thomson Nature Park. The park is part of the Central Nature Park Network a group of nature parks that abut the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, which is Singapore’s largest nature reserve. I chose Thomson for our hike because I assumed that more popular hiking spots like MacRitchie would be quite crowded on a Saturday.
I enjoyed the Grab ride to the park. It gave us an opportunity to locate the metro station that had so eluded us the night before and see the preparations for Singapore’s National Day that were going on near Marina Bay. Our driver dropped us right at the main entrance to Thomson Nature Park. We did a quick study of the trail map and then made our way towards the Langur and Macaque Trails.
I am pleased to report that the monkeys complied with the park’s signage. As soon as we stepped onto the Macaque Trail, we saw some movement in the bushes and D located a family of macaques. We spent some time taking photos of the monkeys, which were close enough to watch, but not so close as to be too close for comfort. After visiting with our primate friends, we hiked a bit more to explore the ruins of the Hainanese village that formerly stood on the site of the park.
On our way out of the park, as we stopped to take some pictures at the park entrance, one of the park caretakers approached to ask if P was interested in wildlife. We said, “yes,” and he used one of his brooms to carefully move tree branches revealing some snakes taking their morning snoozes. All in all, we had an excellent experience at Thomson Nature Park. It’s a small park, easily enjoyed in 1-2 hours, but it packs a lot of interesting things into a small area. Plus, it has a caretaker willing to go out of his way to make sure kids can enjoy the local fauna.
We finished with our hike around 11 am, so we decided to head directly to lunch. I called another Grab, and, after a wait of about 20 minutes, we were on our way to Little India. Our destination was Gokul-Raas, another vegetarian restaurant serving vegetarian versions of local dishes. Happily, Gokul showed no signs of winding up its business operations. Indeed, the menu was so large that we had trouble narrowing things down. We ordered vegan chicken 65 (meatless chicken in a spicy batter), rojak, meatless mutton rendang, butter chicken, naan, and roti. It was way too much food, but we made every effort to eat it.
After lunch, I had planned to walk around Little Indian. But when we waddled out of Gokul, we decided to instead head back to the Pan Pacific for a rest and swim before our evening plans. We took the metro back to the Pan Pacific and walked back to the hotel without incident. There really is no need to cross any streets if you simply come out the door nearest the Pan Pacific when exiting the metro.
Our plan to nap first and then swim failed because we hadn’t hit the “please make up room” button. Instead, we swam first while our room was being cleaned and then lazed about in our room. Forgetting to ask for housekeeping became a theme for the trip. So, definitely look for a make up room button at your hotel if you are traveling in Singapore or Australia.
That evening, we had dinner at Ce La Vi restaurant, which sits atop tower 3 of Marina Bay Sands. When I asked P and D what they wanted to do in Singapore, I was very surprised to learn that going to the top of Marina Bay Sands was high on their list – particularly because none of us is a fan of heights. I was also vaguely annoyed about devoting an evening to MBS because I would have preferred to explore areas of Singapore that we had not yet seen. It turns out that P and D were right on this one and I was wrong.
Our dinner at Ce La Vi was excellent. The food and service were both exceptional. While there are not that many vegetarian options on the menu, the options they had were delicious. I particularly enjoyed the miso eggplant. We were also lucky to have perfect weather, which meant that we could sit in the outdoor area with panoramic views of the city. Finally, because we were there on a Saturday in late July, we were able to watch the National Day Rehearsals during our meal. That meant that we were treated to military aircraft flyovers and a fireworks show after dark.
The whole dining experience took about 2.5 hours, and it was magical. It was also quite expensive. All of the money we saved by staying at the Pan Pacific and then some went towards the meal. In short, D and P were right to insist on dining at the top of MBS. By the end of dinner, P was flagging, so we called it a day as soon as the last firework lit up the sky. It had been a wonderful day.
Travel Monkeys 