November 7, 2025 • 10 mins
"Singapore never fails to serve up an electrifying experience, constantly refreshing and enhancing its enticements. After paying my respects to Singapore’s beloved water-spout mascot, the Merlion, overlooking Marina Bay, I ventured over to the jaw-dropping botanical blockbuster of Gardens by the Bay, armed with my Go City Explorer Pass.
"Take a stroll through Kampong Glam. Once the seat of Singapore’s first sultan, the neighbourhood's colourful shophouses are home to a jumble of cafes and boutiques wedged among decades-old perfumeries and fabric merchants."
Read Mike's full article here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Mike Hardley is our travel will correspondent her Good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning Jack. Congratulations on supersizing your weekend workload. Will
you have like Mondays and Tuesdays as your weekend? How
does it all work?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Basically, I so Saturday mornings, I'm on News Talks Heads,
I'll go home, have lunch with the Farno, then come
down and read the news on Saturday evenings, and then
on Sunday mornings, I will present Q and A. I
will finish up work. After Q and A, I'll go
home for the rest of my Sunday, and then I'll
(00:49):
have Monday and Tuesday off. My wife will also have
Mondays off, so we'll have so we'll have Sunday afternoon
with the Sundays sort of from late morning and afternoon together,
and then Monday together, and then on Tuesdays, I'll look
after the baby while my wife goes to work, and
then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday days and the Yeah. So that's theory.
(01:14):
That's the yeah and theory. But we'll see what happens
in practice, you know. But I mean truth be told.
It was I could, like sincerely, making making it works
so that I could host the show, host Q and
A and most importantly actually have a bit more time
with the family at home was the the priority. So
(01:37):
you will see how it all goes. Yeah, oh thank you. Yeah, no,
I'm really excited. It's very real, real cinder and you know,
and if i'm if I'm burned out after a fortnight,
then you'll be the first to Anyway, how you are
focusing this morning on a fresh swing with Singapore, which
is a wonderful spot even if only for a couple
(01:59):
of nights sometimes, and there's always sort of new bits
and pieces picking your attraction there. But what what's new
at Gardens by.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
The Yeah, quite the Kujak Jurassic World. The experience has
arrived at Gardens by the Bay. So if you've been
there before, you'll think of those giant domed conservatories like
Cloud Forest. What they've done, and it started a few
months ago, is you've got the film franchise bringing its
(02:28):
life sized animatronic dinosaurs into the Cloud Forest Conservatory. So
as you wander around, casting your eyes over the seventy
thousand plants in that conservatory, suddenly you come face to
face with the t rex or a brachiosaurus or a
compsognithice rearing up and thrusting their might when you least
(02:51):
expect it. It is quite absorbing. And if you're wondering
what the hell a dinosaurs doing there? There are about
fifty species of plants within cloud Forest with lineages that
reach back to the drest age, you know, sort of
like ferns and conifers. So that's the tenuous link. But
(03:11):
it really is quite spectacular how they've done it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Are the super trees still the kind of stars of
the show.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah, I think so. It's interesting because Gardens by the
Bay has cemented itself as the number one visitor attraction
in Singapore for over a decade now. People just can't
get enough of it. The mega conservatories, the aerial walkways,
and yes then those super sized steel trees. But around
the clock the super trees grove, I just think it
(03:41):
inspires a sense of awe. And then come nightfall, the
grove busts out a very trippy choreograph to light and
sound show. So that's a great free spectacle that Gardens
by the Bay dishes up as well.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah. Nice, And Singapore's got really distinctive neighborhood to day,
So where's good.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah. I've always enjoyed Chinatown because it's got super cheap shopping,
cheapeats and fantastic architecture with all of those old chophouses
which have been restored and they sort of set the
stage for the whole scene. But another really cool hit
to check out if you haven't before, is Kempong Glam,
which sort of takes all of Chinatown's energies up a gear.
(04:27):
So it's a very pocket sized precinct and it was
once the seat of Singapore's first sultan, so it's anchored
by that unbelievably gorgeous golden domed mosque right in the
heart of Kempong Glam, and then all around the mosque
these little little lanes and roads with a lot of
(04:49):
heritage heavy street architecture, a lot of old chophouses which
were all lovely painted, and a lot of them are
still home to really old businesses, you know, decades old
perfumeries and fabric merchants, and lot of traditional cafes. So
it's just a really aromatic place to go.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah. Great, and that's home too, Hajji Lane, Oh.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Oh my, goodness. This is such a rock star street.
