We took the early afternoon Singapore Airlines flight and arrived on-time to Changi Airport at around 6:30pm. The SQ flight was pleasant as usual with good services, good food and good movies. As usual, we retrieved our luggage shortly after our arrival and made our way to our hotel -- The Naumi Hotel, by 7:30pm. The Naumi is a recently refurbished hotel on Seah Street, just behind the famous Raffles Hotel in downtown Singapore. Our two-bedroom suite was quoted at 70 sqm or around 700 sf, but looked and felt smaller. There is one king-size bed in one room and a single bed in the next. The sofa in the living room was turned into a fourth bed to accommodate the four of us. There is a 50+ inch flat screen tv in the living room as well as a 42-inch tv in the second bedroom. In our living area, there is a small pantry with a refrigerator, microwave and an espresso machine. A nice feature for the hotel is that the soft drinks in the fridge, replenished daily, are complementary. The espresso machine which uses a "pod" of coffee per serving, was easy to use and produced delicious coffee.
We went to Newton Circus, the famous hawker center for dinner. The temperature was moist, but relatively cool at around 25 degrees centigrade. Newton Circus has been completed renovated since our last visit and all of our favorite stalls were moved. After surveying the area, Felicia managed to found someone to point us to the hawkers we used to love. We ordered chili crab, stir fry clams, oyster omlette, assorted satays, BBQ chicken wings, sambal kangkong, and a plate of Hainanese Chicken rice. We were so full from all of the eating, we decided to go for a walk after dinner and walked all the way to Orchard Road before heading back to the Hotel.
We had breakfast in the Hotel on Friday morning. The spread was small but efficient. The muesli was especially well done as is the homemade yogurt. Apart from the made-to-order eggs, there were only three hot dishes (baked beans, turkey bacon and a curry) which changed daily. There are three freshly prepared juices as well as champagne (Australian -- Jacob's Creek) available apart from some very weak coffee and tea.
I went to my Postbank to update our contact details and to update our bankbook after breakfast. Pia came over at around 11:15am and her driver took all of us to Forest Adventure in Bedok (see separate posting). We returned to the Hotel by around 3:30pm, had chicken rice at the restaurant next door. As Pia has an art class at 5pm, we sent her home on a cab after she finished her lunch and the rest of us went back to the hotel and took a dip in the small pool on the tenth floor of the Hotel. After a long hot day at Forest Adventure, the cool water in the pool was very refreshing.
Our dinner on Friday night was with the Wongs, at the Long Beach Seafood Restaurant on Dempsey Road. We arrived at the Restaurant at exactly 7:30pm. The Wongs arrived within 10 minutes after us. We ordered one pepper crab, one chili crab, a steam fish (Hsuan-Hock), boiled prawns, sambal kangkong and a whole fragrant duck. Since the restaurant was packed, our food took a while to arrive. The seafood was very fresh and perfectly cooked. Rosa brought a bottle of champagne and 
a bottle of white. Since Felicia wasn't drinking, Rosa, Kwan and I finished the two bottles by ourselves. Kwan picked up the dinner so I picked up the tab for dessert. Dempsey Road used to be full of antique shops housed in old "black-and-white" buildings. Apparently the recent boom in Singapore economy has pushed a lot of these antique shops out and replaced them with upscale pubs and restaurants. The dessert shop which was about a five minute walk from the Long Beach Seafood Restaurant, was full. Fortunately, Rosa knew the owner and got us a table with less than a ten-minute wait. The kids ordered cakes which were HUGE! I ordered a mojito, Felicia an iced tea, Rosa some red wine and Kwan a cup of hot green tea. We finished everything by around 11pm and headed back to our hotel.
a bottle of white. Since Felicia wasn't drinking, Rosa, Kwan and I finished the two bottles by ourselves. Kwan picked up the dinner so I picked up the tab for dessert. Dempsey Road used to be full of antique shops housed in old "black-and-white" buildings. Apparently the recent boom in Singapore economy has pushed a lot of these antique shops out and replaced them with upscale pubs and restaurants. The dessert shop which was about a five minute walk from the Long Beach Seafood Restaurant, was full. Fortunately, Rosa knew the owner and got us a table with less than a ten-minute wait. The kids ordered cakes which were HUGE! I ordered a mojito, Felicia an iced tea, Rosa some red wine and Kwan a cup of hot green tea. We finished everything by around 11pm and headed back to our hotel.We had a late Saturday morning, rounding everyone up at around 9am. While the three of us had breakfast downstairs, Nick went out and had some "Chow Quai-tell" or fried rice noodles. While Nick and Matt tried to do some homework in the Hotel, I went to the Singapore Airlines office at the Paragon Shopping Mall (two subway stops away) and pre-check-in all of us. We then met at the Koos' home -- The Four Seasons Apartment on Orchard Boulevard. We chatted and had lunch with the Koos before heading out to Sentosa. Clarence, as usual, was too tired from work and wanted to stay home and veg while Rosaline, Kyle and Sibonay came with us to Sentosa.
