Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: Singapore & Malaysia 2017
A somewhat soggy swan song
My
solo 'extra day' in Singapore got off to an unexpected start: I
pulled back the curtain to find that it was raining heavily and that
the city presented a disappointingly dull and dismal aspect. The
usual pattern of a bright start, followed by a build-up of storm
clouds in the afternoon, had been broken. Brief memories of my
November 2015 stay in Berlin were brought to life as I slipped out of my five-star hotel
to partake of a rudimentary breakfast in a nearby McDonalds.
Later, I set out in the pouring rain for Singapore's colonial
showpiece, Raffles Hotel, where there was a
lot of work in progress - presumably indicating a major refurbishment.
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I then made for the Singapore Art Museum, located in the former
premises of St
Joseph's Institution, a Catholic boys' school. I arrived at exactly
10am and said to a couple of security guards: "Is it opening any
minute now?" The reply took me by surprise: "No, Sir, it's reopening
in May". So much for keeping their website up-to-date, I thought to
myself. (Erm, not
that I was really in a position to criticise!
)
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I considered returning to the National Museum of Singapore to see the bits that we had missed the previous day, but instead found myself walking towards the Parliament building and the National Gallery. It wasn't a case of wanting to see more of the latter; I thought that maybe I would come across some other indoor attraction in the area that I hadn't previously visited. It wasn't to be. I strolled towards Raffles Place and had a coffee in Starbucks to get out of the rain, then returned to the hotel via the MRT.
After a bit of chill-time in the room, I set out in search of lunch. Fortunately, I quickly found an attractive-looking sushi restaurant in the adjacent Bugis Junction mall. My chosen lunch venue turned out to be an impressively high-tech place. While they had the traditional carousel available, I chose to order using an iPad that was attached to my table. This was my electronic gateway to an altogether excellent experience, during which I built up a pleasing ensemble of sushi, sashimi, miso soup and some Yakitori chicken.
| RIGHT and BELOW: Lunch turned out to be an unexpected highlight of my final day in Singapore |
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I returned to the room for the last time, to catch up on my trip notes and then shower and pack in preparation for the long journey home. While this promised to bring another double-dose of Qatar Airways' excellent business class, from a sightseeing point of view the trip was now over. And what a wonderful experience it had been. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur had once again revalidated their credentials as vibrant, exciting cities with so much to offer and so much in common. They would surely continue to be firm favourites for both Bruce and me. I felt confident that we had both enjoyed their sights, experiences and tastes in equal measure.
And then of course there had also been the wonderful Pangkor Laut. Although as a prolific traveller I generally dislike the hackneyed phrase 'trip of a lifetime', I had to concede that in view of the continuing size of my 'bucket list', this was in all likelihood a genuine case of a trip component that was destined to remain unique. Thinking of Singapore & Malaysia 2017 as a whole, from five-star flying and hotel stays, to thrilling cities and a tranquil island retreat, this latest jaunt had once again served up a fresh, new collection of amazing memories that I knew I would cherish for years to come.