Last day in Singapore (for now)

Friday 21^st August 2015.

Decided to take a run over to Chinatown and drop off a little goodie bag to Patrick’s hotel seeing as he hasn’t had a chance to be a tourist this week. Our MRT cards are getting low and hopefully we can get over and back without having to add to them. The Reception staff at Patrick’s hotel (Park Royal on Pickering) were very helpful and happy to deliver the bag to Patrick’s room. We’re also close to Spotlight (yes they have one here!) so divert there as well, just in case……. Nothing much different to home and the prices are no bargain either, so come back empty handed. Our MRT card didn’t quite get us there, we had to add a trip to the paper one we got on the first day because I left the MRT card in our room. So no point in trying to get any credit back, we’ll just use it next time, cause there’ll be a next time! It must have rained while were underground, but it wasn’t long before the sun was beaming down again, turning up the humidity again.

4 t-shirts for $10 is too good a price not to buy more, so when we get back to our favourite haunts, we pick up a few more and another silk scarf, because you just never know, right? Our final lunch in Singapore was decided days ago – Chicken Murtabak at Zam Zam, just around the corner from our hotel. We tried the mutton one the other night and said we’d go back. The chicken one was just as good, and I could eat one every day for a long time before I got sick of it. And at $11 for lunch including a lime juice each, who can complain? After we finished, we hadn’t even gathered up our belongings before another group were trying to sit at our table! I hope they jump in my grave as quick!

Time to head back to our room and pack up, but first a quick side trip to the money changer on the corner to see what sort of deal he can do on Thai Baht and Malaysian Ringgits for next February. Not a great deal of difference to what we can get at home, so Trevor decides not to change any $$.


I'm not going to overweight with my suitcase, but I'll certainly give the 30kg allowance a fair nudge.

Our plan is to leave the hotel by about 4pm, jump in a cab and head to the airport. That's plenty of time to get there, even allowing for rotten traffic. So, of course, we get a dream run with a really nice driver who is very chatty so that makes the time go quickly too. He knows a lot about a lot and tells us the Parkview Square building, 'my precious' was build by a Hong Kong tycoon who built it as an exact replica of the one he built in HK. That goes some way to explain where all the money is coming from to fund the building that is going on all over the city. He talks about the Mustafa Centre, how small it was when it started and how it now runs 24/7 with only a day off when Mustafa's father died.  Apparently, the government want the people to work 7 days a week, he tells us Singaporeans don't work to get ahead or get rich, they work to survive, a sobering thought.  Maybe all that glitters is not gold here after all. We've seen many, many elderly folk still working when they can barely stand upright, it just doesn't seem right. Mostly clearing tables in food courts and probably other low wage jobs, sweeping the streets etc.

The cab fare is less than the ride into town when we arrived, $16.40 today, we got in before the peak toll taxes I think. We've got loads of time, even with the inefficient check-in process. All Qantas flights are checking in at the same 4 desks and the queue is growing every minute. Luckily we got in before it got too long, but there was no 'cattle run' so the line went back to the terminal door. Someone left all their travel docs sitting on the check-in counter. Pay attention people!! We figure out where our gate is and then decide to kill some time, and a few more Singapore dollars at the bar. The Cactus Garden/smoking area is upstairs and outside, perfect for both a cactus garden and for smoking, although there is a non-smoking area. We get a spot in the shade, but it would be baking hot out there in the middle of the day. Gin tonics and I don't mix at altitude so I have one now. I didn't realise how expensive it would be although I should have had an idea by now. Anyway, we don't want to take much currency home!

We're in need of some Western food and find a Burger King in the terminal so grab a bite too because we're not sure if or when we'll be fed on the plane. It's an 8.20pm flight, so even allowing for the best case scenario, it could be 9.30 before we eat and I don't want to eat that late. As it turns out, it takes until 10.30 for the food service. Really not interested by then. Conditions are good for flying and if we depart on time, we'll get to Sydney before the curfew lifts at 6am, so we sit on the runway for a bit. When we get to Sydney, it's like someone has turned on a homing beacon, planes are coming from everywhere. In the pre-dawn light it's easy to see their lights and the queue they form. Good landing, grab our pre-paid duty free, get a quick run through Customs and Immigration and we're out waiting for our shuttle pick up in just under an hour. Home around 9am, chuck through a load of washing then it's off to Terrigal to catch up with some cousins to watch their son play his last game of soccer for the season.

Looking forward to bedtime tonight!!