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Proping up the bar!Arriving back in Singapore for the third time in a week, we thought it was finally time that we saw what this country had to offer a couple of backpackers. With the folks in Singapore for the next five days with us, we devised a plan of action making sure everyone was catered for. First on the Agenda was Singapore’s Chinatown, so we jumped in a taxi and headed into the heart of Chinatown, firstly viewing the impressive Sri Mariamman Temple. After perusing the shops and nik nak stores, we decided that it was time to try some of the famous cuisine on offer and found a hawker centre filled with food signs that we couldn’t understand! We all played it a little safe opting for food we recognised, essentially noodle or rice dishes, but we also tried a dish called “Carrot Cake” which turned out to be fried rice flour and white daikon (asian radish) mixed with the usual noodles, garlic etc, quite delicious. From Chinatown we made our way to possibly Singapore’s most famous landmark, the Raffles Hotel, where they are famous for a particular Cocktail called the Singapore Sling. The cocktail consists of gin, cherry brandy, pineapple juice,
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Sentosa Island lime juice, Cointreau, orange liqueur, benedictine herbal liqueur, grenadine syrup and Angostura bitters. The concoction had a sweet yet refreshing result. Mum and Dad had already been here with Uncle Matt and Jo so they let us do most of the drinking and of course eating many of the complimentary peanuts they provide in which you just throw the shells on the immaculate floor! After a bit of souvenir shopping at the hotel we jumped on the underground and headed back home for some dinner.
As the sun was shining the next day we decided to visit a place called Sentosa Island, which translates to peace and tranquility in Malay and is a popular Singapore island resort. Now there are three ways to get to Sentosa Island, by car across the bridge connecting it to the mainland, by Monorail which also goes across the bridge, or the third option Cable Car. As mum had enjoying the Cable Car in Langkawi so much we thought she’d enjoy this one as well! Obviously it wasn’t anywhere near as high as that one, but we did enjoy some views of the many tall and futuristic buildings that Singapore has to offer along
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Marina Bay Sands & Ku De Ta Bar the ride. Once on Sentosa we hit the beach and that was where we spent the majority of the day, relaxing in the sunshine whilst enjoying some Tiger Beers and a spot of lunch. After spending our day at the beach, we made our way back to Uncle Matt & Jo’s, got showered and changed then headed down to one of Singapore’s most attractive pieces of modern architecture, the Marina Bay Sands Hotel. The building is a monstrous 200 metres high and perched on top sits a boat like structure with a bar, restaurant and the world’s highest infinity pool, sadly only guest were able to access the pool. The views from all the way up there were pretty impressive to say the least, although the static electricity in the air did pose some problems when taking photo’s! From there we got our feet firmly back on the ground at an area called Boat Quay. Here along the river, the streets are littered with plenty of unique bars and restaurants. We opted for a place called the “Red Dot Brewery” which had an array of different beers on offer, I chose an unusual Green Beer, which as they name suggests
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Get out your bucket & spade, Dad's in the sand again! turned out to be green!
The following day we split the boys and girls up, Moth, Cerri and Jo headed to across the border into Malaysia. They were going to visit a place called Johor where they would barter and shop till they dropped for the day. Meanwhile myself and the old man decided a round of golf was in order, after scouring the internet we managed to find a little nine hole golf course that didn’t break the bank called “Green Fairways”. Arriving we went straight to the driving range as we were both a bit rusty to say the least. The round got off to a flying start for me paring the first, the second hole not so good, let’s just say it was in the double figures region! We both continued our rollercoaster round of golf, being only too aware of not going too far into the rough to find our balls as the signs warned of Snakes! On the wildlife front we did spot a monitor lizard sunbathing alongside the 6th tee. Field Junior (that’s me) ending up winning the round by two strokes much to the dismay of Field Senior. Following the golf we
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Family Photo at Altitude headed back to Uncle Matt and Jo’s home to wait for the girls to return from their shopping trip, once they arrived back with plenty of bags in hand we all got showered and changed and headed out for the night. Our first destination of the evening was a bar called “Altitude”, and as the name suggests this bar wasn’t on the ground floor but upon the roof top of a skyscraper building. We enjoyed the sun setting over the city once again alongside sipping beers and cocktails. Whilst at this bar somebody mistook me for a famous DJ by the name of David Guetta, of course I went along with it and introduced myself to a couple of fans who were loving the fact that they were sharing a lift with David Guetta himself, even my Mum got in on the action saying how proud she was of me! From the roof top bar we made our way into Little India for a good old Ruby Murray aka Curry, where we all over indulged on the aromatic flavours and tastes of India.
