Flew to Singapore on Saturday morning. Trolley bag wheel cover broke off en route to KLIA upset me at first but I was determined not to let that spoil my trip. Landed in overcast Singapore at 1245. Took MRT into the city, alighted at Tanjung Pagar station and walked to the Berjaya Duxton Hotel where I was to spend the first night. It's at a nice row of restored Straits Chinese trading houses in a quiet, leafy area [although the many pubs around guarantee no shortage of nightlife, it was sufficiently quiet enough at my side of building later that night]. The counterlady pointed out at first that my room wasn't ready as it wasn't 3 yet [it was a quarter past 2 then, come on!] and I wasn't too happy with that as I desperately wanted to use the bathroom, pronto! Settled down on the couch to text my friend and the next thing I knew, I was told that the room was ready after all. It was a funny building and reminded me of the Berjaya Eden Park Hotel in London. My room was great, spacious and real nice, despite its irregular shape. The hotel staff were thoughtful enough to offer me a welcome drink at the lobby [thanks, I really needed it after the walk in the afternoon humidity] and some fruits in the room which I gratefully ate for some Vitamin C-powered lunch.
After refreshing myself, I decided to venture out. The counterlady had to tell me when I left the keys that 'We've upgraded your room to deluxe cos there's no available standard room', to which I replied, 'Oh, ok', unsure of what to reply actually! Did she really have to tell me that?!
Took MRT to City Hall. My mate told me he would be there at 4 so went walking around at first. Then he text to say he was running late and would only arrive at 4.15 pm. No problem, I needed to make another visit to the washroom anyway.
Went to the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay via an underground link. He admitted that it was his first time there but no worries, I had enough maps on me to ensure we wouldn't be lost. Esplanade, a performing arts centre located on the shore of Marina Bay, is actually two domed buildings housing the Concert Hall and Lyric Theatre with a spiky durian-like exterior. You can see the Merlion Park from the Esplanade and other Singapore landmarks [in case you don't know, Merlion is Singapore's defining symbol with the head of a lion and a tail of a fish or mermaid]. While admiring the Singapore skyline, I had the following conversation with my friend:
Me: What's that building there?
He: Where, which one?
Me: There, that one. The one that looks like a spaceship just landed on it.
He: [short pause] That's the Court.
Me: ...whoops...
Just as we decided to walk over to the Merlion Park, it rained, fortunately or unfortunately [it didn't look very near somehow, or perhaps it was getting hazy and the location seemed a bit obscure]. 10 minutes on and it looked like it was determined to continue raining cats and dogs so we decided to saunter over to the Suntec City. As it is Singapore's largest shopping and entertainment centre, what little part of Suntec City that I saw reminded me of Times Square. Huge, gigantic, with nothing much to offer apart from the normal shops you can no doubt find in countless other malls. We didn't linger here long as I was getting a little sick of shopping malls by then [Raffles City, CityLink Mall, Suntec...]. And it was only my first day!
I then decided to check up Arab Street so we walked to the nearest bus stop in the drizzle [the rain had since trickled to that]. After traipsing all over the place checking out Masjid Sultan, Istana Kampung Glam and the various textile shops, we had a late tea at Zam Zam Restaurant, quite famous for its murtabak. After the cosy tete-a-tete, I suggested going to Little India, specifically the Mustafa Centre, to er, purchase superglue for my poor bag wheel [which turned out to be an unnecessary purchase as I later discovered back at the hotel that the whole covering had broken off. Sob!]. The rain came down again and I regretted for the umpteenth time leaving the hotel's umbrella in the wardrobe. Later on, after walking up and down, and in and out of Mustafa [there is definitely more than one block of Mustafa!], we decided to have dinner at some food court near Lavender [the neighbourhood name escaped me now]. Dinner was bones of lamb cooked an alarming shade of red [wonder if it was the chilli or the colouring?] served with bread.
The remainder of Saturday night was spent glued to the TV, flicking the channels between Badminton All England and Australian Open and English Premier League. Alas, all those I rooted for lost. So much for robbing my beauty sleep!
Sunday morning, I woke up for prayers then back to the sheets again. Checked out at a quarter to 12 and made my way to the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel at Havelock Road, where I would spend the next 3 nights. Realised rather belatedly that I didn't even take pictures of the Duxton Hotel [it looks quite charming from outside]. Oh well... After an early check-in [thank you, God!], ironing, freshening up etc, went out to Orchard Road. Developed serious leg muscles walking there and back and along Orchard Road. So many people on the streets, I reckoned there must be 573,249 people walking up and down that stretch of road and in shopping complexes there, what with the upcoming Lunar New Year the following weekend. Didn't find much to catch my fancy except for some innerwear at Marks & Spencer to reward me for all that walk. It rained again, very heavily too, but I was well prepared with my umbrella - which I didn't get to use anyway as I was in malls and covered walkways. Stopped at the Great World City, some 100 metres away from the hotel to buy dinner and some groceries. Found out that it actually offers free shuttle services to Chinatown MRT, City Hall MRT, and get this, Orchard Road! Argh!!! Moan, groan, mumble, grumble!!!