Harji Lane. There's actually more of a lane than a street.
It's like a narrow seam that you should add to
your stroll while checking out campon Glam. But yeah, originally
I was fascinated by this. Originally this lane, Harji Lane,
as the name would suggest, actually provided accommodation for Asian
(05:39):
pilgrims heading to the hajj In Mecca, hence the name
Hajji Lane. It's now a hipster's hotspot with amazing boutiques,
indie boutiques, and then lots of really cheerful wal art
which has been constantly refreshed. So this is definitely where
(06:00):
Singapore is trying to young things go to shop and
to hang out. You want to go there early in
the morning because it is a narrow lane and as
the day progresses it just gets increasingly packed.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah nice. What about some suggested food stops.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, well, Kempong Glam Man Alive. You could just eat
yourself ridiculously in Kempong Glam, particularly if you like spicy
food in Middle Eastern influences. Just packed with great eats.
Some of my pecks on bassel Row Street, Beirut grill.
Oh my goodness, the Lamb Shanks check. I love Lamb Shanks,
(06:40):
but there's just something very very special about favorite grise Lambshanks.
They cook them over charcoal if you like marinated chicken.
The ashiesh Talc is really good. And then just around
the corner on Beach Road the Coconut Club. I mean,
the name is such a great name, isn't it for
a restaurant, The Coconut Club. And yeah, a lot of
(07:02):
locals will go there for Lassi Nasi Lamark the coke,
not perfumed rice is just delivered with perfection and very
close to that in Candahar Street. Chikiti is a very
unexpected Italian joint in Kempong Gleam. But the reason I
(07:22):
mentioned this is because you've got to go there for
a slice of Neapolitan pie. It's this triple decked creamy
custard construction lad and chocolate strawberry and vanilla pannacotta. Oh
my goodness, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Okay, Yeah, don't need to be told twice on that one.
Thank you, Mike. This sounds great. What about road is
that still a bit of a tourist trap?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It is interesting, Yes, it is stacked with glamorous shopping centers,
which would be the envy of you know, any city
in the world, but Singaporeans give it the white birth.
They never shop an Orchard Road, so it's totally good
at tourists. The only exception for the locals would probably
be the glitzy Ion sent which from remembering, is on
(08:07):
the corner of Orchard Road in Scott's Road. The reason
the locals love Ion is because it's got a really
good hawker food court, so that's worth checking out. The
other interesting thing about Orchard Road, though, Jack, is it's
home to Singapore's ice cream sandwich. So there's a couple
of old street carts which have operated on Orchard Road
(08:28):
for more than thirty years, and it's very very much
local flavors like Durian red bean yam sweet corn ice
cream which is served between slices of very pillowy pend
and bread made from pandanas. So yeah, give that a go.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Duriy and ice cream would be all right. I ice
cream not necessarily not convinced.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
It that way. Yeah, I'd go with you on that. Yeah,
I just yeah, I find I find it a very
powerful flavor, So yeah, a little bit of dirry and
amongst a coupleists, glaces of bread would be okay, but
that's about it for me.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
If you're traveling with kids, Singapore's zoo is just an
absolute knockout, a real family favorite.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Definitely. Yeah, it's long been regarded as one of the
world's best. The interesting thing is adjoining the zoo, they've
got another attraction as such, called River Wonders, and it
beautifully showcases various ecosystems like the Mississippi River habitat. And
they've got an Amazon flooded forest complete with manatees, which
(09:37):
one of my favorite mammals, but beast of all Jack
the giant panda forest. Oh my goodness. It's home to
Kai Kai and Gigia, who effortlessly worked the crowd day
in day out, unsurprisingly for a lot of kids, particularly
Kiwi kids going to Singapore for a holiday, drawling over
(09:58):
pandas the runaway holiday highlight. And then if you enter
that your dinosaurs and an ice cream sandwich, what more
would you want? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Absolutely, maybe for it not to be a Durian ice
cream sand which would be earlier creation there. Love it,
Thank you so much, Mike. Those are fantastic little tips.
