The prob, seems to me, is that the Lee dynasty appears to be
trying to suppress or at least homogenize "the rest of Singapore."
And the north and west reaches of the island, as far as I have
seen, are a wasteland, rather 1984ish. I did just e-mail LoriQ
about the possibility of going to Pulau Ubin for a day.

As for the night safari, I needed Carol to essentially lead me by
the nose, as I am night vision impaired, and it was no fun for me
at all, despite the paths being quite well graded. Others seem
to like it, though. It was interesting to go round a dark corner
and suddenly be eye to eye with a tiger (lit dimly but adequately
and separated from us by what seemed to be an all-too-thin
window).

Interesting idea. I'm only in SIN for late Friday, and Saturday's dinner, but if this is something that could be done on a 9a-5p basis, I'd be interested. I'm pretty sure WWBGD is going to have +1 in tow, and that might be of interest as well.

Anyone thinking of where to hold Friday nite's meet&munch? LPS has been consistently good, IMO, but anything else would be fine, too.
As for HKG - I'm inbound on UA 895, so a relatively short layover - but I'll be findable at the TG lounge prior to the onward flight! :)

Best, Dave

wines, anyone?
 

I recall we discussed bringing wines to this do last year....for those of us who don't adore Tiger Beer (or any beer...) Should we all do this? We can buy at the
Duty free shop close to luggage claim area in SIN....unless we are Singapore residents..:( They get nailed.

Flight is finally booked.
 

Yes, another RT in coach on an A330-200. Took many minutes to book my NW PDX-NRT-SIN-NRT-PDX flight. Arrive at 0035 on January 18. Finally got the fare down under $900. Patience pays off.

Now planning the remainder of the trip. Looking at flying to Clark in the Phillipines. Return thru KK, and Kuching and on to Pontianak, may DPS and Lombok.

Lori Q, pls. PM if you are around.

I'm joining the do as well. Arriving on SQ 21 from EWR on Fri 18-Jan. Staying at the Le Meridian. Too cheap on SPG points to pass up.

Yes, the Le Meridien seems to be the best SIN deal
 

I am also now booked into Le Meridien for 1600 starpoints + $30US. Total is $86 US buying starpoints to add to the account. Yes, no stay credit for the nights, but as a Gold, I do not get much in the way of benefits anyway.

See everyone in SIN.

Damn. That offer is no longer available. Would have jumped right on that to solve the hotel problem.

:(

still available for friday and saturday
 

Less than 1 minute ago, I logged into www.spg.com and the nights of 1/18, 1/19 were still available for the points and miles rate. Yesterday, I tried to also do 1/17, but not available, so probably the transit hotel for me upon arrival.

Please put me down as a "definite maybe"
I have to be in SIN for 21Jan. Looking to fly in on 18 Jan and join in 19 Jan.
Can definitely confirm in new year.

If all the meals have not been decided for this Do, thanks to Indo79, I have a copy of the Makansutra guide to Singapore eating. One can't help but drool while reading it.

If there is interest in using the guide, I could hook up with bseller so that he could transport it to/from this SIN Do@:-)

--

Do to kidney stone problems I am unable to attend the SIN Do. Those of you who have had them will know why my doctor does not want me to leave the country or travel on long flights until it is resolved. Can someone please volunteer to handle the Saturday night dinner coordination? Please post and I will leave the details of who to contact for reservations. It is not a lot of work. I will offer that person a Jan 08 UA SWU as an incentive. I hope this is not a violation of the rules against offering coupons in a thread.

I just noticed that I am on the to go list. I have to be back at work on the 15th to start a project so please remove my name for this trip. Hopefully, I can go again next year. Have a great time!

Dave

That is a VERY generous offer, I hope someone on this Do steps up.

Good luck !!^^

--

Gene, sad news :(

What about lithotripsy?

I suggest someone local do the coordination (keith, for example).
I'm really, really busy otherwise would volunteer, SWU not an
incentive as I wouldn't be able to use it. If nobody else steps
up, I could put in a few hours around new year's, though.

Sorry to hear the unfortunate news, Gene. If I may, let me offer some suggestions for the weekend.

It seems that a number of us are staying at the infamous Le Meridien on Orchard Road. Perhaps Friday evening at, say, 7 p.m., those in town meet in the Lobby. Normally, the large lobby (including bar area) seems to have enough room for a small group. If the customer service manager is still there, I can email him to save some space. I'm sure he remembers me from the last 2 stays since he intervened in both. We can have a drink or two and head out for a light meal.

Lau Pau Sat was a really good late night place since they are very accommodating and it is pretty conveniently located. If we do this, the cockles will not be on the menu.

Saturday poses somewhat of a conundrum. A number of things come to mind, all, unfortunately weather dependent and require a significant amount of walking. But all are easily reached and do not necessitate leaving the country.

1. The Singapore Botanical garden
2. Singapore Zoo
3. Jurong Bird Park
4. Grab a ride on the MRT and get off in one of the housing areas and wander.
5. Individuals may also want to shop. Why, I know not why since most everything is available other places.

Up thread, it was mentioned to see some of old Singapore on one of the offshore islands. This works, but may depend on infrequent ferry schedules.

The other option is to grab one of the frequent ferries to Bintan. I left out Batam since it has a high sleaze factor and also because I've never been to Bintan. Once there, we can hire taxis to take us around. Taxi cost is unknown. Single entry 3 day Visa is $10US for those of us who require one such as those coming from the US. Cannot speak to the requirement for other nations. Boat trip is about 1 hour each way, and, at least for Batam trip is quite interesting if one likes to look at the hustle and bustle of the harbor (harbour for our spelling challenged friends). Time difference is one hour. From what I've heard, this is the more upscale island, but still gives one a view not available in Singapore proper.

http://www.brf.com.sg/ifos2/index.jsp
http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/a...tin/bintan.htm
http://wikitravel.org/en/Bintan
http://www.penguin.com.sg/ferryservices.htm

Saturday evening, may I suggest Jumbo-East Coast. Yes, taxis are required to get there, but there is more a local factor there than at Riverwalk. It is seemingly somewhat less expensive.

http://www.jumboseafood.com.sg/special_branch05.html

Bookings can be made as late as 24 hours before and on-line. It is all on the web-site. Compared to Jumbo, I do not recommend Gold Coast due to ambiance (none) and lack of customers. Yes it is directly behind the Le Meridien, but phu taste (Pronounce as in Thai)

Sunday has a number of day-time options enumerated above. Also a vast choice of eating venues and cuisines for those of us who are not flying out immediately. A vaster local knowledge would be helpful. Perhaps, someone can contact Jkpatol (sp?)

A day trip could also be taken to JB, for yet another stamp, but there really IMHO is not much of interest there. A day trip to Malacca would be interesting but it is more than 6 hours RT, and who wants to sit on a bus that long?

Sunday evening could be Night Safari (An outstanding nocturnal zoo) even for those of us with night vision problems. Perhaps too late for those of us who have a 6a.m. flight on Monday.

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publis...ue_things.html

BTW, I am not a local, but located on the U.S. west coast.

Mike (known as Michael to Violist)