Sunday night, again watched Australian Open [no HBO at this hotel for some strange reason despite many more channels] against my better judgement.
Monday: another grey start to the morning. Rise and shine early, conference started today [yes, I was there on business]. The keynote addresses almost put me back to sleep, thank God for the coffee break! It got more interesting after that til the end of the day. Befriended some folks from India and had the following conversation during tea break:
Me: Are you going to Little India?
They: No, we are from Big India, we don't want to go to Little India!
Me: [laughed] Yeah, but most Chinese friends I know will go check out Chinatown wherever there is one.
They: We want to check out Chinatown, but not Little India definitely!
Monday evening, took shuttle to City Hall MRT. Decided to be a normal tourist and walked to the river, past the Parliament Building, and came upon the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, sited where he supposedly landed on his first visit. I looked up at the proud statue and wondered, eh, what happened to Sang Nila Utama then? Walked further on to the Fullerton Hotel, and crossed the street to the Merlion Park. Another overcast day, no rain on the horizon, but still no scenic sunset either. Back to the comforts of Raffles City Plaza but still couldn't find anything to buy. It's still so much cheaper back home... stayed up again to watch Australian Open, til way past 1 am, which was really really late for sleepyhead me who's usually in bed way before 11 on a typical weeknight at home.
It was a struggle staying awake on Tuesday but I didn't sleep and still managed to concentrate. Hey, otherwise it would be pointless to be there at all. Some people may even skip the second day altogether and wander off to other more interesting places. The speaker at the end was getting all excited and ended up taking longer than he should, much to the dicomfort of most of us. It finally ended at 5.45 pm and I practically ran all the way back to my room.
Changed clothes in record time and caught a shuttle to the City Hall MRT. Took MRT to Kallang station and walked to the Singapore Indoor Stadium [SIS] for the [*drumroll*] BACKSTREET BOYS concert!!! It all looked very near and within reasonable walking distance from the MRT station on the map but heck, it was anything but! To top it, the SIS was on the other side of Nicoll Highway which meant you need to take the overhead bridge or underpass to get to the other side.
I thought I'd be the only one to come on my own when this nyonya who didn't look a day below 45 came in and sat at the row in front of me. Amazing, she really didn't look the typical BSB audience/fan. Shows that one is only as young/old as she feels. BSB was superb, cute and funny, especially Nick, my favourite. Almost everyone was screaming, yours truly included. Will try post some pictures later on but the pictures didn't turn out great unfortunately.
The show ended barely 2 hours later [it started at 8.30 pm, half an hour later than scheduled]. I wasn't keen to catch public transportation that late in the day but Singapore is quite safe. Took MRT back to City Hall and then bus back to hotel. Watched some Australian Open action until I couldn't stay awake anymore.
Alas, Wednesday arrived all too soon. Woke up early to go to Arab Street. Being adventurous, took a bus there, wandered a bit before finding Zam Zam Restaurant for the murtabak to bring home. Next, it was the textile shops, looking for cotton materials. Back at hotel at 10 sth, packed, had some light meal - hey I needed the energy with all the luggage. Realised I would be running late, flight was scheduled for 1345 hours and hurried to check out. Took a cab to City Hall MRT, changed to MRT to Changi. The sun was actually shining today. Anyway guess what, the flight was delayed to 1500 and subsequently 1515. Duh! Checked in anyway and went straight in to the duty-free area. Was so tempted to buy a white gold ring at Gucci [I can never resist going into Gucci] but I was sure it was more expensive, even after the sale, than in KL. Told the snooty saleslady as much and I could swear she gave me a cold shoulder after that. [Whatever happened to Service With A Smile and The Customer Is Always Right, huh?]. Did contemplate it though a few times after that - that's what delayed flights would do to me - but decided I couldn't, mustn't, shouldn't charge anything to my credit card, not now. Instead, walked around other shops and then went to check my emails before having a meal while still contemplating that ring. I really should get a guy to buy me a ring and not have to buy it myself. I don't mind buying other stuff for myself, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, earrings, but I've never bought a ring for myself. Almost did in December, but most rings at KM Oli seemed to sport diamonds, which I simply refuse to buy for myself [the Gucci ring did not come with any diamond].
Flight finally took off at 1530. Caught up with news back home and attempted Sudoku and before I knew it, it was time to land...
Can't believe I'll be at the airport again in 2 days' time.
