Hop on. No, hop off.

Monday 17^th August 2015.

We were up and going a bit earlier today and breakfast was actually an edible temperature. Pick up was to be 9am and they were spot on time. Part of the accommodation deal was a complimentary hop-on hop-off bus tour with hotel pick-up, starting at the Singapore Flyer, choice of 3 routes, so we chose the Marina Heritage route which took us around past Marina Bay Sands, the Marina Barrage, Gardens by the Bay, through Chinatown and Clarke Quay, then past the National Museum of Singapore (closed till Sept 12^th) and up to Little India, Arab St, (our home base), Raffles and back to the starting point at the Singapore Flyer. We’ve arrived a bit early so there’s time for a bit of a look around and watch the off loading and loading of passengers on the Flyer. It’s a very well oiled machine. And apparently it now turns in the opposite direction to when it first opened because it was bad Fung Shui. Why they didn’t consult a Fung Shui expert in the planning/building stage, I’ll never know! 

Marina Bay Sands

Our plan of attack was to stay on board for a full loop and get the lay of the land, get off in Chinatown for lunch on the 2^nd lap, then back on the bus and go to the National Museum. Lunch in Chinatown was as expected, inexpensive and tasty. We even managed to find the ‘Noodle Man’ shop that Linda took us to in 2007 and the noodle man is still there.

A family got on at the Flyer on the 2nd lap and we thought we were in an Asian episode of Housos! The woman was screaming at the man who went and sat outside in the open area. The woman followed him to the door, yelled at him again then went and sat down. Barely a minute passed and she got up, opened the door and yelled at him some more before returning to her seat. No idea what she said, but it was amusing.

Disappointed though when we got to the Museum in the middle of a big downpour to find the major exhibitions are currently closed for renovations. Bit of a shame about that. Their website said everything would re-open ‘mid year’, apparently August isn’t ‘mid year’ enough! Oh well. We had a bit of a look at the only exhibition on offer – 50 things made in Singapore, which was actually quite interesting. The rain had stopped and the paths were nearly dry again when we returned to the bus stop to head home.

Last thing on the agenda was a look through some of the fabric shops on Arab St, but first, it’s beer o’clock and I find Blu Jazz, the bar we went to with Linda on Bali Lane. Apparently the big chair they had upstairs shaped like a hand is long gone. Sad face. Beers downed, it’s time to hit the shops! But first, we walk along part of Haji Lane and spot an MTV camera crew filming. I have no idea who the host is, but I take a photo of her anyway!

I want my MTV

Suss out a few more eateries on the way around and then hit the fabric shops.

The first shop I go into is owned by a very nice older man who certainly knows his fabric and as it turned out, he has the best price for Japanese cotton on his side of Arab St. (I’m going to tackle the fabric shops on the other side another day.)We have the usual tourist chat – where are you from, what have you been doing, how are you liking Singapore, good storm this afternoon – then down to business. $8 per metre for Japanese cotton and there are some lovely ones, I spot a folded piece of fabric that’s quite nice and he offers it to me for $7p.m. Happy with that.

In and out of many more shops without any luck, due in no small part to the fact that their price is $10p.m. I can do better than that! I find a shop with ready made tops and there’s one that I like and it fits, all that’s left is to negotiate a price. The lady knocks $3 off, so I buy. I probably would have anyway. Time for a swim methinks! It’s after 4pm now.

What a surprise when we get back to our room and find our bed, which we just got how we wanted it has been stripped and remade how we didn’t want it! We really dislike sleeping under just the doona, we like a top sheet so we can throw the doona off when it gets too hot. Hotels these days all seem to go for the doona only option. There’s nothing else for it – I have to speak to the Manager. I’m not going to complain about it on TripAdvisor later. Mr Zu is very appreciative of customer feedback and hopefully we now have the problem sorted. He’s also going to attempt to tackle the lukewarm breakfast food issue. Good luck with that! And as a token of goodwill, we’re getting a fruit basket. We thought it might have been some local tropical fruit, but it was fruit exotic to Singapore, so think apples, grapes, strawberries. Very nice.

a fruit basket for our troubles

And he does mention that breakfast is also served on the 5^th floor, which is where the pool is, it caters to the Middle Eastern customers, but we are welcome to eat there as well.

Happy Belated Birthday Patrick!

Sunday 16^th August 2015.

Congee for my breakfast because it was the only thing that had steam coming off it. Not bad, better with sugar in it! More tea and toast to finish. 

Patrick is meeting us here today with some plans. He’s got buses sorted and we walk around the corner to catch a number 7 that will take us up to Dempsey Hill. He has an app on his phone that warns us of an approaching storm – hard to believe looking at the bright sunshine but sure enough, we’d only been inside the Red Spot Brewery for 10 minutes when down comes the rain.

We have a ‘sample set’ each = tasting paddle back home. Includes 6 sample sized beers, and we got 2 extras because of the 50^th anniversary of Singapore’s independence.

our 'sample set' with bonus extras.

A red one made with dragon fruit and the other a Czech pilsner. Throw in some truffle fries to snack on and it’s a great way to wait for a rain shower to pass. We walk around a bit in the hope of finding the signs of Dempsey Hill that Patrick saw on the net. We found them both which was surprising and took photos of signs for Heidi. Wander in furniture shop, head back to go to Raffles to shout Patrick a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. I tried to get a ‘Barefoot Contessa’ but they only serve them in the Courtyard, so I try a Pimm’s Cup. Yummy.

