tripmaster
Dec 1, 06, 5:47 am
Got in at 230am, slept for 5 hrs, then hit the road.
Oriental upgraded me to a suite, which was very nice. Lovely room, twin beds (thought a friend might come crash from Malaysia but too busy). Service was very pleasant, room service coffee was excellent.
First stop was Takashimaya. As a department store, I preferred the one in Tokyo - so much of the stuff to buy is available in NYC. But I hit Crystal Jade on the 4th Floor for a little dim sum, it was good. Had char siu bao and some har gao, and it was clean and tasty. The small plate of beef noodles with ginger and scallion was OK. I dont love ginger and scallion but I figured, what the heck. I love noodles.
Then went to Mustafa Center. Walked around, felt like some of the Hong Kong Mong Kok electronics buildings, except with a wide variety of (legit) regular goods. Walked towards Little India, hopped on MRT, went to Hyatt area. Checked out the food court, the little stores, bought a coupla things, then took MRT back to City Hall. Hit No Signboard for chili crab. Had some HK noodles and dao miu, and they were quite good. Weather was lovely.
You know, I dont know if it was just too much work to extract the meat, but I found the chili crab to be a letdown. I would have preferred the black bean lobster in Chinatown for a combination of meaty goodness and savory flavor. I may not like chili crab; the sauce wasnt very memorable, and the crab, while meaty, seemed a bit lacking in flavor.
Walked around in the giant Marina shopping center, chased it down with a little green tea, and by now my sandals gave me blisters (I'm from NYC so it's been a little while since I wore sandals!).
People have been uniformly friendly, even the taxi drivers. Chatty, personable. Staff at hotel very helpful. Missed my connection in Narita with United so I barely squeezed on to Singapore Air (got last seat much to anger of woman behind me at the UA Connection Counter), and sat in a middle center seat for 7 hrs. Longest I've flown in cattle in 5 yrs, and even then, on a long HK flight, I had bulkhead seat. The service was pretty nice, if somewhat strict (seatmate had to put up tray table even when finishing up embarkation card RIGHT THEN). Food was good for economy, didnt even get a peak at Raffles Class. Im sure it's nicer than UA, and I'm so used to UA that any change would be great. Maybe on next biz trip I'll try and fly SH.
Im sure I am missing a few things like the night zoo, and I think I would come back to Singapore for a couple days (perhaps on way to Bali or something). I'm too tired, and the suite is too accomodating, for me to venture out again.
Was surprised that the city map given out at desk had ad for 'sensuous massage' which invited you to take 'one step further'. Made me look at Singapore in a slightly better light!
:-)
Oriental upgraded me to a suite, which was very nice. Lovely room, twin beds (thought a friend might come crash from Malaysia but too busy). Service was very pleasant, room service coffee was excellent.
First stop was Takashimaya. As a department store, I preferred the one in Tokyo - so much of the stuff to buy is available in NYC. But I hit Crystal Jade on the 4th Floor for a little dim sum, it was good. Had char siu bao and some har gao, and it was clean and tasty. The small plate of beef noodles with ginger and scallion was OK. I dont love ginger and scallion but I figured, what the heck. I love noodles.
Then went to Mustafa Center. Walked around, felt like some of the Hong Kong Mong Kok electronics buildings, except with a wide variety of (legit) regular goods. Walked towards Little India, hopped on MRT, went to Hyatt area. Checked out the food court, the little stores, bought a coupla things, then took MRT back to City Hall. Hit No Signboard for chili crab. Had some HK noodles and dao miu, and they were quite good. Weather was lovely.
You know, I dont know if it was just too much work to extract the meat, but I found the chili crab to be a letdown. I would have preferred the black bean lobster in Chinatown for a combination of meaty goodness and savory flavor. I may not like chili crab; the sauce wasnt very memorable, and the crab, while meaty, seemed a bit lacking in flavor.
Walked around in the giant Marina shopping center, chased it down with a little green tea, and by now my sandals gave me blisters (I'm from NYC so it's been a little while since I wore sandals!).
People have been uniformly friendly, even the taxi drivers. Chatty, personable. Staff at hotel very helpful. Missed my connection in Narita with United so I barely squeezed on to Singapore Air (got last seat much to anger of woman behind me at the UA Connection Counter), and sat in a middle center seat for 7 hrs. Longest I've flown in cattle in 5 yrs, and even then, on a long HK flight, I had bulkhead seat. The service was pretty nice, if somewhat strict (seatmate had to put up tray table even when finishing up embarkation card RIGHT THEN). Food was good for economy, didnt even get a peak at Raffles Class. Im sure it's nicer than UA, and I'm so used to UA that any change would be great. Maybe on next biz trip I'll try and fly SH.
Im sure I am missing a few things like the night zoo, and I think I would come back to Singapore for a couple days (perhaps on way to Bali or something). I'm too tired, and the suite is too accomodating, for me to venture out again.
Was surprised that the city map given out at desk had ad for 'sensuous massage' which invited you to take 'one step further'. Made me look at Singapore in a slightly better light!
:-)