Today was a treat day as it was JP's birthday so the budget went out of the window and we had some fun. First it was off to the colonial district, via the Asian Civilisations Museum, which was really good. We took the guided tour, but there was still time to take daft photo's of JP.
Then it was off to see the Merlion. This is a statue on the edge of the harbour and it is half-mermaid, half-lion, and a weird-looking thing it is too. I have no idea who made it up, but it even has it's own little park with a second mini-version just behind it. Cue lots of Japanese tourists doing weird poses again, but you get to see me doing my pose instead in front of the big one.
Across the bay you can see Sentosa Island, the playground of Singapore. There is a lot of spending over there and the result of the latest development is this amazing looking resort - it is the Marina Bay Sands resort, with just about every man-made pleasure you could want. The shelf topping the towers is an enormous pool and deck area, and I still can't believe how big it is. It looms over the whole area, and is a real talking point here. Every taxi driver so far has asked us if we are going, telling us we should because it is free to foreigners!
We stopped for lunch amidst the skyscrapers, jostling elbows with the city folk getting their food too, which tickled me since usually that is us when we're in London, getting annoyed with the tourists in the way. Then it was off to the landmark that is the Raffles Hotel. The photo here is me and himself with our singapore slings (what else?!) in the Long Bar. They were truly awful. I read the local newspaper later and saw an article devoted to where to find the best sling in Singapore, and Raffles wasn't even rated because it was so bad. The perfect example of trading on a name and not having to work for the trade. If anyone is ever thinking of it, get a sling somewhere else and stick to plain beer or spirits at Raffles. Thankfully, JP liked the atmosphere and it didn't dampen his birthday spirits.
Afterwards, we wandered into Fort Canning park, where the British fort used to be situated, one of a chain guarding the island. It is now really lush and green, and on the edge of it is a really nice restaurant, "Flutes at the Fort". We wandered in and they happened to have a table free for later in the evening, so that's how we booked JP's birthday dinner. We had a brief trip back to the hotel to clean up and I gave JP his birthday cake and a little toast to celebrate, hence the photo. Hard to do the birthday thing in the same way here, but thanks to a patisserie round the corner and a corner shop down the street, I managed to rustle up something as a surprise.
Today was a treat day as it was JP's birthday so the budget went out of the window and we had some fun. First it was off to the colonial district, via the Asian Civilisations Museum, which was really good. We took the guided tour, but there was still time to take daft photo's of JP. 
Then it was off to see the Merlion. This is a statue on the edge of the harbour and it is half-mermaid, half-lion, and a weird-looking thing it is too. I have no idea who made it up, but it even has it's own little park with a second mini-version just behind it. Cue lots of Japanese tourists doing weird poses again, but you get to see me doing my pose instead in front of the big one.
Across the bay you can see Sentosa Island, the playground of Singapore. There is a lot of spending over there and the result of the latest development is this amazing looking resort - it is the Marina Bay Sands resort, with just about every man-made pleasure you could want. The shelf topping the towers is an enormous pool and deck area, and I still can't believe how big it is. It looms over the whole area, and is a real talking point here. Every taxi driver so far has asked us if we are going, telling us we should because it is free to foreigners!
We stopped for lunch amidst the skyscrapers, jostling elbows with the city folk getting their food too, which tickled me since usually that is us when we're in London, getting annoyed with the tourists in the way. Then it was off to the landmark that is the Raffles Hotel. The photo here is me and himself with our singapore slings (what else?!) in the Long Bar. They were truly awful. I read the local newspaper later and saw an article devoted to where to find the best sling in Singapore, and Raffles wasn't even rated because it was so bad. The perfect example of trading on a name and not having to work for the trade. If anyone is ever thinking of it, get a sling somewhere else and stick to plain beer or spirits at Raffles. Thankfully, JP liked the atmosphere and it didn't dampen his birthday spirits.
Afterwards, we wandered into Fort Canning park, where the British fort used to be situated, one of a chain guarding the island. It is now really lush and green, and on the edge of it is a really nice restaurant, "Flutes at the Fort". We wandered in and they happened to have a table free for later in the evening, so that's how we booked JP's birthday dinner. We had a brief trip back to the hotel to clean up and I gave JP his birthday cake and a little toast to celebrate, hence the photo. Hard to do the birthday thing in the same way here, but thanks to a patisserie round the corner and a corner shop down the street, I managed to rustle up something as a surprise.
sounds lovely, I am glad to hear himself had a fittng birthday full of treats and the high life that we know he enjoys so much!
ReplyDeleteHappy belated Birthday brother.
you both look so well and relaxed, good to see x
your ever so slightly jealous sister