Singapore – Quickly
Waking up in Bangkok we needed a massage at healthland but sadly they were all booked up and we needed to head off to Su-wan-na-phum (BKK) around 11 for our 1:30 departure. We decided to settle on the business class massage in the spa and went for breakfast at the hotel. This day was surprisingly a light eating day for me as I decided we would go to Jumbo Seafood for dinner and partake in some chili crab(s). Breakfast quickly came to an end and we were on our way to BKK.
Once we arrived at BKK we quickly found the business class check-in area and were greeted with a look of ‘you don’t belong here-ness’ however once we explained that we in fact did belong there we were shown to a check in agent. Passports were handed over and the keystrokes began to fly. It became rather apparent that there was an issue when the agent needed to call people over to her computer. I am still not sure as I was half paying attention to the explanation whether this was something United did, I did or if I was being ‘relieved’ of the last of my Baht. Somewhere along in the ticketing process some departure taxes were not collected on behalf of someone or so I was being told, at which point my wife lost it and started going on a tirade similar to the shirako episode a few days before. In the midst of this exchange I caught a glimpse of the screen and the total was about 40USD needed to be paid in order for us to go on our way. While my wife was yelling I walked over to the nearest currency exchange and moved some yen into baht and paid the ‘tax’. I explained the cost to my wife as best as I could or thought I did, still don’t know, and honestly don’t care too much. After the money was exchanged we were given access to the first/business class immigration and checked out of the Kingdom.
We slummed (walked) it over to the spa where we made appointments for our 30 minute massage, we chose the foot option. It was a very quick wait and cold pandanas tea was given out. Our masseuses’ came to collect us and were shown to the section of the spa where the massage would take place. We were seated and told to remove our shoes and were set for relaxation when the LOUDEST human walked in for I assume the same service. For the entire 30 minutes he would not stop asking questions of his masseuse, where are you from, what did you do, etc…it seemed like a first date. She tried to get him to quiet down but he was having none of it. My masseuse and I looked at each other and both shook our heads. The massage was great and with the exception of Mr. Loud the atmosphere was great.
We spent the rest of the time in the Business lounge across the hall until it was time to board. Boarding was soon called and we walked to the gate. While standing I got a chance to grab a photo of the A330 taking us down to SIN.
Widebody for a little over 2 hours:
One note about the plane as all I did was again watch breaking bad for as long as I could. There was a terrible lack of AC and or any sort of air other than hot and humid air. I was extremely uncomfortable during the flight down and I wasn’t sure what was going on. None of that mattered though as I was about to land in what is in my eyes the greatest City-State in the world, albeit for 20 hours.
I had the pleasure of spending three days here last year (previous report -
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...h-will-ya.html) before venturing back home and I loved the city so much I have this pipe dream of moving there in 5-7 years. My wife has never been so I had to impress her if my pipe dream would become a reality.
We booked ourselves a club room at the Grand Hyatt Singapore. It was a nicely appointed room; however one issue that came up was the lack of detail in the bathroom. The entire room was beautiful with the exception of the bathroom shower/toilet portion; it appears that they just phoned it in on that. Again, who cares I’m on vacation and in Singapore and it’s Chili Crab time. While I do not pretend to know the first time about Chili crab other than the fact that it is delicious I understand that it is a highly debated topic. Wanting to show the wife somewhat of a good time we opted for Jumbos on the waterfront. Jumping on the MRT we made our way over and what would become a theme in Singapore we assumed we could get right into this large restaurant on the water, after all it was huge and it was Sunday at 8. Imagine my shock when they said no dice and we were more than welcome to come back at 9:45pm to try again. Now I haven’t eaten for some considerable amount of time and that made me extremely unhappy, but it was my fault and I had to suck it up. We weighed our options and looked for an alternative when we spotted the brewery and said we’ll go in for an appetizer and a cold beverage. On the way back over the bridge we decided to put out names down for the 9:45 reservation at Jumbo. I am glad we decided to do that as just as we walked up someone cancelled their reservation for 8:30pm and we were given first crack at it.
This made me happy:
Yes I put the bib on and yes you would be a fool if you didn’t put one on.
Sorry for the instagram link chili crab:
http://instagram.com/p/XRFBFBle_6/
After the chili crab was demolished, we still went over to the brewery were I did not enjoy the 17USD beer, but I enjoyed their sliding scale of prices due to the time of day. We decided we were tired and would pick up the next day, jumped in a taxi and went back to the Hyatt.
We woke up again early and I had a game plan for breakfast that included what else, a hawker center, specifically Adam Road Centre for some Nasi Lemak. Imagine my horror when I get to Adam Road and they have a giant sign up for spring cleaning and everything is closed. Surely someone had to be open, I mean I was in town trying to show it off for the purpose of moving, did they not get the memo? Clearly they did not as no food was being prepared anywhere. Well backup plan was to head down to Merlion park and eat in one of the overpriced restaurants on the waterfront. Back to the MRT and 20 minutes later we arrived at the backup breakfast restaurant and guess what…well if you said it was closed you win the prize of getting the read the rest of my drivel. It’s not looking good for me or Singapore right about now. I’m not entirely sure how my wife operates in the morning but I’ll try and sum it up; she flies out of bed and eats breakfast so when she doesn’t get fed for hours she isn’t the happiest person to be around. Thankfully around the park is a bakery on the corner I believe it’s called the Corner Bakery, food was had and our mood slightly improved but time was running short and we needed to hussle.
A few pictures were taken:
Ignore the water behind me it was falling out of my camera bag:
Then we headed to Chinatown where I had the most amazing sandwich thing to hold me over until we got the Bali that night:
If anyone can tell me what that’s actually called I would appreciate it as I still have no idea even after asking the person that made it. After Chinatown it was back to the hotel to pack up and check out to catch our Qatar flight down to Bali. Thanks for reading so far, more coming soon.