You have to go to Raffles

Singapore Sling 100 years young

Then it’s off to Suntec City for a late lunch then taxi to Clarke Quay. Patrick and the driver have a good chat about the soccer and the upcoming F1. I fancied going on a bumboat ride around the river and Marina Bay so we find one and jump on, just before a little shower of rain, and when we get back we have drinks with some chilli crab dip at Bar Saigon on the Quay.

Patrick sets us up with the right bus to get back to our hotel and our new room. Downgraded to the level of room we booked, unrenovated but we have a massive window, I can see the Parkview building from my bed. Couldn’t be any further from the lift and only have neighbours on one side! We packed up before we left and the staff moved us during the day, so unpack again and have a rest after a long, hot day. 

'My Precious'

Zam Zam for dinner, a mutton murtabak with a lime juice each. $11.00 for dinner!

City bus tour tomorrow.

At least I got a decent cup of tea.

Saturday 15^th August 2015.

Buffet breakfast was included in the room package we got, and sounded like a reasonable thing to do. Sadly, all the hot food was barely lukewarm because no-one closed the lids on the warming dishes. On the upside, the wait staff treated us very well, no self serve tea or coffee for us. We had an order taken and the same was delivered to our table. I didn’t see anyone else get that service. So I settled for toast and jam with my massive pot of tea!

Stopped by Reception to see if we could change rooms. Not possible today, but tomorrow. Terrific!

Coffee shop in Arab St.

Out around 9.30, nothing much open yet in the way of shops, did a lap around Arab St and Haji Lane, jumped on the MRT at Bugis to go to Farrer Park station and the famed Mustafa Centre. If it’s not for sale here, it’s not for sale anywhere! Had hoped to get some bargain fabric but left empty handed. Much busier outside when we finally emerged, around lunch time. Ate at a little hawker type place around the corner, again good food, $9 for a longneck of Heineken (didn’t realise that was the size or we would have shared).

Dodgy looking but the food was good and the beer cold.

Heading back to the MRT found another shopping centre with a food court that took our Food Republic vouchers (also part of our hotel deal). Wandered around in there for a bit, found a shop with wine under $20, so bought one white and one red. Didn’t realise it at the time, but the red wine had a cork and we had no corkscrew, so Trevor had an interesting interaction with Reception staff who had a corkscrew but no idea how to use it!

Back to hotel for a swim, met some nice people from Sydney, watched staff set up for a wedding.

Indian wedding

Dressed and set off to meet Patrick for dinner. His flight arrived ahead of time and he got to his hotel in good time. Dinner at Todai at The Shoppes in Marina Bay Sands. Massive buffet with practically every type of food you could thing of.

Last night in our newly renovated (but crappy) room, complete with noisy neighbours. Kids racing around at all hours and their mother rousing on them in a very shrill voice. Heaven. Not!

Disclaimer: All prices quoted in Singapore dollars.

Friday 14^th August, 2015.

Spur of the moment decision to go to Singapore as Patrick is being sent there for a week with his work and it seemed like a good idea to visit him there. And, it's Singapore's 50th anniversary of Indepedence, the big celebrations were last weekend, so Happy Birthday Singapore!!

We were picked up at 5.25am today for our transfer to the airport for our flight to Singapore. And when the shuttle company say 5.25, they mean 5.25! Turns out Mrs Boss picked us up and delivered us to the main shuttle at Kariong, a ‘link’ run. The main shuttle was picking up at Pt Clare and the people weren’t ready on time, so the poor driver, Peter copped a bit of a serve from Mrs Boss. She rings them and tells them  if they’re not straight out to the vehicle in 5 minutes from the appointed pick up time she’s leaving. Her responsibility is to the passengers who do the right thing. It’s the only way some people learn! The world does not revolve around them. We didn’t know she was Mrs Boss until Peter told us, so we had a very unguarded chat with her on the drive, mostly about her trip to the Philippines and diving with the whale sharks. Jenny P. take note!! It might be easier than Ningaloo!

According to a website I looked at, our flight hadn’t departed on time all month, so when we were boarded, doors armed and cross checked, it looked like we were going to break the hoodoo. Sadly not. We departed 50 minutes late, although I’m not sure at which point a plane is considered to have ‘departed’. Is it departed the terminal or actually taken off? 50 min was to take off.

We had an uneventful flight and couldn’t really complain about anything on board. The food was nice and the service was attentive enough. No dramas getting through Immigration and we headed to the shuttle bus point only to find we had over half an hour wait for the next bus. At $9 per adult, it sounded like a good deal but we didn’t want to wait, so we jumped on the queue for a taxi. The queue was short and in no time we were on our way into the city. Boy, has Singapore changed since we were here in 2007! So many more high rise buildings and of course, the whole Marina Bay Sands development, Gardens by the Bay et al. Traffic wasn’t as bad as we had thought and the potential $30 - $35 fare turned out to be just under $25.  

view of the pool from our room

Village Hotel Bugis

Arrived at the Village Hotel Bugis to have a staff member whisk our suitcases away and direct us to Reception, up the escalator. Check in was quite a process, the fellow didn’t seem to know what he was doing, or his computer was telling him crazy stories. Who knows??  Took ages!! But we finally got everything sorted. Our room was very disappointing and if I hadn’t been so tired and over it all I would have asked to be changed. It’s a nice enough room, but the window is so narrow, we can’t even stand side by side to look out it! Then when we got back from dinner there was a family next door and the kids are yelling and squealing! It’s 9pm Singapore time, but it’s 11pm by our body clock and we’ve been up since 4.45am, so my tolerances are below zero. I figure I’m so tired though, nothing will keep me awake, and I’m right. By the way, we ate dinner at Bugis Junction. Trevor had chicken cutlet rice and I had char siew chicken noodles and wonton. Under $10 for both, the beers cost nearly that much!!