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Published: December 30th 2007
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Taking Off
Qantas Boeing 747-400 VHOJA December 28, 2007
What a perfect way to end the year we thought, lets go to Singapore!
Luckily we were able to organise flights and accommodation, and Jim was able to look after the dogs. I made my way to Sydney Airport and met Jeff at 3pm after his shift finished.
After check in we made our way to the Qantas Club, and while I had a refreshing drink, Jeff showered and changed. The lounge is in middle of some renovations and hopefully will look good as good when it’s finished as the new Fist lounge. Our flight was QF5, a 747-400, and we were seated in
3J and 3K. Take off was on time 5.00 pm, and it was lovely to gaze out over Sydney on our way to Singapore.
After settling in, we enjoyed an aperitif, soon followed by dinner. Our entrée was a Prosciutto, Baby Bean and Parmesan Salad with Tomato Almond Salsa, and to match it we chose an Edenvale Riesling from South Australia. The main course I chose Beef Fillet with Red Wine Jus and Jeff had a Roasted Snapper Fillet. I felt my beef was dry but Jeff enjoyed his. Dessert was
Entree
Prosciutto, Baby Bean and Parmesan Salad with Tomato Almond Salsa a Cheese Plate with accompaniments, and Boysenberry and Vanilla Ice Cream with a Wild Berry compote. The cheese was lovely, especially the Goats Cheese. Tea, Coffee and a Bailey’s on ice rounded out the meal.
We watched a few movies, but we both thought Hairspray, a remake of the 80’s classic was weak. I saw Pierrepoint (about England’s last executioner) which was very good. The flight was over in no time, and we breezed through immigration and customs and our bags were first off. We caught a taxi to the Sheraton on Scotts Road, checked in and were in bed by 11pm.
December29, 2007
Down to breakfast, and planning our first day we remembered that security in Sydney confiscated some of our toiletries, so a trip to Watsons pharmacy was in order. No matter how much you travel you can forget the security that is in all airports around the world. We caught the MRT to Orchard Rd and hit the shops. There are some great bargains to be found, but the point is there are so many things here that you cannot even buy at home. Fashions, Home wares, electricals etc and the range is enormous.
Snapper
Roasted Snapper Fillet The first bargain of the day was 3 hairbrushes for $3!
We bought some presents for some people and just took in the atmosphere along Orchard Road. We decided to go to Arab Street for lunch to the Dahlia Café, a Malay Muslim place we had found on our last visit in 2006. We had 5 dishes, Beef Rendang, Vegetable Curry, Tofu and Green Bean, Stir fried Spinach and Crunchy Soya Bean Salad with 4 drinks, and the total came to $23.50. What good value, and all so delicious!
After lunch we went to Sim Lim Square for our electronics’ orders from Sydney. It’s 6 floors of cram packed touting Singaporeans wanting all shoppers to purchase their wares from cameras and PC’s, and anything electronic! It is very busy with all shoppers looking for that elusive bargain.
After a heavy rainfall and causing the humidity to rise, we caught a taxi back to the hotel. What is usually a $4.50 fare was double due to a city and peak hour surcharge, we should have used the MRT!
We decided to have an afternoon swim, which was wonderful to cool down. Unfortunately there is construction was going ahead
Cheese Plate
Goats Cheese and Vintage Cheddar right next door for high-rise apartment building, so even at 6pm on a Saturday it was so noisy we went back to our room for a cool glass of champagne given to us last night on our arrival by the hotel.
Later on we made our way to the Hawker Market just 500m away at Newton Circus, as always it was full of colour and noise. Keeping a straight course to avoid all the hawkers trying to get you to eat at their stall we arrived at our favourite store, No39 run by Madame Chiang, a 60 something Chinese woman with her hair in a high bun, a real character. We Ordered Satay’s, Stingray, Kang Kong and noodles and then grilled crayfish @ $8 per 100g. They came in at $76 Singapore dollars in the end, pricey but delicious! Every now and then you get bought back to earth, realising we are not savvy travellers after all. The beers were icy cold and delicious. Feeling full we walked back to our room for a well-earned rest.
Sunday December 30
After breakfast we caught a taxi to the Botanic Gardens, where the weather was perfect with a light
Ice Cream
Boysenberry and Vanilla breeze blowing. Everything was obviously so green and well tended, and there was lots of activity from people practising different forms Tai Chi. Dogs were allowed and also people having picnics, which made for a very relaxed atmosphere.
We went to the National Orchid Garden, which was spectacular. The colours and shapes were truly magnificent, and we both realised we had become nanna’s, as we really fitted right in to all the oldies there. As the heat and the humidity began to rise we made our way back to the entrance and caught a cab back to the hotel, which took us through the Embassy District. All the lovely buildings had well maintained and gardens and architecture reflecting their national flavour.
Later we lunched at Little India, in a busy Hawker Market we always frequent. We made up for our taste in expensive delicacies, as our feast came to under $20 was we couldn’t finish it all!
We went back to Lucky Plaza to pick up some luggage tags and a few last minute items. Many of the Filipino workers were out and all around was very busy. Many were at money transfer agencies sending money back
home to their families, the queues were very long.
We caught the train back to Orchard had a swim a few drinks, and packed suitcases for the flight the next morning. Later on we caught a taxi to Singapore Zoo for the Night Safari, Jeff had done this before but for me it was my first time. The ride out was quite long quite near the Malaysian border, the fare was quite cheap.
Lots of families and tourists were arriving in buses, cars and taxis and the were long lines of people queueing for tickets and Safari Rides. Jeff suggested we take the walking tour first. It was very humid lucky we both had fans to cool ourselves, we saw lots of different animals. We came to the Tiger enclosure closed by a huge pane of glass, we looked intently for the tiger and after some time we were about to give up and there it was at our feet the other side of the glass.
The was the Bat Aviary and quite scary as the bats flew all around us, we eventually made it back to catch our bus for the Safari. Lucky for us we
had one car to ourselves and another couple. We saw Elephants, Hyena came very close to a Tapir, Deer and many other creatures. It was a wonderful expierience to see them quite close.
As all holidays draw to a close, we caught a taxi back to Newton Hawker Market for a meal about 10.30pm, we went to another part and tried different food. There was 2 American couples the men of Indian descent, they spent so much on food the hawkers were falling over each other trying to sell them anything, very funny. After good food and cold beers we made our way back to the Sheraton for a good nights sleep.
Monday 31 December
We ordered room service for breakfast, it was very filling and really there was enough left for 2 more. I (Paul) took a few more pics of the view from our room and we called for our bags to be collected checked out and caught a taxi ti the airport. Check-in was a breeze, the queues for the GST refund was a disaster and really took so long from 1 counter to the other, there was no organisation.
Lunchtime
Culinary Delights at Cafe Dahlia
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