By the time we checked in to the Changi Crowne Plaza it was about 7:30 pm.  We had done our research into Hawker Stalls, and determined the closest one to the hotel, with the most late night options would be the Old Airport Road Food Center.  This Hawker center is located near where the original Singapore airport was located, and had the reputation of staying open later than others.

We quickly washed up in our rooms, which were basic, but certainly convenient.  Is it the Best Airport Hotel in the world as advertised? I could not say definitively, but it served our purpose.  The bathroom had a glass wall into the bedroom, which I always find a bit curious, but the view on the the tarmac was quite impressive, so maybe some people don’t want to miss a minute of the airport activity.

Who doesn’t like watching the airport traffic from the comfort of one’s tub?

The scenery from the hotel was quite dramatic!

After washing up, we hustled down to the lobby to catch a taxi to the Hawker Stalls.  Because we were 5, we usually had to get two cabs, which is easier said than done.  We embarked on a 15 minute ride, getting our first look at this very clean and orderly city.  We were returning to Singapore on the tail end of our trip- so this was meant to be just a quick taste.

We pulled up and found the building to be filled with happy eaters, but not all the stalls were open.  We gravitated towards whichever stall had the most activity- as practically everything looked appealing.

We were met with a bit of excellent advice, in the form of this PSA

I’m not sure everyone was following the Don’t Overeat directive.

We separated and each brought different dishes back to our table.  This is very bare bones- there were people walking by and selling packs of tissues to use as napkins, as none of the stalls seemed to offer this amenity.  We also were able to snag a person selling beer.  The prices are very very inexpensive, and the choices were extensive.

Chicken wings were a must.  They were crispy and delicious!

Chicken Rice was also a must order

 

As was Cho Kee Noodle

A bowl of comfort!

This soup was delicious, it was my choice, and I managed it eat most of it before having to share!

This was the one fail- not even sure I could identify the components.  It was a selection of beef bits- including beef balls of some kind.  This was left pretty much untouched.

Considering we had all been up for pretty much 24 hours plus, I think we did pretty well for our first foray into the Hawker Stall experience.  Subsequently, we attempted to catch cabs back to the hotel.  I was able to get one quickly, but my husband and two of our sons had a very hard time convincing drivers to head all the way back across town to the Crowne Plaza.  They finally had success and rolled up around 30 minutes later.

We all pretty  much passed out cold, but were looking forward to our morning flight to Siem Reap.  My husband woke first and decided to go on a reconnaissance mission to find some coffee.  He had success in the airport at The Heavenly Wang (wangcafe.com) which was strong Vietnamese coffee mixed with condensed milk and sugar.  It was sublime!! It definitely got us up and moving.

We woke up our boys (not so easy) and ventured to the Club Level for a pre-flight breakfast.  The club was quite impressive.  It was clean and friendly at 6:30 am.

The choices were varied and tasty- but alas the coffee was no match for Heavenly Wang.

This was a pretty extensive set up, especially as we were the only ones taking advantage of it so early in the morning.

After filling our plates and our bellies we rolled right in to the airport in order to catch our flight.  Next stop Siem Reap!

One last look at the beauty of Changi Airport…