I must regret that I'm enjoying lovely New Zealand too much to take a side trip to SIN to join the fun.

Have fun everyone! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Sorry to say at this late time, but I'm going to have to cancel out. My hubby fractured his arm yesterday, and so now I'm staying home, digging out from our unexpected snow storm in NYC's freezing winter!!
PS-- let me know if anyone wants to get together later on in the year SIN or whereever as I'll have to change my CO ticket at some point!!

Aww, mauld, I'm sorry for the news. What a shame for your husband, what a shame for you - and a disappointment for us to not see you.

It 1AM here in SIN. MSY-MSP and I arrived safe and sound. Tired but checked in and ready for fun!

mauld,

What a rotten piece of luck. I can only imagine your (both of you actually) frustration at that little happenstance. I hope your husband mends quickly and I highly recommend that when ever you do reticket for your SIN trip that you consider a layover in Tokyo.

We shall miss you and toast you from afar.

Until next time,

Mike

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FT Pictures Page (hosted by markbach)
My Starbucks City Mug Collection Page
FT SIN RUN 2004 (2nd Annual Mileage Run For Chili Crabs)

UA_Eagle,

Been there and understand completely. See you somewhere sometime.

Best,

Mike

Perhaps a good time to visit would be in Apr...(Good Friday) for the food tours.

THE Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has launched a six-month drive to introduce Singapore’s local cuisine to the world in a bid to reach the hearts of potential tourists through their stomachs.

Named Let’s Makan (eat), the drive will be complemented by a slew of publicity and promotional activities locally and in the target markets of Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the UK.

To help market the event, the board has collated a list of 10 “must-trys” including chilli crab and black pepper crab, Hainanese chicken rice, fish-head curry, laksa and satay. The board said it hopes to establish a strong association between these dishes and Singapore as a destination in the same way that dim sum is associated with Hong Kong and tom yum with Thailand.

Visitors can pick up a copy of a 72-page food guide Makan Delights – An Insider’s Guide to Singapore’s Unique Flavours, which will be available at Singapore Changi Airport, Singapore Visitors Centres, tourist attractions, hotels and STB’s regional offices worldwide. The guide is available in English, Chinese, Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia.

Local food tours are also being developed together with the F&B industry and will be launched in April. Signboards with dining tips and insights to local hawker fare will soon be available at popular food centres. Visitors to Singapore spend 13 per cent of their total expenditure on F&B, which translates to S$700 million a year (US$412 million).

Meanwhile, STB deputy chairman and chief executive, Mr Lim Neo Chian has stepped down from his other role as chairman of the Jurong Town Council (JTC). Mr Lim was appointed CEO of JTC in 1995 before becoming its chairman in 1998.

I am not going to be in SIN in time for the DO but my family and I will be there from 23 Jan to 27 Jan. We are staying at Concorde. Would love to meet anyone who is still there.

I am in Singapore, and given the short duration of the trip, I decided not to adjust to the time difference. As a result, I have been sleeping in the afternoons and doing my exploring at night and in the morning.

I am looking forward to my introduction to chilli crabs tomorrow night. In the meantime, I am probably setting records for bowls of laksa consumed.

With my sleep schedule, we'll be meeting for wake-up drinks and chilli crabs for breakfast!

[This message has been edited by Flying Buccaneer (edited Jan 16, 2004).]

The UA contingent has arrived. Coming in from Narita together were mjm, violist, jan_az, chemist661, I-flybynight, bennie and me. Also making the flight was Freddie Jr.

Hi all

Well unfortunately as you all know, im unable to come through to Singapore due to mum. Her health is dangerously poor at the moment and I really couldnt leave here.

I hope you all have a fantastic time, if anyone has a cellphone number, please drop me an email so I can at least call you guys and catch up.

Mine is +64274069002 feel free to drop me a line.

Stay safe everyone and most of all, have a FANTASTIC time.

Best wishes

Dave

Dave, we're so sorry about your mum's ill health. I'm glad you're sticking close to home; Singapore and FlyerTalk will always be here. We hope that you'll have much better news to report in a few days.

Hi Mike,
I was great seeing you again on the flight from NRT last night.
Count me in tonight, I'll see everyone at conrads.
PS Thanks for introducing me to Flyer talk on a previous flight from NRT to SIN
Regards,
robert

Cool stuff! See you at the Conrad and then off for crabs.