For more of Mike's advice on enjoying a swing through Singapore,
you can see his article on the News Talks He'd
Be website, and all of his tips will go up
there as well.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks He'd Be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks EDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Mike Hardley is our travel will correspondent her Good morning.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Good morning Jack. Congratulations on supersizing your weekend workload. Will
you have like Mondays and Tuesdays as your weekend? How
does it all work?
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Basically, I so Saturday mornings, I'm on News Talks Heads,
I'll go home, have lunch with the Farno, then come
down and read the news on Saturday evenings, and then
on Sunday mornings, I will present Q and A. I
will finish up work. After Q and A, I'll go
home for the rest of my Sunday, and then I'll
(00:49):
have Monday and Tuesday off. My wife will also have
Mondays off, so we'll have so we'll have Sunday afternoon
with the Sundays sort of from late morning and afternoon together,
and then Monday together, and then on Tuesdays, I'll look
after the baby while my wife goes to work, and
then Wednesday, Thursday, Friday days and the Yeah. So that's theory.
(01:14):
That's the yeah and theory. But we'll see what happens
in practice, you know. But I mean truth be told.
It was I could, like sincerely, making making it works
so that I could host the show, host Q and
A and most importantly actually have a bit more time
with the family at home was the the priority. So
(01:37):
you will see how it all goes. Yeah, oh thank you. Yeah, no,
I'm really excited. It's very real, real cinder and you know,
and if i'm if I'm burned out after a fortnight,
then you'll be the first to Anyway, how you are
focusing this morning on a fresh swing with Singapore, which
is a wonderful spot even if only for a couple
(01:59):
of nights sometimes, and there's always sort of new bits
and pieces picking your attraction there. But what what's new
at Gardens by.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
The Yeah, quite the Kujak Jurassic World. The experience has
arrived at Gardens by the Bay. So if you've been
there before, you'll think of those giant domed conservatories like
Cloud Forest. What they've done, and it started a few
months ago, is you've got the film franchise bringing its
(02:28):
life sized animatronic dinosaurs into the Cloud Forest Conservatory. So
as you wander around, casting your eyes over the seventy
thousand plants in that conservatory, suddenly you come face to
face with the t rex or a brachiosaurus or a
compsognithice rearing up and thrusting their might when you least
(02:51):
expect it. It is quite absorbing. And if you're wondering
what the hell a dinosaurs doing there? There are about
fifty species of plants within cloud Forest with lineages that
reach back to the drest age, you know, sort of
like ferns and conifers. So that's the tenuous link. But
(03:11):
it really is quite spectacular how they've done it.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Are the super trees still the kind of stars of
the show.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah, I think so. It's interesting because Gardens by the
Bay has cemented itself as the number one visitor attraction
in Singapore for over a decade now. People just can't
get enough of it. The mega conservatories, the aerial walkways,
and yes then those super sized steel trees. But around
the clock the super trees grove, I just think it
(03:41):
inspires a sense of awe. And then come nightfall, the
grove busts out a very trippy choreograph to light and
sound show. So that's a great free spectacle that Gardens
by the Bay dishes up as well.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Yeah. Nice, And Singapore's got really distinctive neighborhood to day,
So where's good.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Yeah. I've always enjoyed Chinatown because it's got super cheap shopping,
cheapeats and fantastic architecture with all of those old chophouses
which have been restored and they sort of set the
stage for the whole scene. But another really cool hit
to check out if you haven't before, is Kempong Glam,
which sort of takes all of Chinatown's energies up a gear.
(04:27):
So it's a very pocket sized precinct and it was
once the seat of Singapore's first sultan, so it's anchored
by that unbelievably gorgeous golden domed mosque right in the
heart of Kempong Glam, and then all around the mosque
these little little lanes and roads with a lot of
(04:49):
heritage heavy street architecture, a lot of old chophouses which
were all lovely painted, and a lot of them are
still home to really old businesses, you know, decades old
perfumeries and fabric merchants, and lot of traditional cafes. So
it's just a really aromatic place to go.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah. Great, and that's home too, Hajji Lane, Oh.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Oh my, goodness. This is such a rock star street.