When we were
living in Singapore, Sentosa was one of our regular weekend destinations. It has changed in a major way!! The Cable Car which is located at the old World Trade Center, is completely revamped as have the area surrounding it. A new mall, Vivo City, is a huge shopping complex now draws locals and tourists to the area making the surrounding traffic horribly crowded. There were seven of us, so we took two cable cars to Sentosa. Our goal was to try one of Sentosa's new facility, the Luge!! The luge which is located next to the cable car station featured a 1.1km twisting and winding course downhill towards the beach. After one ride down the hill, he is hoisted up by a skylift (ski-lift) back up the hill. We bought the eight-pack for SGD49. After our initial ride, the kids wanted to do more and we bought another eight-pack. The extra one was "won" by Sibonay who was able to ride four times.
living in Singapore, Sentosa was one of our regular weekend destinations. It has changed in a major way!! The Cable Car which is located at the old World Trade Center, is completely revamped as have the area surrounding it. A new mall, Vivo City, is a huge shopping complex now draws locals and tourists to the area making the surrounding traffic horribly crowded. There were seven of us, so we took two cable cars to Sentosa. Our goal was to try one of Sentosa's new facility, the Luge!! The luge which is located next to the cable car station featured a 1.1km twisting and winding course downhill towards the beach. After one ride down the hill, he is hoisted up by a skylift (ski-lift) back up the hill. We bought the eight-pack for SGD49. After our initial ride, the kids wanted to do more and we bought another eight-pack. The extra one was "won" by Sibonay who was able to ride four times. Rain started to pour just as Sibonay completed her last ride and was in the process of buying ice cream. We rushed to the cable car station and return to base before the rain stopped the cable cars in mid-air -- stuck until the weather turn for the better (about 15-20 minutes later). Matthew was soaked by the rain, but we were very lucky to have been able to complete our luge and cable car experience without getting stuck.
We took a short stroll in Vivo City before returning to our hotel. Dinner was at the Lees' in their apartment on Balmoral Park. Felicia wanted to shop, so she took Matthew with her to Orchard and Scotts Road first while Nick and I waited until Nick completed more of his homework before heading out.
We were the first to arrive at the Lees. They have moved to their current home about 4-5 year
s ago, so we have been their once before. Lizse and Glenn were cooking their gourmet BBQ steaks on this night. It featured three slabs (two inch thick) of USDA Prime rib-eye steaks, plus a full slab of boneless short-ribs -- marinated and cooked over chopped onion and garlic. Additionally, Lizse prepared some pasta in aoli sauce (garlic, olive oil and anchovies), oven-baked french fries, corn on the cobs, and a nice arugula and cherry tomato salad tossed with vinegar and truffle oil. Yum!!! Glenn started us off with some Scotch. We had a 2000 Barolo which was very intense and buttery as well as a bottle of Opus One (which I was less keen). We ended the dinner with a very chocolaty port from Australia -- the Penfold Grandfather port which was WONDERFUL!! I didn't have dessert but they were a fruit tart and a terramisu cake. Mary Ann also brought five pizzas which were mostly consumed by the kids.
s ago, so we have been their once before. Lizse and Glenn were cooking their gourmet BBQ steaks on this night. It featured three slabs (two inch thick) of USDA Prime rib-eye steaks, plus a full slab of boneless short-ribs -- marinated and cooked over chopped onion and garlic. Additionally, Lizse prepared some pasta in aoli sauce (garlic, olive oil and anchovies), oven-baked french fries, corn on the cobs, and a nice arugula and cherry tomato salad tossed with vinegar and truffle oil. Yum!!! Glenn started us off with some Scotch. We had a 2000 Barolo which was very intense and buttery as well as a bottle of Opus One (which I was less keen). We ended the dinner with a very chocolaty port from Australia -- the Penfold Grandfather port which was WONDERFUL!! I didn't have dessert but they were a fruit tart and a terramisu cake. Mary Ann also brought five pizzas which were mostly consumed by the kids. On our last day in Singapore. We got up and went straight to the food court in Bras Basah Complex 
where we had two roti-prata with egg, a nasi gorang, a BBQ pork lo-mien, a Singapore style dry noodles to share among the four of us. Nick, Matt and I went to the Jason's Supermarket in Raffles City to pick-up some Singapore snacks while Felicia went back to the Hotel for some coffee and newspaper. We checked out at around 10:30am and headed back to Changi, to its new Terminal 3. Terminal 3 was just being planned when we left Singapore in early 2000. It was completed recently and operational since January. It is modern yet warm. Since we have already checked-in downtown yesterday, we just dropped off our bags at the counter and went inside. We picked up a bottle of the "grandfather port" from the duty free shop and even saw an Airbus A380 parked next to our plane on the tarmac before we boarded our plane!!
where we had two roti-prata with egg, a nasi gorang, a BBQ pork lo-mien, a Singapore style dry noodles to share among the four of us. Nick, Matt and I went to the Jason's Supermarket in Raffles City to pick-up some Singapore snacks while Felicia went back to the Hotel for some coffee and newspaper. We checked out at around 10:30am and headed back to Changi, to its new Terminal 3. Terminal 3 was just being planned when we left Singapore in early 2000. It was completed recently and operational since January. It is modern yet warm. Since we have already checked-in downtown yesterday, we just dropped off our bags at the counter and went inside. We picked up a bottle of the "grandfather port" from the duty free shop and even saw an Airbus A380 parked next to our plane on the tarmac before we boarded our plane!!The highlight of the trip for me is seeing all of our old friends again. Thinking back, I have known Glenn and Lizse for about 20 years and Rosa and Kwan for about 13 years!! Apart from Geoff in NJ, they are four of my oldest friends!! The boys certainly had a great time getting reacquainted with their childhood friends.
The three days went by very quickly and was just perfect. Any longer, it would've trouble our friends or doing things that are slightly lower on our "to-do list." Hopefully, it won't have to take another three years before we visit Singapore again. It was a WONDERFUL trip.
No comments:
Post a Comment