Shopping was back on the agenda again the next day as we hit Singapore’s busiest street,
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Team Field Orchard Road. Here you can find just about any make or model be it either clothes or electrical or otherwise. As you can imagine Cerri was in her element here and she was in the market for a handbag. With Jo’s help Mum and Cerri came away from our outing with a handbag each and a quite a few Singapore dollars less in the bank account! Later that day there was another football match for Singapore Cricket Club, this time a veteran’s game which was to be held at the Padang. Singapore’s Padang is the site where the Japanese officially surrendered in 1945 during World War 2. As one team had a ringer, UncIe Matt sorted it so I was allowed to play for the other team, all the Fields we’re now en-roled to play as even Dad dusted off his knee supports to join in the game as he was roped into playing a half. The match included a few ex professional players including none other than ex England and Manchester United legend Paul Parker, who turned out to be a top bloke both on and off the pitch. The game was a hard fought one in the heat,
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Football Friend! the old man even putting in a few slide tackles which he’d live to regret later on! Also myself hitting a screamer from outside the box with the famous Banj left peg which sailed just inches over the bar. It was a special occasion to have three Fields gracing the football pitch at the same time, especially as my Grandad aka “Stan the Man” had played cricket on the very same ground many years ago. Physically exhausted after the game we showered and headed straight for the Cricket Club bar where we ended up doing shots with Mr Parker and the rest of the SCC gang. Here we also made a few contacts for possible employment in Singapore, so watch this space.... From the Cricket Club we all went over to Clarkes Quay, a Cardiff Bay type area only a lot bigger and better. We first visited a bar called the “Clinic” and Mum fitted right in, as all the staff were dressed as doctors or nurses, hospital beds as your seats and your drink was served to you in a drip bag! From there we ended the night in the “Pump Room” listening to a drag queen band do
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Drunken Antics! covers whilst myself and Cerri embarrassingly watched the older folks sing and dance the night away, we clearly hadn’t had enough beers!
As it was Mum and Dad’s last day of their holiday, they wanted to make sure they went home as tanned as possible so we headed back over to Sentosa Island to spend a few hours on the Beach. We brought along Uncle Matt and Jo’s dogs Hugo and Gucci, as this is the only dog friendly beach in Singapore. We had a great time playing fetch with the dogs in the water, although Hugo never liked to give the ball back. With beach time over it was time for the folks to get the bags packed and ready to go. Being efficient packers, we had time to visit the nearby Dempsey Village where we window shopped at the expensive interior design shops. That evening we sent them off in style with Champagne Cocktails before saying our farewells at the airport and sending them on their way back to the cold UK.
We spent the next day just chilling out and planning our next part of the trip around Uncle Matt and Jo’s only nipping out
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Merlion Statue & Hotel Room to visit a nearby food court for lunch. The following day we decided to go back to Clarkes Quay to see what it was like during the day, whilst here we strolled along the river all the way down to the famous Merlion Statue. The Merlion is a bizarre hybrid with a lion’s head and fish like body, it was cooked up by the Singapore Tourism Board back in the 1960’s as a tourism icon. The Statue was particularly hard to find that day as it wasn’t out in the open for all to see with the water spraying out of its mouth, instead we found it enclosed in a bizarre piece of art. An artist by the name of Tatzu Nishi had created a temporary luxurious hotel room around the iconic statue, which allowed people to go and visit the Merlion and get up close and personal with it as it stood majestically in the centre of the room.
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lesley field
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Really enjoyed the latest edition, especially the photo of Dad looking a bit the worse for wear!!