Mike

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FT Pictures Page (hosted by markbach)
My Starbucks City Mug Collection Page
FT SIN RUN 2004 (2nd Annual Mileage Run For Chili Crabs)

Hello from the office in HK ! Hope you are all having fun. I managed a night out with a small group of FT'ers last night, but am here for the duration now. Shame.

Enjoy the heat in SIN and see some of you in a few weeks,

Graeme

My first trip to SIN. My first exposure to pepper and chili crabs. What a great nite

Next time I'll wear a skirt though http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Boy, it's soooo difficult to hold back on this remark...

This couldn't possibly be a FT event. It's 1AM and there are way to many sober people and the mini bar hasn't been touched.

Thanks mjm for getting us all together for pepper crabs. Loads of fun1

It was great to meet everyone, and I have to say I prefer pepper crabs to chilli crabs. They're great for breakfast, by the way.

Thanks for coordinating the reservations and the transport, mjm.

Safe travels, everyone!

I think I had too much crabs for a day....having crabs for lunch, and dinner. I didn't sleep till 6am as I had diarohea all nite.

Anyway, Carol, looks like I will have to pass on the high tea at Raffles. my apologies...

well guys I made it to Sri Lanka last night, I couldn't eat the pre-ordered meal of sea bass, I was too full of crabs. [have fun with that one]
I really enjoyed the evening and looking forward to meeting several of you in the future. What a great bunch of people.
Thank you for everything.
MJM, put me down agian.
Regards,
Robert

It was yet another flawless weekend executed by mjm. Typical of FTers, I-FlyByNight left the dinner to fly to Sri Lanka. Zvedza flew in from Vilnius, Lithuania, coming in from the airport solely for dinner. He then continued his RTW trip to Tokyo.

The UA flyers now scatter to various points of the UA flight map. We had mjm, Jan AZ, msy msp, prncess674, chemist661, wwee, violist, bennie and myself on the UA flight from Singapore to Narita this morning. Everyone's upgrade cleared, we earned mega miles, and we each qualified for UA's triple bonus promo, so we were all happy.

Has mjm hosted more Dos out of his home country than anyone else? I remember two in Singapore, one in NYC, another in the south of France...... here's a toast to Mike!


[This message has been edited by SanDiego1K (edited Jan 19, 2004).]

Ah shucks ma'am. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Kind words, but the weekend evolved so smoothly, and on the inspiration of an absent guest, mauld. Next year Michele.
Speaking of next year we have, I believe, decided unanimously that it is to henceforth be the Pepper Crab Do. The hands down winner for everybody right?

I will even make an effort to get next year's attendees to a place that does White Pepper Crab also. Wilson you know the one right?

My heartfelt thanks and hugs to my chat buddies, Carol and Jan. See you guys next month.

I was lucky to meet a few new people this time as well. That is perhaps one of the best things about these Dos, the ever growing circle of flying fanatics to hang out with. Hope to see you guys again somewhere soon. Bennie, make that an FT handle and come hang out with us more often. And of course Nathan and Rachel, a great team I hope to see again this summer with any luck.

Finally a special thanks to the fellow whose food sense I think has got to be second to none. A gentleman who made it possible for me to have a seat with all the rest of the gang in C on the way back. The one and only, violist. First aged rum is on me next time I see you sir.

Next year is on the cards everybody so plan accordingfly and I will look forward to seeing you in SIN again soon.

Mike

Soooo sorry I missed it this year! Hubby's arm is healing, so I should be in HKG in a months time. Mike, are we planning the Pepper Crab Do for 'same time next year' ?? If so, I'll book my trip as soon as the airlines allow http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif!!
Can't wait to see the pics!

Sounds like a plan to me http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I am fairly flexible on that.

You have to wait about 32 more days to book though because this year is a leap year.

Look forward to it.

Mike

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FT Pictures Page (hosted by markbach)
My Starbucks City Mug Collection Page

Oooh, I'm tickled to see that many have seen the light and converted to pepper crabs - they've always been my preferred choice! Jumbo is okay for black pepper crabs - many other much more delightful options if you guys are ever up for venturing beyond the East Coast options.

