Breakfast at the Conrad is the usual cornucopia, but there
were a few disappointments, largely attributable to our
showing up shortly before closing time. First, the Chinese
noodles were gummier than usual (of course: they were old).
Then I was heading for the sushi bar, which was kind of
sparsely furnished by this time, when a bunch of young
lean types beat me to it; these were wearing Conrad logo
bicycling outfits and were all obviously part of a gang,
some taking the food while their mates watched their backs.
When they'd locusted up, there were but three little sad
slices of white fish left, of which I took two, consoling
myself with a few slices of admittedly excellent smoked
salmon. Staff had stopped refilling the juice carafes by
this time, so that was bad (you could ask for orange, but
I really wanted the guava and watermelon and others that
were out). Finally, the fresh fruit were like rocks. Not
to complain too much, there was still plenty to eat,
such as the industrial dim sum and the bacon (placed
thoughtfully next to the halal chicken sausage) and whatnot.
lili had a quite contrasting experience. She ordered a
waffle at the counter, and when the waffles came out she
grabbed one and returned to the table. Whereupon the chef
came out and smilingly handed her another, her custom-made
one! So I got my first taste of the Conrad waffle. It was
good. Note: the syrup that came with the custom waffle was
not real - it was jie mai ma or similar; that on the buffet
is real maple, and, yes, the difference is noticeable.

We walked around town a bit - lili reminded me that the
first time we had done this, I'd showed her around town but
very slowly, as I was in the middle of heart failure at the
time, and this day we were relatively sprightly. Our
destination, Lau Pa Sat, which I had my heart set on seeing
after its recent renovation. Well, it's renovated. Well,
it's only about half rented. There's the usual run of stuff,
plus some oddities - a South American stall, for example.

Guess what we found. Mang Kiko, or at least an offspring of
it. I got a lechon kawali and "vegetable" combo special.
lili said, you're going to the Philippines in a few days,
why eat Filipino food now? to which the response was, I like
it (plus it's cheap). The fried pork belly was excellent.
The rice was excellent. The "vegetable" was black-eyed peas,
which I disdain, cooked to a mush. Luckily, the condiment
table offered vinegar and chopped hot peppers. Also, there's
a tureen of free-flow pork bone soup (well spiced, salty,
sour) to drink and to moisten your rice and flavor your
vegetable. lili consented to try a couple bites of pork
(she said she liked it) but made most of her meal of a
bottle of Diet Coke.

We ducked into the Fullerton to enjoy the expansiveness of
the interior, plus the restrooms and the air conditioning,
and then walked back along the river and Esplanade route
that had been blocked the previous night, passing the
government buildings, the Jose Rizal monument, and a whole
string of lurid anti-crime posters plastered up around the
construction sites. It was a gorgeous day, the temperature
about 27 (80F) with a gentle breeze.

A relaxed afternoon, followed by drinks at the lounge, and
an 8:00 rendezvous in the lobby to sort out transport. Only
two cabs were required, as the focus of this gathering has
changed to the Grand Hyatt; back in the olden mjm-led days
we'd get multiple vans from the Conrad.

I wonder about the continued viability of the SIN Dos,
though. I say this as participant in eleven of the thirteen
events. It used to be a way to maximize use of expiring SWUs
on $700 upgradeable fares and stay in $50 4-star hotels.
Or one could stay at the Conrad for $100-odd or in Little
India for $20. I used to do this on my own before Dos and
perhaps before FT but welcomed the company of likeminded
folks when the time came. Gradually, though, as the city has
reinvented itself as a playground for the rich and famous,
it's begun to price itself out of my range - it's certainly
not a bargain destination any more, and, aside from the
excellent food and the opportunity to thaw out in the midst
of the northeastern winter, the original reasons for doing
the Do are gone. I've heard rumors that the MLK weekend
Do may be relocating? I'd recommend Manila, but there are
those among us who hate Manila. Taipei? Bangkok?