Today we had planned on doing Gardens By the Bay and the Zoo, but woke to a very grey day. We met at breakfast where Lana asked our lovely waitress, Stephanie, if she thought it would rain today. She looked out the window at our expansive view of rain and said yes in a tone that implied we were a bit stupid. It was pretty obvious, it was already raining! Lana had meant to ask if she thought it would rain all day. It was decided the weather was too wet so we planned to do a bit of.......Shopping!!
Dee, Ali and I headed over to Robinsons, directly across the road and spent a couple of hours perusing the store. Many pairs of shoes were tried on and a couple even purchased. It was a fun morning, but coffee was calling so we met Lana in the Somerset shopping centre and recharged with caffeine and pastry.
Heading back to the hotel we stopped into H&M, on another corner across from the hotel. More trying on and a couple of things bought.
Lana was feeling unwell, so the rest of us headed out to Bugis Street to the markets.
We caught a taxi to save the old girls' knee and foot and started exploring.
We came across a temple in Waterloo Street where there were hundreds of people worshiping. It looked like a flower market outside as they bought their offerings before entering. It was a fascinating sight which we stood and admired for a while. Further along there was another temple, not so popular but still being visited by worshipers.
We found the Bugis Street markets, a massive undercover complex with a lot of little stalls. We wandered up and down the aisles and admired some goods and scoffed at others. It was quite hot and humid in there, but well worth the visit. Ali got a couple of things for her girls.
We went to a shopping centre in search of a bathroom and a cold drink. Ali and I had a quick look around the shops while we waited for Dee and Ali managed to buy something else! I found a top and then we ran out of steam and joined a taxi line. This one didn't move too quickly, but was entertaining, if a little hot.
Back at the hotel we joined Lana in the Club Lounge for drinks and planned our evening. Lana had been given the job of finding a meal everyone would enjoy and she had a couple of recommendations from home. Kilo was agreed on. The original recommendation was out of town but they had another location just down the road in the Somerset Centre.
We freshened up and walked over the road and began the search for the restaurant. It took us a while to find, up and down giant escalators, lifts and generally in the wrong direction.
We discovered it, only to discover it wasn't open on Mondays! Just like being in Perth. The shop it is part of (you can shop there on Monday night, but not eat) suggested we went to the other location, about 10 minutes in a taxi. OK
Into a taxi, the driver had no idea where we were asking to go but began driving anyway. He had a general confused air and eventually stopped and pulled out his road directory. No GPS for this old timer. With Dee trying to help him look at the map from the back seat and him looking at the wrong page it was a difficult find. Finally back on track, we kept going and going and going before turning down a little lane in the middle of nowhere. It looked like we were in the country, on a little track by the river. Our driver, even more confused stopped outside a dark building. Here we were. There were lights on in the top part of the building and you could see people in there, but it looked a bit desolate.Ali said "No!" and I agreed, I wasn't sure how we would get home. The poor taxi driver didn't know what he had done wrong as we had a discussion about whether to stay or go.
We told him to just take us back to the Raffles and we would find somewhere from there. Tempers felt a little frayed as we headed back.
So a nice drive in the country before arriving at the Raffles and being greeted by the doormen in their Safari Suits. We had a look around, admiring the beautiful old architecture and rejecting the expensive and dull menu.
We had driven past the Chjimes building earlier in the day. It was just up the road and we walked there hoping there would be something to satisfy everyone. The Chjimes is an old convent, beautifully restored and now a restaurant/bar complex. It is quite spectacular all lit up at night. We headed down to a Scottish Bar, The Highlander, and made ourselves comfy as the young Singaporean waiters in their kilts looked after us. Ali had some mini burgers (no, really!) and the rest of us shared some tapas plates which were delicious. Some good Scottish beer for me, something less interesting for the others (I forget) and we had a lovely evening in balmy Singapore.
2025-02-16