24 Hours in Singapore

Where We Stayed

After landing from our overnight flight from Mumbai we went straight to get some shut eye at the Changi Crown Plaza Hotel to sync up with our new timezone.

Waking up around noon, we took our luggage to Kinn Studios, a relatively new boutique hotel in Chinatown, where we would spend the night. The hotel is pretty basic in terms of amenities but the rooms were nicely designed and good value for money at $150 a night. The low rise heritage building was a welcome change from the monolithic skyscraper hotels the city has so many of.

Chinatown is a great place to stay in Singapore. Much more buzzy and human-scale, it makes a welcome change from the hectic hotel hubs of Orchard Road or the Marina area, and has a great selection of bars and restaurants to choose from, all right on your doorstep.

An alternative to Kinn, and just around the corner, is the Mondrian Singapore Duxton, which is more upmarket and has more of the amenities, but less of the old world building charm. I stayed there later last year on another trip. Rooms are small and modern and the whole place is gives off a bit of a nightclub vibe but it was perfectly nice for a night or two.

Where We Ate

After dropping our bags we stopped for lunch at Liao Fan Hawker Chan for a quick plate of char siu and noodles, which was good but nothing special (despite the Michelin star). After a few hours walking around (and an obligatory stop at Tokyo Hands) we swung by 1A Crispy Puff in the Takashimaya Mall for a Chilli Crab Curry Puff, which was totally on point: buttery and crumbly, the perfect mid afternoon pick me up.

Our evening was about one thing - Satay.

At around seven we took a long sweaty stroll to the famous Lau Pa Sat, to pay homage to the art of meat on sticks.

After some furious research to establish which stall was best (good luck with that) we ordered from #19. It took about half an hour, maybe forty minutes, to get our food but it was worth the wait. We got the trio of pork, prawn and beef. All washed down with an ice cold beer.

Where We Drank

We spent the remainder of the evening at two fantastic bars, No Sleep Club and Live Twice.

No Sleep Club is a neighbourhood walk in bar, located in a colonial building on Keong Saik Road in Chinatown. Super friendly and accessible (it’s open all day for coffee and food), we enjoyed a few of their signature drinks, many of which include house-brewed mixers. There is molecular gastronomy feel to their drinks as a result, especially when the mixologists start throwing the liquid nitrogen around, making for a wonderfully theatrical experience.

Live Twice is hard to find. So hard that we actually found it by mistake. We had originally intended to go to Gibson Bar, but took a wrong turn when entering the building and ended up in Live Twice by mistake.

The interiors of Live Twice were inspired by the mid century aesthetic of Japan, more specifically James Bond’s 1967 film You Only Live Twice. Certainly niche but also a very clear design brief!…The walls were all panelled plywood, and the soft lighting, and low seating made the vibe super chill and yet achingly cool. You can read more about the interior design here.

This was a great place for a late night drink.

After a couple of Vesper Martini’s it was bedtime. We only had a few hours before the second leg of our Singapore Airlines First Class flight to Hong Kong.

Singapore Airlines First Class

Singapore Airlines Suites