We had a remarkably smooth, and comfortable ride...well, as comfortable as one can be in economy class. But, a note to US carriers...Singapore Air has it ALL over any US carrier I've ever used. And, on a per mile basis, significantly cheaper to boot. We were served with real glasses in coach, and used real forks and spoons...no plastic in sight. We also had a choice of meals (Asian, Western and Indian) at three different meal services, plus snacks of all types whenever we wanted. Of course, beverages of all sorts were also included. We were right at 15 hours in the air to Hong Kong, where we stopped for refueling and a brief break (one hour total). Still, enough time for us to all get out of the plane and stretch our legs. Then, back into the plane for what was a "short" 3.5 hour flight to Singapore.
Changi airport in Singapore is, without any doubt, the most beautiful airport I have seen. Just gorgeous really. And the bathrooms...OMG. We were asked to "rate" the bathrooms on a touch screen as you emerged from them, and I don't think there was a rating high enough. LOL! I should have thought to grab a photo...maybe I will before we fly to Bali.
We were met at the airport by our friend, who quickly bundled us into cabs for the short ride (20 minutes) to our hotel, the Somerset Bencoolen, which is a serviced apartment hotel. We have a very adequate 2 BR, 2BA apartment, with more than enough room for the family to spread out and relax between site seeing gigs. It is conveniently located to the MRT (subway) which has allowed for easy (and inexpensive) exploration of the city. There is also one of Singapore's many "food courts" right across the street.
By the time we arrived, everyone was more than a little tired. None of us got much sleep on the flight, unfortunately, because there was a crying baby who managed to start up every time we started to drift off. Arrgggh. A very, very loud, piercing crying baby. Nevertheless, we managed to keep everyone awake until about 8 before going to bed for the night.
We walked from our hotel to the Flyer, but had misjudged the route and ended up walking way too far....of course, we also missed the fact that there was an MRT station practically right outside our door and would have taken us straight there. Oh well. The walk was nice, but long, given the heat, humidity and our general state of jet lag. As soon as we were done with the Flyer, we went back via the MRT to our hotel.
On the way, we stopped by the local food court. A food court in Singapore is somewhat similar to the food court at your local mall, except the food is freshly prepared for each customer, and is served on real plates with real utensils (as opposed to plastic and paper). And surprisingly in this quite expensive country, is remarkably inexpensive. Lunch or dinner costs somewhere around $3-4 US. One has the choice of Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Thai and goodness knows what else. Andy tried some sort of Durian "dessert" for his snack...the smell alone was enough to dissuade me from trying it. He pronounced it "interesting" but said he probably wouldn't do it again. The kids and I stuck to Dim Sum (which was delicious).
Refreshed from our food court adventure, we set off with our friends to Mustafas in Little India. I wish I had thought to bring my camera along here because it is hard to describe in words. It is a very (very) large department store spread over many levels. Aisles are jam packed with everything imaginable...groceries, shoes, clothes, electronics, jewelry, toys, etc...anything you can think to buy, they probably have. I could have stayed here for hours looking at all the different grocery products alone. And, the gold section was incredible. The display of necklaces, bangles, rings, etc was mind boggling. I think my friend got a photo, and I'll try to post it later.
We then traveled to one of the largest food courts for dinner. Great fun all over again. I had butter chicken and parata from an Indian stall, Eric had dim sum, Andy had laksa (seafood and curry soup), and Sarah had dim sum, which included chicken claws...yes, that's right, she was gnawing on chicken feet. A big ewwww factor from me, but she claimed to enjoy them. Ok. I'll take her word for it.
A cab ride home and we all crashed for the evening....
No comments:
Post a Comment