Asia trip Day 2 - Singapore

Monday February 27

A good night's sleep makes all the difference in the world. I had ended the previous blog with a bit of today. We had arrived after midnight and had to straighten ourselves out about the time and day. We left Saturday (day 1) but I am not really counting Sunday because somehow we went over the dateline. It really doesn't matter, does it?

We are not big breakfaster at home, have our mainmeal at lunch and snack for supper. Most hotels include breakfast in the booking. Ok, this one from 7am to 3pm. Included. And more to come. I just read the fine print.

It was more like after 9 when we finally were downstairs. It's a very nice area with little tables and large windows to see the garden. James is getting our coffees. The rest is ordered and will be delivered.

It sounded healthy on the menu which you get via scanning a QR code on your smartphone. Avocado on sourdough toast with smoked salmon and poached eggs (cooked to perfection if I may add).

Afterwards we were not quite ready to go out. Strange. I had expected to be on the go on these two full days we have here but I am so enjoying taking it easy. We went to the room and gathered some stuff and find a place to chill. First we went to the 12th floor to look at the infinity pool. Quite nice but not quite right. 

So we went downstairs again were we had seen the garden terrace next to the breakfast place.

James quickly relocated even a little further into the greenery until a shower chased him back.

I sat in the chair in front with the yellow pillow and wrote blog Day 1 (before I forgot). Look at the visitor right next to me.

I was done when James had to come back which was perfect timing for him to proof-read.

While he was doing that I just sat back and saw the writing on that building: 2006/7 our address was Cairnhill Circle. Memories. I wrote about it HERE in case you are interested.

Finally we got antsy. Thanks to now having T-Mobile I could use maps and looked for Lucky Plaza. Just down the hill towards Orchard Road. 

Lucky Plaza is a Mall with cheap shops. 15 years ago I always looked there first when I needed something.

We had to replace James' toothpaste which was confiscated by security. Too many oz. I could not resist to take a photo of the (boiled) salty eggs when we checked out. Lent? They look purple to me just like my toenails. 

We also bought 2 cheap umbrellas because there are showers once in a while. Insurance because usually if you have one you don't need it. When we had enough there we went further along Orchard Road. Oh, how I remember it. I compare this road with 5th Avenue in Manhatten. Lots of fancy stores, Takashimaya being one of them. Opposite was Paragon Mall, on the corner of our street. We went briefly in but I could not find the window where you could watch udon noodles being made. It was so incredible. Also could not find the place Louis-Jeanne bought her little glass buddha. 

We decided to go up our street. There it is in the middle (green glass looking). Called The Light at Cairnhill. Opposite used to be a street downhill to walk to an area with historic looking houses and really nice restaurants. No more. Another highrise. We would not have the view anymore which we used to have. I remember seeing the enermous fireworks out of the window and TV live simultaneously. 

Back downhill and back into the Paragon. I remembered there just to be a supermarket. Finally James found it. Basement. So many interesting things. Thought we get some apples. OMG, the prices everywhere. Super expensive. But all those fresh veggies and things we hardly see in the USA. Loved it.

Ha-ha, these are cakes. The one in the middle looked like a knitted hat.

We did buy something though. We were thirsty. We bought some beer and 1 bottle of water we can refill and take on walks. Its nothing new that I could not my water open but James tried so hard and it didn't budge. A young man with long hair and a stroller laughed and just took it and with minimal effort opened it in seconds, and walked off still laughing. What was the secret?

And back to the hotel. So convenient. It's the one in the middle. You can see the pool area just above the tree on the 12th floor.

When we travel we never talk about jet leg. We go by the local time and that is that. But we did not feel that we had to run all over town to see everything there is today. We were just happy and decided to chill a little. There will be quite a program once we are on the ship. So the main thing was to sort things out and then we looked for a warm place to play our card game. We thought downstairs would be nice next to the water feature and greenery but the wind was too strong for our cards. 

So we went upstairs to the 12th floor and it was more sheltered. I won though. Again. I have quite a lucky streak.

At check in we were informed that our breakfast was included and also 24-hr lounge access with light refreshments and evening cocktail 6 to 8 pm, and gym, pool etc. We were not hungry but decided to take them up on the happy hour.

We had a choice of drinks and each got a glass of red wine. And we did not turn down the offer of "canapés". It was quite a selection of interesting things. 

We were offered a second drink and opted for wite wine this time. Deffinately a better choice.

Second wind? We decided to go out again. No dinner needed though. Everybody is so helpful and nice. When we asked how it works with the subway now and whether there might be a tourist pass. We were given a pass each left by a previous hotel guest. They did not know what might be left on the card. 

We walked to Orchard Station and inquired. The cards were empty but all we needed was to top them up. It was suggested to put 10 Singapore dollars on each. Sounded fair. But we needed to get cash, Singapore cash, nothing else was accepted. That took a bit running around underground until we found the right place to exchange some US dollars. And back to the counter to have the cards topped up. 

The whole day it had fissled once in a while but now it was a really nice evening. There was a warm breeze and very pleasant. James wanted to see St Andrews Cathedral again. So that's where we got out and walked to. Lots of familiar sights like Funan Plaza etc. But the Cathedral was not visible. No idea what was going on but it looked under renovation. We need to google on it. 

So we kept walking. The city with her lights was just lovely. And  lots of people milling about. We probably should go tomorrow at daytime to check this out. It definately was built after we left.

We kept walking until we were at the Singapore River and walked along it.

When we came to Clarke Quay nothing had changed. You walk between restaurants and there are seatings at the river edge and at every place there is somebody who tells you why you should eat there. Ignore ignore, ignore. But we were thirsty so we ask whether we could have a drink only and they were happy to sell us that. Concidering the prime place it wasn't even outlandishly expensive. 

Then I wondered where the statues of the little boys might be which I liked so much. I had taken several photos but never in the dark (at least not that I can remember). Thanks to our new telephone provider T-Mobile we can now google whereever we are and I quickly found out that it was next to the Cavanagh Bridge which is in front of the Fullerton Hotel. We could see the hotel from were we sat. 

Yeah for T-mobile!

We continued our walk and I was happy to see another of my favorite statues. I used a photo I had taken of it on the front of for our Christmas card that year. I gave the two men Santa hats and put some gifts on the card. I wished I could show you but that is in Virginia.

And here are the boys. A real piece of art in my eyes.

And then it was time to find the underground station again. Each time the swiping took 99 Singapore cents of the card. About 75 US cents (?) And so easy to use. 

Night night! It's after midnight. And we never had dinner. Yes Vanessa, our AAA Traveladviser, you found this hotel with happy hour for us we didn't even know about. We didn't feel like having dinner but feeling good from walking and not "having stuffed" ourselves. And we didn't have a big dinner bill either, ha-ha.

What a splendid Day! 

Thank you, Lord!