Harji Lane. There's actually more of a lane than a street.
It's like a narrow seam that you should add to
your stroll while checking out campon Glam. But yeah, originally
I was fascinated by this. Originally this lane, Harji Lane,
as the name would suggest, actually provided accommodation for Asian
(05:39):
pilgrims heading to the hajj In Mecca, hence the name
Hajji Lane. It's now a hipster's hotspot with amazing boutiques,
indie boutiques, and then lots of really cheerful wal art
which has been constantly refreshed. So this is definitely where
(06:00):
Singapore is trying to young things go to shop and
to hang out. You want to go there early in
the morning because it is a narrow lane and as
the day progresses it just gets increasingly packed.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah nice. What about some suggested food stops.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Yeah, well, Kempong Glam Man Alive. You could just eat
yourself ridiculously in Kempong Glam, particularly if you like spicy
food in Middle Eastern influences. Just packed with great eats.
Some of my pecks on bassel Row Street, Beirut grill.
Oh my goodness, the Lamb Shanks check. I love Lamb Shanks,
(06:40):
but there's just something very very special about favorite grise Lambshanks.
They cook them over charcoal if you like marinated chicken.
The ashiesh Talc is really good. And then just around
the corner on Beach Road the Coconut Club. I mean,
the name is such a great name, isn't it for
a restaurant, The Coconut Club. And yeah, a lot of
(07:02):
locals will go there for Lassi Nasi Lamark the coke,
not perfumed rice is just delivered with perfection and very
close to that in Candahar Street. Chikiti is a very
unexpected Italian joint in Kempong Gleam. But the reason I
(07:22):
mentioned this is because you've got to go there for
a slice of Neapolitan pie. It's this triple decked creamy
custard construction lad and chocolate strawberry and vanilla pannacotta. Oh
my goodness, that's good.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Okay, Yeah, don't need to be told twice on that one.
Thank you, Mike. This sounds great. What about road is
that still a bit of a tourist trap?
Speaker 3 (07:45):
It is interesting, Yes, it is stacked with glamorous shopping centers,
which would be the envy of you know, any city
in the world, but Singaporeans give it the white birth.
They never shop an Orchard Road, so it's totally good
at tourists. The only exception for the locals would probably
be the glitzy Ion sent which from remembering, is on
(08:07):
the corner of Orchard Road in Scott's Road. The reason
the locals love Ion is because it's got a really
good hawker food court, so that's worth checking out. The
other interesting thing about Orchard Road, though, Jack, is it's
home to Singapore's ice cream sandwich. So there's a couple
of old street carts which have operated on Orchard Road
(08:28):
for more than thirty years, and it's very very much
local flavors like Durian red bean yam sweet corn ice
cream which is served between slices of very pillowy pend
and bread made from pandanas. So yeah, give that a go.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Duriy and ice cream would be all right. I ice
cream not necessarily not convinced.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
It that way. Yeah, I'd go with you on that. Yeah,
I just yeah, I find I find it a very
powerful flavor, So yeah, a little bit of dirry and
amongst a coupleists, glaces of bread would be okay, but
that's about it for me.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
If you're traveling with kids, Singapore's zoo is just an
absolute knockout, a real family favorite.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Definitely. Yeah, it's long been regarded as one of the
world's best. The interesting thing is adjoining the zoo, they've
got another attraction as such, called River Wonders, and it
beautifully showcases various ecosystems like the Mississippi River habitat. And
they've got an Amazon flooded forest complete with manatees, which
(09:37):
one of my favorite mammals, but beast of all Jack
the giant panda forest. Oh my goodness. It's home to
Kai Kai and Gigia, who effortlessly worked the crowd day
in day out, unsurprisingly for a lot of kids, particularly
Kiwi kids going to Singapore for a holiday, drawling over
(09:58):
pandas the runaway holiday highlight. And then if you enter
that your dinosaurs and an ice cream sandwich, what more
would you want? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Absolutely, maybe for it not to be a Durian ice
cream sand which would be earlier creation there. Love it,
Thank you so much, Mike. Those are fantastic little tips.
For more of Mike's advice on enjoying a swing through Singapore,
you can see his article on the News Talks He'd
Be website, and all of his tips will go up
there as well.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to News Talks He'd Be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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