Singapore - Not Much More Than A Sling!

Our last day in Australia was spent travelling. Firstly we flew to Darwin and then after a four hour stopover in a very cramped and boring transit room, we flew on to Singapore.

Arriving at night meant that the view of the harbour was quite spectacular. Our first experience of Singapore highlighted just how clinical and clean the country is. As soon as I had stepped out of the cubicle at the airport toilet a cleaner went into it! Nothing like Heathrow!

We stayed at the Mandarin Oriental and this experience surpassed even that of Bangkok. We certainly finished our holiday in style. An upgrade to a Marina Bay view room should have been enough. However, we were checked in actually in our bedroom. Here we were given complimentary wine, chocolates and fruit. If that wasn’t enough, there was a ceremonial tea service, topped off by rose petals in the bath. The next morning at breakfast, we were presented with champagne and strawberries with the hotel photographer taking our photo. Having arrived so late at night and just falling into bed, the photo has not captured us at our best, particularly as the eye cream I had just put on hadn’t yet sunk in!

We were not quite sure what to make of Singapore. The Hop On Hop Off bus provided a good introduction but actually there were very few places we wanted to Hop Off! The Orchard Street shops didn’t hold much appeal nor did the Marina Bay area, other than cocktails on the roof of the hotel. Little India was quite enchanting but one of the only things we thoroughly was Chinatown, especially as they were gearing up for the Chinese New Year. We also found some last minute gifts for the kids. We have used these tourist buses in many countries but Singapore was undoubtedly the worst in terms of finding where the bus stopped.

Of course no visit to Singapore is complete without a Singapore Sling in the Raffles Hotel. Even though these were wildly expensive, pre-prepared and a little warm, we loved the experience. What we didn’t know is that on each table in the Long Bar you are given a large bowl of monkey nuts and it is custom to throw the empty shells on the floor. We had actually got quite a collection on the table because it felt wrong to throw them on the floor but eventually we went native adding to the considerable mess that was already there. That evening we returned to the Raffles Hotel for supper – two chicken curries came to less than the two Singapore Slings we’d had earlier!

Whilst it was lovely to have the Marina Bay view from our bedroom, the Marina Bay Sands hotel looked ludicrous to us although we know others love it. This comprises three buildings, linked at the top by a boat shaped structure. The view from the top is great (mostly because you don’t have to look at the hotel) with panoramic views across the whole of Singapore.

Our final afternoon was spent at the pool where we drank our bottle of complimentary wine whilst lazing in a cabana. The cabana had its own fan, music system and curtains. This was only the third time in nearly 4 weeks that we found the time to relax by the pool. It was bit late to regret that we hadn’t done it more often.

Sitting on the plane later that night we couldn’t believe that the holiday was over so quickly. Whilst we were excited to see the children, neither felt ready to go back home. It really had been the holiday of a lifetime but one that we both wanted to repeat. We had definitely caught the travel bug.