Spectacular Singapore

I was blessed enough to be able to visit Singapore for 3 days last week to visit my special friend Carla (remember she recently got married) and her hubby. I had never been to Singapore before so was really looking forward to it!

I arrived late Thursday night to their amazing apartment. Wow! They are based in Scotts Road which is off Orchard Road which is apparently THE place to be. Carls had done a fab job of decorating their apartment in a contemporary and chic look, really stunning. Carls then dragged me up to the rooftop jacuzzi where we caught up. 

Carla was kind enough to take Friday off work to spend the day with me. It was a sunny/cloudy day so we decided to chance our luck, put on our bikinis and headed off to Sentosa island. On the way there the heavens opened. We arrived at Tanjong Beach Club, had a quick look around and hopped straight back in the taxi. We got dropped at Universal Studios and decided to grab a cuppa at Starbucks to decide our plan of action. Much to our dismay we threw in our beach towel, hopped on the train and popped up at the Botanical Gardens. We took a steady power walk through the gardens admiring the beautiful scenery and had a squizz in the National Orchid Garden which has the largest display of tropical orchids in the world, quite spectacular! After that it a quick stop at Ion Orchard for a bite to eat and then back home for a swim to cool off from the insane heat and the a session of boxing with Jude, Carla's trainer.

 

Friday evening it was dinner at LeVel33 which is on the 33rd floor of one of the buildings surrounding the marina so you can imagine the amazing views.

Saturday started mid-morning with breakfast at Jones the grocer at Ion Orchard followed by some retail therapy. Singapore has all the major brands such as Topshop, H&M, Forever21, New Look etc so we got one or two nice pieces. We managed to fit in some chill time and then a workout to get the blood flowing for the evening ahead. The night started at the magnificent Lantern Bar, Fullerton Bay Hotel where I tasted my first true Singapore Sling. No messing around with those, crumbs! We then made our way down to dinner where we had front row seats at Palm Beach, for an awesome show with military helicopters, jets, lightshow and fireworks. Dinner was the famous pepper crab, bibs and all, and it definitely lived up to its reputation, delicious! My eye had been on the Marina Bay Sands hotel since we arrived so we headed to the top for drinks. Ku De Ta, is the most amazing bar overlooking the whole of Singapore and you can even see Indonesia from up there, truly magical. After a few drinks there it was time to head home for some much needed sleep.

 

We had a sleepin on Sunday too which was fab as I woke up feeling rather tender. We decided to hop on the City Sightseeing bus to take in the last few sights for the weekend. We popped into the Raffles Hotel with the famous Long Bar where the original Singapore Sling was invented from there it was on to Little India. Little India was abit disappointing. I was hungover and craving samoosas (as you do) and there were none in sight! I forget that proper Indians aren't like a Durban Indians, quite a pity really. Chinatown was the next stop and it was great! Awesome shops and restaurants and had a good Chinese vibe about it, really enjoyed it! From there it was off to lunch at PS Café which was divine. A stunning, funky cafe in Dempsey Hill. The food was great and the company greater. 

 

 

I then started my 31 hour trip home which involved flying from Singapore, Bangkok, 4.5 hour wait, Dubai, 6 hour wait, Durban! Decided a needed a little pick me along the way so my watch of 3 years had packed up while away so decided to spoil myself with a new one.

 

My observations of Singapore:

-it's a super clean city

-Everyone can speak English but talk in riddles most times

-The humidity is guaranteed to bring your inner Monica out

-There are no beggars or homeless people

-Sunday is chaos and becomes a mini Philippines with screaming woman 

-The taxi service is efficient and reasonable 

-There are 3 types of taxis- luxury, normal and shit boxes

-The air con is always 5degrees lower than it needs to be 

-Food and drink are expensive......well most things actually 

-There are plenty of awesome restaurants and bars 

-Everywhere has wifi

-The marina is spectacularly beautiful and def one of my fav places

-The Singapore dollar is a very strong currency 

-They have a pork mall.....ha ha well not really, carls will get this ;)
 

 

I had such an unforgettable weekend in an amazing city with special friends who spoilt me rotten xx