My first visit to Singapore was met with a welcome I did not expect. First of all a 12 hour 40 minute flight from Heathrow on the faultless (until they flew me) Singapore Airlines felt more like 7 or 8 hours. This was the longest flight I had taken but it certainly didn’t feel that way. The service, the food, the entertainment, the seats and the time I chose were perfect!
Singapore and therefore Singaporeans pride themselves in being somewhat faultless and set an example to the rest of the world from their pioneering ERP traffic system to their chewing gum law (some say crazy, but it works!), and clearly were ashamed when I landed and had to eventually report to the Lost and Found office to report my missing luggage…along with another 20 or so passengers. Mutterings could be heard from a few locals around the baggage claim that this must have been a fault at Heathrow, it could not be a fault of Singapore Airlines. However, no sooner had I arrived in the lost and found office about to fill out the form, when we were informed that our luggage had just arrived on the carousel! The extended wait was not impressive, and the fault was with the container lifts, it broke down just before unloading the last set of cases off… mine!
Of course if there’s is a remote chance that Singapore airline staff are reading this, “You bozos, this is the first time I’ve flow with you to your home country and THIS is the welcome I get? An extended chance to stare at your conveyor belt? Feel free to comment here to apologise and I will let you know my KrisFlyer number for you to apologise in miles.”;-)
Having left the Airport I headed to my sister’s pad just off Grange Road. An impressive tree lined street with modern high rises appearing through the tree tops. Looking out of her apartment there are certain angles that appear as if you are looking down on a mini rain forest. Very impressive.
A quick shower and change and it was off to the Funan DigitalLife Mall. Now, this is an interesting place. Immediately and obviously, it is 7 levels of technology, geek’s paradise filled with everything IT hardware/software and gadgets galore. If you know what you want then this is the place, there’s plenty of options and competitive pricing too. If you are browsing, then after two floors your vision becomes blurred and you will hallucinate and begin to simply see mice everywhere, of the computer kind of course!
A few gems came out of that visit:
– Curry Puffs – A mouth watering smell that was torture for my nephew Sebastian.
– Kaya Toast – Thanks to my nephew Julian for warning me that the filling is green.
– Fresh Sugar Cane Drink
– Coffee-O or Kopi-O – It’s instant, but really delicious with a drop of condensed milk and certainly a caffine boost.
– $10 – 10 minute haircut! Not something I’ve tried yet but intrigued nonetheless. Obviously a Japanese idea for the busy individual who needs coiffure housekeeping but with very little time. A quick tidy up followed by a vacuum (of your head) and your comb as a souvenir, I hear to ensure hygiene, is a must try. Can’t see that model working in the UK; 10 minutes for £10 is not much of bargain, let alone a haircut, and translated; 3 minutes for £3, I hate to think. I will try it out later in the week.
Yes, the things that I was impressed with were the sidelines in the technology mall.
To conclude, dinner at my sister’s place was better than any oriental restaurant I’ve ever visited and to top it off, as I write this, my taste buds are screaming for more, but I can’t remember seeing what happened to it. 😦 Arrgg! Begs the question, what is the standard of the restaurants? I’m sure I’ll find out, but credit to Elisa and Juve for cooking up such a taste sensation! Let me know where the left overs are next time :-P.
Anyway, I must try and get some sleep, I’ve got to be up in less than 4 hours to continue my cultural learnings.
Too Early 