Exploring Singapore

Tuesday 2 July

Day 2

95 to go

Well despite the hotel being below average and the rooms having pretty thin walls, hence the earplugs they provide by the bed, and the bed making an almighty racket every time one of us rolled over, we actually managed to get a pretty reasonable night’s sleep. 

It was a pretty easy roll into the morning. I messaged Mum and Dad at 8am and they had already been up and out for a walk, watching the city wake up. We joined them by 8.30am and made our way across to the the Chan Brothers building across the road, where we had seen breakfast advertised. 

The little cafe was perfect for us. The eggs, pancakes and fruit were already fresh and super delicious and there was plenty of it. We devoured our orders, before making our way back to the hotel, collecting Mum and Dad’s bags and seeing them off in a taxi for the airport. We will see them again on Monday, when we have a week or so with them in Devon. 

In the meantime, we packed up our bags, did a final clean up and check and then made our way to the lobby to  leave our bags for the day and head our exploring. We had had a few things in mind, but most of it was wander and see where the road leads. 

We walked past the Parliament and the Supreme Court buildings, both majestic and futuristic in their own right. We then checked out the Catholic Church. It was then on a couple of blocks to the famed Raffles Hotel. Then white facade building is synonymous with Singapore. We have enjoyed a Singapore Sling on the terrace during a previous visit, so today was just about wandering through the courtyards and enjoying  the architecture. 

From here, we continued walking up the main drag to the Bugis Street Markets. We meandered through the busy centre in which you could buy pretty much any piece of clothing or knick knack you wanted. I was more interested in the vibrant street art and the colourful homes that sit outside one of the entrances. We then made our way back toward the river front. Finding many interesting and unique sights along the way. 

By this stage it was almost lunchtime and we had clocked up the steps, so it was back to the hotel for a brief stop in the lobby, a quick internet check and then we were off to find lunch. We decided on Japanese, finding Hiesei. We were glad we got in when we did, as the place was soon full. We both opted for our own sets, tempura and fried chicken. The food was delicious, but you paid for it. 

With full bellies and rehydration complete, we were now set to continue our explore of the area. We wandered on from Boat Quay, following the canal to the Museum of Asian Civilisation and then onto the bridge that leads to the Fullerton hotel. We made our way around the outer edge before finding the tourist traffic at the Merlion, an iconic symbol of Singapore. We took our obligatory photos and the mermaid-lion spitting out water, dodging the foreigners where we could. 

We took in the view across the water to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and the Singapore Flyer, before continuing our walk along the water front. I was admiring the beautiful orchid displays that were in pots and the various installations. 

We made sure to do a wander through one of the many Fullerton lobbies. Man the hotel is grand. Everything is very plush and the lighting is just incredible. From the Fullerton, we continued to walk the streets amongst the concrete giants, before needing another rest stop. This time it was Tap, a craft beer bar. We sat for about an hours, siphoning off the wifi, while Paul enjoyed a bevy. I was glad to be enjoying the cool and endless water. It was about 32 today, but the humidity was quite high. 

We opted to continue our walking, but heading beyond Clarke Quay and seeing where this lead, There wasn’t a lot going on in this space, some restaurants and playground swings. We sat for a while before venturing into the Clarke Quay space and back out to the water front. We sat again on a bench seat, enjoying a cool breeze and people watching, but before long we decided to make our way back to our hotel, but not before stopping for a quick ice-cream.

We were fortunate that we were able to just sit in the very small, but thankfully air-conditioned lobby and wait it out for our driver to collect us and whisk us off to T1. He was a little late, but the luxury Toyota van he picked us up in was pretty special and before long we were lining up at the Business counter and sent on our way, through customs and up to the Emirates lounge. 

We have never been on Business together, but decided to splash out on this trip. I felt like the Queen. Moet on tap, plenty of food to eat at the buffet, great views of the runway and a shower to freshen up. Who could ask for more and what a way to spend the extra hours you have to spend sitting at the airport gate waiting for your boarding call. 

At 8.10pm, the boarding call went up and we joined the other travellers making their way to gate C 23. We passed through the security check, smugly wandered past all the economy passengers and made our way to the upper deck. I was very excited! We had two middle pods at the back. We were greeted with warm welcomes, Bvlgari gift packs and more Moet. There was an issue with our seating, as the divider wouldn’t slide down. A technician had to be called. He had a fiddle around, but couldn’t quite get it to retract, so we had to settle for it sitting at arm height. 

Not long after, we were in the air and reclining the seat. Paul was straight into the sleeping position, while was happy to wear the fancy over ear noise canceling headphones and settle in watching Wicked Little Letters. 

We both opted not to eat dinner, though the choice was extensive and the smells from the galley were divine. The food we ate while in the lounge was more than enough and I didn’t need to be eating a full 3 course meal at 10pm. 

I didn’t see all of the movie, I heard most of it, but my eyes were staying shuttered. When it ended, I laid the chair flat, and surprisingly, slept through until the Captain announced we were making our decent into Dubai. There had been some rough patches of turbulence and at one stage cabin crew were told to take their seats, but for the most part it was uneventful.