The Ladybug’s personal travel guide to Singapore

I have already explained the reasons for such a delay in my travel guide to Singapore: this trip was my personal birthday gift two years ago and I had the chance to share it with a friend who spent many years in Asia and who knew the country quite well. It was also my first time in Asia, let’s say a first door to this continent that I would love to visit more soon.

That said, I think that for a first visit to Asia Singapore is the perfect place! It feels like visiting the world but staying in the same place: Chinese, Indian, Arab cultures are mixed up in an amazing melting pot and you can easily leave an Hindu temple to enter a Buddhist one a few steps away and then see a Mosque just around the corner. At the same time you can eat Thai, Chinese, Indian, European, American almost everywhere and believe me, it is one of the places that I loved more for the variety and quality of food, especially in the small restaurants or in the markets’ stalls that you can find almost everywhere in town.

All these traditions coming from different parts of the world are mixed up with an amazing skyline with incredible modern skyscrapers reflecting on the sea and luxurious hotels and malls where you can easily get lost or find a network of canals recreating the Venice atmosphere while you shop at Louis Vuitton or Dior!

If it’s not enough, you can find the paradise on earth in the Botanical Gardens where you can get lost in a green paradise full of rare orchids and beautiful swans.

If you visit Singapore you cannot miss the Colonial District with the biggest museums and malls that I’ve ever seen; if you walk down the Singapore river you will join the Quays, full of lights, bars and restaurant. On the other side Marina Bay, with one of the greatest skylines ever especially at night. If you want to admire a wonderful view from the top of a “tree” you must try the bar or restaurant Gardens by the Bay, the last futuristic idea in town. It may seem a bit kitsch but the breathtaking view is totally worth the experience! Speaking of kitsch experience don’t miss a visit at the Marina Bay sands mall…you won’t buy anything but you can see the first Louis Vuitton floating shop and other strange things that I won’t tell you here!

Speaking of shopping Orchard Road is the main shopping street of Singapore, full of people and shopping centers but instead of getting lost in shopping centers make sure that you visit Emerald Road Hill with the loveliest colored buildings in Singapore. The only shop that you may visit in Orchard road if you are a tea lover is TWG with the best teas from all over the world: I bought Singapore breakfast tea and it’s still one of my favorite teas ever!

But what I liked most of my Singapore experience was getting lost in Chinatown and Little India.

In Chinatown you don’t go to visit something special, you just go to feel the atmosphere, to get lost in their food markets, bazars, temples. After a delicious breakfast at the traditional Ya Kun Kaya Toast you can visit the Chinatown Heritage Centre, walk down Pagoda Street and visit the beautiful Hindu temple Sri Mariammam. The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple is also in this area and it will take your breath away. This is also a perfect place to taste delicious food for a few dollars in one of the food markets in the area.

Little India is a world apart inside the town: beautiful colored houses, Indian food shops and markets selling beautiful Indian saris and colored textiles, smell of curry everywhere.  You can admire here amazing Hindu temples like the Sri Veeramakaliamman or the Sri Srinivasa Perumal. Don’t forget to visit the colored and crowded Bugis Street Market and to have a look at the lovely bars and shops on Haji Lane.

Not far from here is the lovely Kampong Glam and the beautiful Arab Street with the Sultan Mosque and the arab shops where you can easily find interesting bargains (especially electronics). If you want to taste delicious Indian food you can just visit the Tekka Centre, just to name one of the many food markets in the area.

If you have time for the beach just head to Sentosa, an Ibizan style crowded beach on an island famous for the Universal Studios and as a huge playground! This is not exactly what I like but if you’re curious…

Just a last tip for yoga lovers like me: in the Sri Muneeswaran Hindu Temple you can practice yoga for free a couple days a week. Just check their schedule to live a very exciting experience!

The Ladybug’s vintage hunting in Singapore

It took two years to write this blog post. Why? It’s a long story but to make it short I was afraid of it and it was hard for me to share my wonderful experience in Singapore two years ago. I was dreaming of visiting Asia and I decided to give myself a special birthday present: a week in Singapore to celebrate it in my very first trip to the Asian continent! It was a wonderful experience shared with one of my best friends (who lived in Asia for many years and who knew the country very well) but it happened during a strange moment for me. I didn’t feel very well, I was getting a lot of weight and I started a serious diet one or two months before traveling. Once I came back, it took two more months to get ready to write about my trip and in the meanwhile I lost more weight and when I started editing my pictures I immediately felt ashamed. Ashamed of my body image. How did it happen that I allowed my body to be so unhealthy? I didn’t like my image in these pictures and I just decided to leave it there for a while.

Two years later I keep having great memories of that trip and I decided that no matter how I looked like I just wanted to share my memories with you, especially my vintage hunting in Singapore and more travel info about this incredible place that I loved a lot (this in my next post!). I feel happy that I started this journey to be healthy and happy with myself which is all that really matters now!

Ok, now that I finished my confessions I can tell you more about my first Asian vintage experience.

