Posts Tagged With: Singapore

Singapore Day 2: my first Michelin Star dining experience and it cost $6.50!!

This morning should have been a sleep in but…time difference. We woke up, discovered how awkward it is to use the toilet when it has frosted glass walls (very, in case you were wondering) and then went exploring. B was determined to try a hawker centre for food so I let him choose. It turned out he picked the one that was on my to-do list! We had a late breakfast/early lunch at Ah Heng which is a Michelin recommended eatery….one of the only ones in the world where you can get a meal for under $7. It’s in the Hong Lim food court in chinatown. We had the specialty dish of chicken curry bee hoon me and it was excellent. Two large portions for $13.

Some reading beforehand indicated the best way to travel around was with an EZ link card. This is NOT the Singapore tourist card which is $20 for 3 days unlimited travel but rather is what the locals use to tag on/off rides. It’s much cheaper as it is pretty hard to spend enough to justify $20 for three days, most trips are approx 0.77c. You can also just top it up as you go.

We then went from brunch to Sim Lim Square which is 6 levels of electronics. B was in his element and I enjoyed looking at all the gimmicky stuff. I bought my first selfie stick! B was very unimpressed.

After that, we went to a few different shopping centres and finally landed on our mutual happy place – a store with every Osprey bag under the sun! Now we have matching day packs as well as suitcases lol.

As we left the final shop, the tropical rain hit and it poured. We ubered back to the hotel ($5) and discovered Uber here seems to be fixed price, which seems to mean you accept the price given by the driver before entering the car. My plan had been to come back and swim but maybe not in pouring rain….so after working out where the pool was, we enjoyed an afternoon cocktail and a lovely bath before joining the hotel provided happy hour at 6pm.

Dinner tonight was at Lagnaa which is in Little India and is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide for Singapore. You get to choose your level of spicy and if you go level three or above you get a peg. I really wanted a peg! But alas, spicy food makes my eyes and nose water like mad. B went all the way to level six and got invited back next week to their once a month “full moon party” opportunity to try level seven and above. He’s currently undecided…..

HFC perk 2: one of the coolest things about this hotel is the “handy” device. It’s an android phone that is assigned to your room and has unlimited data and the ability to make calls. It’s absolutely fantastic when out and about to use google maps and Trip Advisor!

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Singapore Day 1: travelling

Today was the day of travel. I really hate airports and flying on a good day….so arriving to be told our flight was cancelled due to mechanical issues (after it had already been changed twice) was not a good day! When we eventually left Canberra for Sydney I was pretty convinced we were not going to make it to the Singapore connection. As it was, we arrived, transferred terminals and then RAN through the airport. We made it with about 5 mins to spare. Arrrrrrrrgh.

Flying out over Sydney is always pretty though.

After 8hrs of uneventful, slightly bumpier than expected travel we arrived. Qantas really hasn’t impressed me this time around – lots of booking issues, delays and their entertainment system was average at best. When we finally disembarked it turned out Changi Airport immigration is currently a shitshow (still unsure on why) so we joined the lines of angry, tired and harassed looking people trying to get through. It took nearly an hour but the process of collecting bags and getting a taxi was easy from there….$23 later our taxi dropped us off at our home for the next 9 days and omgsh it’s so nice! I pinched the first photo from the internet but the others are all mine.

Things I remembered: my doggo. I checked in on him as soon as we got here and he’s having a lovely time at Laurel Pet Lodge!

Things I forgot: Percy the platypus! B is now claiming Percy is a xenophobe and refused to come to Singapore

Hotel Fort Canning (HFC) perk 1: the pillow menu and decent bed. First time in a long time my hotel experience has resulted in a full nights sleep!

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Christmas and NYE 2017 + upcoming 2018 trips

Christmas this year is in Canberra for the first time – just the three of us. After all the stress of starting a new job (and the expensive clusterf**k which was last year’s Christmas) I’m glad B put his foot down and decided we were staying home this year. We plan to meet friends for lunch and then relax in the evening.

It also meant I got to make the house all christmassy for once! Yes, my dog has a personalised stocking. Don’t judge.

On Boxing Day we will drive Bear to his dog hotel for 10 days as we head off to Singapore. Lots of fun stuff planned there so far including: cocktail drinking in the resort pool, dinner at NOX restaurant, a cooking class and visiting Universal Studios. It’s going to be a good mix of exploring and relaxing.

Not long after we get back from Singapore, I fly to Sydney to meet up with my 3 lovely girlfriends for my bridesmaids/hens cruise! Eeeeeeeee!! We are going on a 4 night cruise from Sydney to Moreton Island and back. It will be a great opportunity to drink, be merry, explore Moreton Island and relax together. When B and I do formalise things, we won’t be doing any of the usual hoopla that comes with “weddings” so this is my time with the ladies so they know how important they have been in my life ❤️

After returning from the cruise we have the following trips planned so far for 2018.

  • Late January we are heading to Sydney for the weekend to see the Foo Fighters
  • In February we are doing a quick 3 day visit to Perth for a special event with friends + family catch ups
  • Easter will be spent at Tomakin Beach letting Bear run amok at the dog beach
  • April school holidays = the Melbourne International Comedy Festival again! Woohoo. We booked a better hotel this time
  • July school holidays will possibly see us visiting Brisbane/Gold Coast to meet a tiny new family member…or perhaps a snow trip to Thredbo? Nothing is locked in yet
  • At the end of the year we will probably look at another overseas visit. Japan was always somewhere we wanted to go back to but B shattering his wrist means that may be off the table in snow season now. We are tossing around a Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand visit as well. We have both pretty much agreed that we will save anymore really big trips (like the Northern Lights!) until B has his long service leave on a few years. Although if we don’t go back to Perth next Christmas either that’s a 7 week chunk of leave for me….we could do a lot in 7 weeks!
  • At some point we will also have to choose a Honeymoon destination. Argh.
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