Je ne comprendhe pas 'slumming it' - Singapore

Our visit to Singapore started brilliantly when we were upgraded to business class at Bangkok airport. 'oh god, business must have run out of champagne' was Papa's charming response when he heard this news. Well, we did our best. Less brilliant was the torrential rain upon landing, having not seen rain for a month, we were taken aback.

But we manned up and entered the bonkers luxury that is Marina Bay Sands. Just the structure itself is impressive (as is the cost of the minibar - youch) and the view from the pool on the roof is to die for. Possibly quite literally if you fall out of the infinity pool, 57 stories up.




Marina Bay Sands





The infinity pool on the 57th floor

A little swim, then something to eat, which becomes a recurring theme during the three days we're in Singapore.

The following day, we leave behind the rooftop pool and the mall stuffed full of designer shops and head out to see the ex-pats. Mike and his wife Cassie are charming and fun, they take us out for dim sum and reassure us that it's not just us that get looked at like we're freaks when we ask the locals for something verging slightly off the norm. Us soft Westerners thought that staying in a five star hotel meant that when you asked you got, but here in Singapore, asking for a caesar salad when it's not on the pool bar menu, but is on the room service menu throws the staff into panic. Cannot, cannot, cannot.




Mike explains the 'cannot' culture to us.....





........while Cassie, Vicks and I neck mango margaritas

On this visit, and never one to say no to a dare, I try durian fruit. 'Tis truly evil.








Having recovered from the durian by the following day (and with the help of aforementioned cocktails) we decide that we should really leave the hotel rooftop, so go for a nosy at the Gardens on the Bay, opposite our hotel. it's very pretty and we finally discover what the strange purple towers are that we've been able to see from our hotel room - they are living walls of plants.



As a treat for our last night in Singapore, we head to the rooftop restaurant at Marina Bay Sands for a couple of sunset cocktails and some nibbles. We get a little pissed, flirt with some random guests, including the chef and have the most amazing meal.





The food is seriously, properly good, I'm going to blog it separately, as it deserves a page all of its own. There was foie gras! There were scallops! We didn't even have to promise them our firstborns in order to pay the bill.







Foie gras and rose wine after a month of noodles. There are no words.

The day after the night before requires sustenance and sitting down. Fortified with Bloody Marys, we take a sightseeing tour of Singapore. Which turns out to be a mistake, as it's raining torrentially, we can't see anything or hear the speakers, and spend our time mournfully looking at the water gushing down the stairs from the open top deck, and willing Raffles to get closer so we can dart in for a Singapore sling.

The Long Bar at Raffles is weird. I expected a posh bar with a dress code; not a bit of it. There are peanut shells all over the floor and the waiter is surly (cannot). Although I don't know what the inside of the hotel is like (they only let paying guests in, not riff raff like us), it seems that the Long Bar is resting heavily on its laurels as the bar where the Singapore Sling was created. They do make a pretty mean one though.










And before we've even blinked, it's another airport for the first of three flights that will take us to Uluru. That bloody rock had better be worth it.