Wherever I go I try to find a vintage community and some interesting vintage addresses that may be useful for those vintage lovers planning to travel there anytime soon and wanting to see not only what this beautiful place has to offer but also what it is like vintage there.

Let me warn you, Singapore is not a vintage fanatics paradise but some addresses are definitely worth a visit…and some shopping!

If I had to tell you my favourite place in town it is Granny’s day out, a beautiful vintage boutique with the most amazing vintage dresses and accessories, located in the Peninsula Shopping Center (just few steps away from our hotel!). Kyra is the loveliest person that I met in Singapore and we enjoyed a good chat on vintage in Singapore. She also gave me some good advice for a few other shops and markets to visit!

The Good Old Days is probably the most “Asian” vintage shop that I visited in Singapore. Located in Jurong Gateway Road (another shop is in New Bugis Street) I loved the mixture of vintage and Asian pop accessories of this coloured boutique where I also bought a vintage 80’s belt with a beautiful golden butterfly. Their collection of dress and bags is also interesting but the sizing is a bit small for an average European body (good reason to get new accessories!).

What I noticed during my vintage hunting in town is that mixing vintage with new retro pieces and handmade is very popular in Singapore where it is quite hard to find vintage-only shops. Grammah in Haji Lane is an interesting shop with a lot of new retro inspired pieces and some vintage pieces, as well as Déjà Vu Vintage in Raffles Boulevard specialized in designer thrifted clothes and accessories and original vintage pieces.

Haji Lane is one of the most hipster areas of Singapore (much loved by Europeans visitors) with its lovely cocktail bars and retro shops, but my favourite shop in the area was definitely Dulcetfig. It is one of the loveliest places I have ever visited in my life: full of beautiful vintage pieces, printed retro dresses, handmade quirky jewellery and…three adorable ginger cats!

If you are interested in visiting one of the most interesting handmade markets in Singapore where you can also find some vintage pieces you must head to Scape Underground on Orchard Link, where I found some interesting coloured handmade pieces (earrings, necklaces and rings) at very good prices.

One of the shops that I couldn’t visit was World Savage for vintage and antiques shopping. It was recommended from local vintage lovers and it was mentioned by The New York Times as one of the best vintage shops in Singapore.

PS: I know that you were expecting to see me and I didn’t use any picture of me for this post but you will see me – two years ago – in the next post on my Singapore travel tips!

The Ladybug’s Milan Fashion Week pt 2: Massimo Rebecchi Fashion Show

It can happen only during a Fashion Week! It is a phrase that I heard a lot of times, but I now understand what it means… in my small world of lazy Sunday mornings- in bed until late afternoon, having an invitation for 9am is for sure challenging. But it was Fashion Week and the Massimo Rebecchi show so I decided it was worth an early Sunday morning wake up. I did my best to appear fresh and well rested and I understand that the result wasn’t perfect, but the show was absolutely to-die-for; the location – Accademia di Brera – and the VIP parterre was the icing on the cake!

In the Massimo Rebecchi SS15 collection you can find all the Massimo Rebecchi ingredients (silk, prints, colors), but mixed up with new elements (for example: dark denim and pop art colors and geometry) to create a completely new effect. And this effect reminded of the ’60s allure when pop art met fashion for new unexpected colors and patterns creating a completely new approach to fashion (anyone thinking of Yves Saint Laurent and his Mondrian dress?). But now the modern key is the tri-dimension: dresses and blouses have new forms and new graphics, and there is a blossoming of colors from pastels to color-block- mixed with more classic black and white.

But there are also the ’70s in this Massimo Rebecchi SS15 collection: strong colors mixed (light blue with red, yellow and red) and new asymmetric forms for long silk dresses and playsuits, along with flower mixes and jacquard. Plus a little wink to the ’90s sporty style with a new version of gym chic touched by new modern essential lines.

All these different inspirations found a place in an always recognizable Rebecchi’s style, where the lightness of materials and of the forms make him one of my favorites as always.

I wore Topshop navy silk blouse and my new beautiful handmade statement necklace from my summer trip to Singapore.

 

The Ladybug’s #FBF of the Final Days of Summer: Farewell My Summer Loves

It seems that it was months and months ago when I took these pictures, but no… it was just a few weeks ago, still tanned and happy under a sunny and warm Milanese sky!

On this day I decided to bring one of my best memories from this past summer, my new canvas bag from one of my favorite restaurants in Corsica, A Cantina di l’Orriu in Porto Vecchio. To me, this bag means: summer, holidays, beautiful beaches and amazing sea and of course- great food!

It was too early to put all of these things away in my wardrobe, so I decided to give it the opportunity to go around in city center Milan.

I wore it with other summer memories: my Summer Jamboree t-shirt and one of my new statement necklaces from a little craft market in Singapore. I added a Max & Co, almost vintage, ethnic skirt and a pair of Bagatt flats from two seasons ago.

Vintage touch: my vintage frames from Punti di Vista, my last buy at Voglia di Vintage in Mantova (more about my day in Mantova soon!)

[photo credit: KNAGUI]