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Published: August 2nd 2010
Singapore - luxurious pad, culinary delights, and copious amounts of booze
After a very smooth and comfy bus ride from Malaysia we rocked up at our friend’s Maz and Dougie’s flat in Singapore. We knew the location was slap bang in the middle of the best and trendiest place to stay in the city, so were aware it was going to be special, when we arrived and there was a concierge and the car park was full of expensive fancy cars we started realising it was going to be pretty high class, when we got up to the 23rd floor, were greeted by Maz and shown into the Rogerson’s pad we found it all that and more.
Maz and Dougie’s flat is amazing! It has three balconies, one of which was ours, off of our ensuite bedroom, this was no hostel or cheap guesthouse! The views over the city and the River Sing were just incredible, and the view of their rather large swimming pool didn’t disappoint either.
We did feel a little guilty, for all of 5 seconds, that their friend Phil, who arrived just before us on route back to the UK after living in Oz
for a while, had been bumped to the other spare room, from which you had to cross the hall to get to use a bathroom! We soon got over that though.
Not only did we have a luxurious (and free!) pad as a base and great company but for the next 5 days we had our own personal tour guide, a kind of best ever Lonely Planet in the flesh type thing in the form of Maz. You see Maz is the author of a guide to Singapore (http://www.amazon.com/Singapore-60-Fabulous-Adventures-City/dp/9812618732) and a regular travel writer for various publications, so she asked what we fancied doing, seeing, eating, experiencing then took us to the perfect place for just that.
We started with a meal at her and Dougie’s favourite restaurant in the Indian quarter. Not only are they regulars but Maz included it in her book so we were treated like royalty. The food was great, and the pitchers of beer went down pretty well too.
Unfortunately Dougie had to work the next day but Phil, Maz, Xan and I headed out to explore the city and have a bit of a highlights tour. We walked through Chinatown, stopping
Maz and Dougie's pool
Yes it really is that big!for a fab Dim Sum lunch, headed to the a ‘Monastery’ where there was amazing photography on the walls from a competition they’d run, though what is apparently Budda’s tooth is supposed to be the highlight we preferred the pics. From there we walked down to the waterfront where the symbol of Singapore is - a water spouting Lion head with fish body! Phil and Maz also pointed out the grand Prix route - so wish we’d timed it to be there for that. Maybe one year!
Back at base Maz, Phil and I enjoyed beers on the balcony while watching Xan swim length after length of the huge pool below us. According to Phil Xan’s breast stroke is excellent but his front crawl not very efficient maybe a bit more efficient than standing on a balcony drinking beer however!
That night we headed for dinner at a restaurant a stone’s throw from the flat. Among many delicious dishes we had chilli crab, a bit of a signature Singapore dish. It was AMAZING - Xan was still picking at it hours after we’d all finished eating!
The next morning we headed back to the Indian Qtr for
Singaporean contradictions
Old shop houses, huge sky scrapers breaky - very tasty and very cheap Masala Dosa in a tiny wee place which was so full of people from the Indian community that there were queues at times for people to get a seat.
After buying some HUGE prawns and various items including a watermelon we headed back across town to the flat. Poor Xan carrying the huge and very heavy watermelon all the way. He didn’t quite understand why Maz and I kept saying ‘I carried a watermelon!’ in an American accent! (for you men folk and/or those not born in the 70s/very early 80s it’s a line from Dirty Dancing). Xan’s arms were ready to drop off by the time we got back.
We spent the rest of the day with a load of Maz and Dougie’s mates having a poolside BBQ. There are BBQ pits within the complex (oh and 2 gyms, a library, a children’s play park and golf simulator of course). Along with the prawns we had some amazing food courtesy of Phil and Dougie who did the boys job of bbqing, while sipping champagne, white wine, red wine, beers and taking a dip in the pool when the sun got
one of many rules
Think this one was just a million dollar fine and 10 years in prison though - lenient if you ask me too much! After a quick change out of swimwear we jumped in taxis to a bar on the 70th floor of a skyscraper just in time to watch the sunset while sipping more champagne and lychee martinis.
It gets slightly hazy for me after that! We headed to another bar to watch the footie, drink more and have a bite to eat. Luckily (more like highly embarrassingly)for me Dougie had drank very little so was able to describe my drunkeness in detail the following morning! Nothing too OTT, mainly just repeatedly announcing how amazing a bowl of chips were and losing control of my facial expressions! Oh dear.
The following day, after that mammoth 12 hr session, Maz, Dougie Phil and I went to a very posh champagne brunch. Again this is something Singapore is famous for. I was, shall we say, a bit quiet on the journey there but perked up when some food hit my stomach, or was it the champagne? Either way we were soon getting stuck into the free flowing champers and amazing variety of food on offer. There was sushi (started with this and was the best I’ve ever had, was sliced and
put together right in front of you) a seafood bar (Phil had a huge plateful of oysters and other crustations from here but the rest of us decided to avoid it, in my case due to feeling a little delicate), breakfast area that included eggs Benedict, various pasta options, a salad bar, homemade bread, 3 different roast meats and salmon encroute, a vast array of veg to go with this, a million desserts, chocolate fountain, fruit, cheese board the size of a small deli and more! My favourite was a risotto, which was made with truffle oil. The chef cooked it before your eyes finishing it off inside a huge parmesan cheese, the side of which were scraped into the hot rice as it was stirred! Yummy.
While we were quaffing champagne and stuffing our faces, Xan had headed off for a wander round Singapore (actually a walk that Maz had written) with the main aim of purchasing a digital SLR camera. He achieved his goal and advised me on introducing me to it, that there were now three of us in our relationship. He wasn’t joking, that boy just lurves his new toy!
On our final day,
Crazy assed architecture
Like a giant but not smelly durian! after having lunch yet another amazing culinary experience in a different Dim Sum place (the branch of which in Hong Kong has a Michelin star!) we went to check out a new hotel/shopping/casino complex that had just opened. It is HUGE. The hotel is 3 skyscraper columns with a long flat boat shaped platform on top, there is a chain metal style finishing to some surfaces of the towers that shimmer in the sun giving the impression the building is moving. We looked down on the casino from a balcony above, really cool design and layout, but just so many tables and machines. We headed up to the top floor, from which there are amazing views out over the city and a where there’s a huge infinity pool. The pool can only be used by hotel guests, of which there were a few. I was a bit torn between wanting to be one of those guests chilling by the pool and feeling that if I was I wouldn’t be happy about rifraf being allowed to come and gawp!
To round off our ‘eat and drink athon’ that was Singapore we went to a hawker market for dinner that evening.
Mr Raffles no less
He's quite big in Singapore you know These places are basically Singapore Street food, and again we were treated to some fab food. Statay, chilli chicken and stingray - another Singapore delicacy.
Can’t thank our hosts enough for spoiling us rotten and showing us round. Maz and Dougie, you are stars. Now back to backpacker budget accommodation, food and drink, going to be a shock to the system I can tell you!
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