NOT Singapore Tours by Betel Box. Rediscover Kampong Glam & Chinatown with Music. Don't Waste your SingapoRediscovers Vouchers

Betel Box tours always stand out because it not only open our eyes, mouths (for tasty food) but also our minds. Betel Box tours experience is transformational as it changes our way of seeing Singapore beyond the recycled clichés in brochures and magazines.

With the NOT Singapore Tours series, Betel Box outdone themselves, taking the experience to the next level by weaving music into the tapestry of our history, food, people and places.

I had the privilege to attend the previews of both NOT Kampong Glam and NOT Chinatown tours. The tours each took about 3 hours, through main streets, back lanes, food stops and delightful surprises along the way. I was supposed to give feedback and critique the tours but failed. All I could think of are praises 😂

We had three guides for the tours - Mark Loon, Mark Tan and Jamie Lee. Mark Tan and Jamie Lee are musicians.

This is a spoof done by Jamie and Mark Tan on the popular Hokkien song "A Little Umbrella 一支小雨傘". Jamie who is a drummer is the model in the video and Mark the singer.

Yeah... so there is a certain playful kookiness our guides bring to the tours that makes it so fun and funny 😄

Our guides bring their fun loving nature, musical talent and a bit of quirkiness into the tours. But beneath that bubbly exterior is an uncommon, solid grasp of Singapore and regional culture and history as Mark and Jamie are history graduates of National University of Singapore.

These contrasting aspects of their personality is tied together with a passion for Singapore, their birthplace and home. Our youthful guides also bring in their infectious energy, so there was never a dull moment in the 3 hour walk.

With Betel Box tours we will see Singapore from different vantage points and perspectives. I saw Chinatown and Kampong Glam as I have never seen them before.

Betel Box showed us secret places to treat our eyes to the beauty of our historic city and country.

They also fed our stomachs well so there was never a hungry moment. 

Tony Tan is an avid foodie, so Betel Box tours will always feature personally curated, delicious food stops. For the NOT Kampong Glam tour, we had a kosher food stop at Pita Bakery at Bali Lane.

We had a delicious selection of Middle Eastern falafel, hummus, salad and dips to go with freshly baked warm pita bread. We also had a bowl of crisp, chewy pita chips.

For the NOT Chinatown tour, we had a food stop at Yanti Authentic Nasi Padang at Keong Saik Road. Just a light break with mee rebus or mee soto and Nanyang coffee. I heard Yanti's beef rendang is good, so I've marked this place down for a re-visit 😋

👌 For ideas on how to make the best of your SingapoRediscovers vouchers, contact Betel Box by:

☎ (65) 6247 7340

📧 travel@betelbox.com

We met local people from whom we learned so much. I didn't know there are so many variations of the traditional Malay Baju Kurung with regional styles such as Baju Kurung Johor, Baju Kurung Riau etc.

Jamie gave us a quick primer on the principles of gamelan music by having us dance in the streets of Kampong Glam 💃 Gamelan is a traditional percussion orchestra from Indonesia. (Video courtesy of Catherine Chong.)

Visiting an Iranian carpet shop, we appreciate the role of beautiful carpets in the Muslim family home. In the shop, I couldn't resist running my itchy hand over the lush, soft, velvety carpets.

From the NOT Kampong Glam tour, I learned that our National Anthem has a precursor, the Singapore City Council Song. Truth be told, sixty years in Singapore, I just found this out from this Betel Box tour 😄 Better late than never! Thank you Betel Box!

Betel Box guides have a knack for explaining abstract concepts in a concise and engaging way. Mark Tan explained the politics behind the simplification of Chinese script in China. After China became a republic, the vestiges of its imperial past were removed in the written script.

The word 聖 which means holy, sacred, or a sage was simplified to 圣. The character 王 for emperor was replaced by 土 for land. So in the Republic, holiness or sageness no longer come from the emperor but from the land. The choice of examples and the engaging way Mark explained it, made it easy for me to understand and remember.

Mark Loon brought us to a shop in Chinatown dealing in 50G technology that is able to send bulky items like cars and houses to the other world in an instant. (It is actually a traditional Chinese funeral rites supplies shop.)

As we walked through the glitz of today's Chinatown with its glossy new coat, our Betel Box guides pointed out the former coolie quarters, opium dens, gambling dens, whorehouses and even death houses.

This piece of music about Singapore's pioneering forefathers rang in our ears as we retraced the paths they once trod and is still in my ears long after the tour was over.

Congratulations Betel Box for another exciting and interesting tour series that I am sure will enrich and inspire the tour members (as it did for me).

Our WhatsApp groups originally set up to co-ordinate the tours are still actively discussing insights and memories from the walks 😄

👌 For ideas on how to make the best of your SingapoRediscovers vouchers, contact Betel Box by:

☎ (65) 6247 7340

📧 travel@betelbox.com

Date: 29 Dec 2020