After getting thoroughly soaked touring the Gardens by the Bay, it was time to start the tour of Dick’s regular hangouts. With an estimated 100 trips to Singapore over the last 20 years, there are obviously going to be a few favourites that have a bit of local colour. So we started in Tanjong Pagar, a well preserved district just outside the CBD. This is where Dick almost always stays when in Singapore because of the choice of restaurants and it’s on the same train line as the office.
But alas, we had to move Hotels over to some cheaper digs in the Muslim Quarter. A Hotel called the Sultan, just off Arab St on the second last night of Ramadan. We chose to eat early because we knew there would be a rush as soon as the evening prayers were finished. The mosque was beautifully lit with neon colours.
So for the last day in Singapore we really only had 2 duties:
1) Lunch with Dick’s workmates and 2) Get on the plane tired so we could sleep on the 12 hour leg to Milan.
As one objective was to prove that Dick hasn’t been telling fibs when he has been saying the best eating in Singapore usually is about $4/meal, we all went to a Hawker Market near the office in Jurong East. In this case the Hawker Stall is Michelin Rated, so it wasn’t your average Fish Head Curry.
Going round the table it is Jesse holding the camera, then Eileen, Qianqiao, Jack, Kovin, Xiaomin, Jo and Dick. Only about half the team in Singapore this week.
So the there was quick pass through Little India to see Mustafa’s – surely the greatest emporium in the world. It covers blocks of shops all engulfed in the need for floor space, it has everything you could need (50 brands of toothpaste at least, gold jewellery, cheap suits, electronics etc) and it operates 24 hours a day. Truly bizarre.
Then out to the Airport for a few hours. We had to check out the new Airport shopping centre because every Singaporean we met insisted we do. Well it does have the worlds tallest indoor waterfall, which was very restful. So we topped it off with a swim in the pool in Terminal 1 before getting on the plane.
More to come