How did this happen?

So it would seem that with everything I do, I’ll worry about it incessantly and then when it comes down to it, just get on with it. Once I started the race and found myself out in front keeping up with the guys I thought “oh fuck it, I may as well see if I can win it” …and I did! Yep, I was the first female finisher and came tenth overall. Eileen says she is going to slap me next time I start doubting myself, and indeed, I may well slap myself. I had imagined this to be a once off, but I’m already thinking of coming back next year for it was a fantastic experience and a timely reminder that I can do anything I set my mind to. Somehow I’d forgotten that…

But with the race over, I was finally able to relax and we returned to Singapore for the remainder of the holiday. Now I don’t know whether I have changed or Singapore has changed since I was last here (probably a bit of both), but there is so much going on here I’m already regretting not staying longer. Naturally a good portion of the time remaining has been devoted to shopping but the nights are a culinary adventure and a bacchanalian* delight. Everything has been good, but I must make special mention of one: Nox Dine in the Dark. Yep, as the name might suggest, it’s a restaurant where you are deprived of sight and basically eat whatever is put in front of you, without being enlightened as to its contents. As you might imagine, this was even more unsettling for me than the big race, but I decided to do it anyway. I don’t know whether the food was naturally good, or lacking one sense made the others sharper but, though I enjoyed it, I found it rather unsettling overall. The good thing about being in the dark is no one can see when you spit the food out (although I only did it once – lol).

The do again list:

• My Little Tapas Bar – eggplant toast was amazing and finally a decent glass of red wine!
• Oxwell & Co – make your way upstairs for the rooftop gin bar
• Senso Ristorante & Bar – street front dining or you can be a bit more civilized inside
• Nox Dine in the Dark – not exactly cheap, but not to be missed (and right near where we stayed)
• Pan Pacific Serviced Suites – don’t bother with a shoebox of a hotel room when this is on offer

*we’re not really indulging in orgies – just drinking lots

Did I say I was over shopping? apparently not. But I haven’t bought any chocolate the whole time I’ve been here so I haven’t been totally bad. Before we went on a shopping splurge (or attempted to) we went to Sentosa Island. What an extraordinary display of crass commercialism. Everything you did cost something – except for walking, but depending on where you were walking, even that cost sometimes. I even managed to entice Chris onto the Luge. You can see how much he enjoyed it from the photo. We thought that, after the zoo, visiting underwater world might be pretty impressive too, but it was a disappointment. Too many fish, too little room.

We’re at Changi Airport at the moment – I managed to get on a free internet terminal but time’s running out – 9 mins to go so I’ll have to make this short and sweet. We’re almost ready to fly out to the Maldives so I may not be inclined to write very much. Oh, who am I kidding – a week of relaxation? I will be climbing up the walls with boredom. The internet will be my lifeline. Thank god for wireless access in the hotel room 🙂

Well we did Orchard Road today. The big shopping mecca that is supposed to be THE place to go in Singapore – if you have a platinum credit card or a sugar daddy, that is. Prada, Versace, Armani, the glamour shops are endless – and I didn’t dare go in! I’ll just stick with Gap which is about my price range. By the way Emma, the clothes I’ve bought are *mine* and mine alone.

Oh, I forgot, we did do something cultural – I had to throw Chris a bone so we went to the Asian Civilisations Museum. What a snore fest. Yes, I am a philistine – but I’m also over shopping too, so does that balance it out?

We’re going to hit the hotel restaurant/bar for dinner and drinks tonight, but really, we’re just counting down the hours ’til we can get to the Maldives. I’m ready for sun, surf and sand… well, ready for cocktails at any rate.

Woohoo. What I’m here for 🙂

OK, so there was a bit more to the day that just basketball… there was shopping too! You can imagine just how much Chris was looking forward to it all. I’m a bit disappointed that there aren’t any real bargains – but it is certainly a shopper’s delight – if only I had wads of cash. That didn’t stop me hitting the Gap store, however. Now that is a shop that needs to come to Perth.

It took us two trains and a bus to get to the basketball stadium, but naturally it was worth it. Singaporeans haven’t exactly embraced the concept of basketball here so the crowd was pretty small. Makes you really appreciate Perth crowds. Our court announcer is great – and so are we (speaking as part of a collective; being one of the crowd). Nice to get a win after they spanked us last time we were there. Sure would have ruined the holiday if they’d lost.

Now we’ve just got to kill one more day before we can get to the Maldives. I think I’m over shopping. “What!” I hear you gasp. “That’s like saying she’s over chocolate.” But I swear it’s true… well maybe just a couple more malls 🙂

Today was the day I realised that I hadn’t brought any walking shoes with me and boy, were we going to be doing a lot of walking today. It started with a trip to Mt Faber because I desperately wanted a trip in a cable car. Last time I was in Singapore I must have been all of 10/12? and it’s one of the few things I remember. After coming up from the MRT (train station) into a shopping centre, it seemed a good enough reason to buy new shoes. The cable car cost $15 one way and man, that freaked me out. Naturally I kept imagining plunging to my death on the freeway below. When we got to the top it was somewhat of a tourist mecca. How come I don’t remember that from the last trip? The walk down was jungle-esque and the hokey gift shops were nowhere in sight.

Back to the hotel room to prepare for our big excursion: the zoo. Now you might think that a zoo is a zoo, but the Singapore zoo is something else entirely. For a start it is huge, but mostly it is impressive for the fact that the animals are almost arm’s length away from you. Well, that’s a slight exaggeration, but not by much. I was going to go on an elephant ride but the queue was too long. If only I’d known what was coming later – I would have jumped at the size of that queue! The animals are much what you would see anywhere, but the Singaporeans really know how to put on a show. I was cheering along with the rest of the crowd when the polar bear stood up and clapped.

The downside of the whole experience was the fricking night safari. Talk about tourist trap. We were herded – there’s no other word for it – down a walkway for 20 minutes to reach an ampitheatre for a “Creatures of the night” show. After being squashed in like sardines we got to see a few animals run out and eat things, while being exorted to cheer madly. A bit of a non event so we left to take in the rest of the night zoo. Big mistake – the queue for the tram (which I’d just paid $20 for) was indescribably long. It would have been another half hour wait and that was too much for my tired, aching feet. We took the bus and two trains back to our hotel where we watched The West Wing and promptly fell asleep.

We arrived in Singapore with Chris resolving to take a separate flight in future on any long flight we happen to be on. I know I should be able to cope with five hours, but it seems I really don’t like flying… so there it is. Add that to being in a strange country, and a hotel room without windows, it was no wonder that a quick trip to the pub was in order and after a  vodka and orange or two I was starting to enjoy myself.

The hotel itself is pretty luxe (www.thescarlethotel.com) and fortunately close to public transport. We managed to figure out the rail system and bought ourselves an Ezlink (like Smartrider) to get around on train & bus. We hightailed it to the river to see what was going on NYE but it wasn’t particularly exciting. There was a beach party but… well, hell no! Back at the hotel we drifted up to the roof-top bar for cocktails but the set menu seemed a bit much so we went searching for a dim sum to tide us over. We are staying in Chinatown after all. We would have stayed up for the New Year’s Eve celebrations, but we couldn’t quite make it. They were having a good time in the lobby though – music and games throughout the night, or so it seemed – we slept right through it however. Maybe we’re just getting old 🙂