There's a great place in the 'burbs that serves a really impressive crab-noodle soup -- the broth is fantastic. Unfortunately the location lacks the fun of going to the sea-side. If anyone is interested I can pass on the contact info for the place. My friends and I usually get the crab soup, pepper & chilli to go, and pig out at somebody's place. Excellent grub.

What about No Signboard Seafood? They have got to be one of the best!

Post next year's date asap and I will try to make it.

Just said goodbye to Jan, who had to catch
a flight to Phoenix.

Thanks to all for making this a great trip:
special thanks of course to mauld, the
inspiration, and mjm, the impresario and
terrific host.

Cheers from the SFO-RCC, my third home.
ML

That's the name of the restaurant mjm mentioned to me. Guy Betsy began raving about white pepper crabs over a year ago to me, so I've already got a hunger built up for them - and I've only come in from Singapore!

I would guess that next year's pepper crab run would be the weekend of January 15/16, 2005, if we are sticking to Martin Luther King's weekend. I believe that Chinese New Year will not be a conflict in 2005.

For those who love massage, Bennie, Jan and I boldly entered a massage parlor in Chinatown. We were on Telok Ayer, where every second shop appeared to offer massage. We got a head, shoulder, and hand massage for 40 Sing Dollars for one hour, or about $25. The massage quality was superb. On a separate visit we paid just 20 Sing dollars for foot reflexology (40 minutes). Highly recommended!

And msp-msy got such a cool new cell phone that we are thinking that we may need to do another SIN run for cell phones!!! ( paging kanebear and ScottC http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif )

Seriously we all had a good time - some of us even had Singapore Slings at the Long Bar at Raffles - the first 3 or 4 sips didnt taste to good - but after that it was yummy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

I am sorry to have missed this event yhis year and glad eveyone had a good time I will make every effort to attend next year as I look forward to the Black Pepper Crab Do.

A very nice trip! Had a very nice time meeting everybody & having some great pepper/chili crab. Will have to do it next year!

Enjoyed my fav seat 15A LAX-NRT & NRT-LAX. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

which phone did MSP-MSY get? i'm eyeing on the sony erricson one, but will have to wait till my phone contract runs out in 6 mths time. Will have to agree that cell phones in Asia is far more advanced than in the US, but careful with the voltage though cuz SIN uses 220~240V.

Truly enjoyed and had a great time at the SIN Do....now I'm tempted to go to the HKG Do....Will see if I can get back from the US in time for it.

I am also very sorry to have missed it..I was called for Jury Duty which I 'd already rescheduled...and as luck was have it I only had to attend one morning! dang...tryiing now to figure a way to get to the HKG do..

next year in SIN...

Well I got the Nokia 6820. It is really cool, and of course I like gadgets. This thing has all the bells and whistles. (bluetooth, GPRS, camera and a full qwerty keyboard that flips out)Price was about $100 US less than if you could find it in the states.

It was great to meet everyone out there. For a second DO it was quite fun. Made it home in one piece and now am eyeing a good night sleep, been up since .... well that is a good question..

MJM thanks for putting the whole thing together, and I look forward to the first annual run for pepper crabs. SanDiego1K thanks for letting me crash the tea, when the list starting getting shorter, and my client bailed on the meeting. Also an appology to jan-az and SanDiego1K for creating serious gadget envy http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Hope to see you all soon

Perhaps we can incorporate a KL-Do next year too. Would be interesting to have a bunch of FT'ers in SQ F, albeit a short 1 hr flight. Also a great way to rack up nites with both SPG, Marriott, and Hilton presence.

I'd love to include KL on the next SIN trip. I'd like to see more of Malaysia than just JB.

Incidentally, my strategy of sleeping by day in SIN worked moderately well in preventing jetlag. I slept a few hours on the NRT-ORD flight, and solidly Sunday night after I got home.

THAT is the response I was hoping for.
Can we tenatively say the weekend of January 15&16 2005?

I have to say...my dad, who has lived in Singapore for 20 years, always liked those UDMC seafood places, palm beach, long beach etc. I took him to No Signboard Seafood in November and he was not convinced....yet. He took my sister to his favorite Palm Beach in December and now he swears by No Signboard They have the best Chili Crab, Black Pepper and White Pepper crab. They also have great seafood dishes. Yum yum, will be enjoying that in 17 days

Edited to delete a duplicate post.

[This message has been edited by dlouise37 (edited Jan 20, 2004).]