Singapore revisited: Food, sightseeing on foot, more food - May 8-10, 2011

Back to Singapore on Mother's Day!  Sheri dropped me off at the international terminal at SFO and I checked in without any issue.  Karen was flying in from SMF; I decided to surprise her at the gate mostly because the security line in the international terminal was so long that it was better to take a walkway to the domestic terminal and go through the short United priority security line.  A walkway exists on the air-side of the terminal that connects domestic and international, so getting back wasn't a problem.  I met Karen and we headed back to the international gates for some quick refreshment at the Red Carpet Club before boarding our flight.  When Karen presented her boarding pass to be scanned, a beep came from the machine...uh oh.  The gate agent said that she no longer had the seat that was assigned.  What?!  I had called United when we booked the tickets to seat Karen next to me, as I am allowed one companion to sit next to me in Economy Plus (or exit row in this case).  Karen's boarding pass had the correct seat number on it.  The gate agent didn't have a good explanation for the issue and just said she was off-loaded, and proceeded to find another seat for her, which was an exit row aisle on the other side of the plane.  I suspected that an air marshal had taken her seat.  On board, I asked the "air marshal" (he looked like a deer hunter) if he had preferred a window, to see if he'd swap for Karen's aisle, and he said that he did and that he had requested to be moved there.  Turned out there wasn't really a window at that seat, and he complained to the flight attendant if there was another window seat available...ugh!  However, sweet-talking Karen got the gentleman next to her to swap seats with me as he didn't care window or aisle as long as it was an exit row seat.  Karen saved the day!

Karen will open the door, and I will push everyone out of the plane

The food on board was not like the ANA bento boxes on my previous trip.  I don't even remember what we were served (besides a pre-packaged chocolate brownie...I always remember chocolate).  The plane didn't have modern in-flight entertainment so we were subjected to all the programming playing at the same time, selecting one channel to watch, with the programming to restart after the last channel finished before you could watch something different.  At least everyone had their own individual screen to watch versus a big screen up front.  I was trying to watch a movie (The Dilemma?) but my audio was screwed up and I'd hear a different movie.  I went to the back galley to complain (hoping to get an "inconvenience certificate" for $150 off my next flight) but the flight attendant ended up kicking a Japanese-speaking man out of the aisle seat in the bulkhead middle section next to us so I could use that screen to finish the movie.  She said that he was not in his assigned seat (one seat next door), so she could move him.  Poor guy, he was already all tucked in his blankets.  I felt bad that he had to move, but I couldn't not finish watching the movie after I had complained!  Once the movie was over, I tapped the guy on the arm and gestured that he could move back.  I wasn't sure if he understood me or not, maybe he was afraid he'd get kicked out of it again.

We arrived in Tokyo Narita late so no time to enjoy the ANA lounge and had to immediately board the next flight.  Karen retained her original exit row assignment so that was good.  Again, this plane had the prehistoric entertainment system, so most of the time I was reading my book (Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer) as I had already watched most of the movies.  We arrived in Singapore around 11:30pm on May 9th, a bit earlier than scheduled.  After clearing immigration, I saw that the airport information desk was open, but decided to get our bags first before getting an account for internet access, but that was a big mistake.  Baggage claim didn't have an information desk (I was in a different terminal than last time) and it was already past midnight by that time.  I hoped that our hotel would have some sort of free internet access.

We took a taxi to our home for the week, the Conrad Centennial Singapore.  The price for the Intercontinental on Hotwire was more expensive this week, and couldn't beat a direct booking on the Conrad website for this hotel.  It'd be exciting to stay at a new hotel anyway, to experience a different part of town.  The front desk agent asked if we wanted to add breakfast to the room...no thank you!  The hotel did offer free internet access, but only an hour a day (or so they claimed).  When you logged in, it would give an option for a free 15-minute package or paid packages of 30 minutes and above increments.  I wasn't sure if the internet would cut off after 15 minutes or if it would continued to charge, but we were very careful to stick to the 15 minutes and log off.

twin beds already turned down for the night

large marble bathroom

Acca Kappa bath products and assorted vanity items

refreshment station

pillow menu and teddy bear to keep

welcome fruit plate (not exotic fruits though, but maybe for Singapore...)

The next day, we were on the prowl for food.  I had read that there was a decent food court at Marina Square near our hotel, but the customer service lady at the mall said that it was under renovation!  She recommended to try Suntec Convention Center, so we headed there.  There was a "Food Republic" food court there and we settled on a brunch of oyster omelette, "carrot cake" (not the dessert, but made of daikon radish), and fresh fruit, washed down with dragonfruit-mango juice.  The oyster omelette wasn't the one we were expecting, and we learned that we should've ordered the "fried oyster omelette".  It was still tasty anyway.

"carrot" cake

an oyster omelette (not the right one)

papaya and honeydew

We then walked around the malls and connecting underground passages, and couldn't resist getting dessert, even though we were so full from brunch.  It was like "shave ice" only I had no idea how they got the ice to look like fabric.  Plus, it didn't melt right away either.  The ice was watermelon-flavored, with pieces of watermelon and lychees scattered all around.  Very light and refreshing.

We surfaced and walked over to the Raffles Hotel for some pictures, passing by the War Memorial Park and St. Andrew's Cathedral.

War Memorial

front of the Raffles Hotel

I already got this picture last trip, but was playing with the sepia option

inside of St. Andrew's Cathedral

Our walking tour led us across a pretty bridge over to the Merlion.  The Merlion is the mascot of Singapore and instead of finding the regal Merlion gushing water out of its mouth into the river, an artist built a temporary "Merlion Hotel" around it containing one room; a tourist attraction by day, and an actual hotel room by night! (completely sold out)  This was done for this year's Singapore Biennale, celebrating contemporary art.

Singapore decorates its bridges

Merlion "cub" just outside the actual Merlion

the Merlion is now inside a hotel room, for a month

We walked over to Boat Quay and Clarke Quay, two entertainment areas containing pubs, clubs and restaurants along the waterfront.  It was early afternoon so the area was not rocking yet.  Hosts standing in front of restaurants kept trying to round us into their eateries, but we weren't ready yet to dine.  All sorts of food was available, including the famous chili crab and black pepper crab.

Boat Quay

pubs at Boat Quay

Clarke Quay

kids like to play in the fountains here

Karen and I had been walking in the hot, humid weather for a while, and we were looking for some relief.  The Fort Canning Park was nearby so we checked that out.  It is a huge expanse of green in the middle of the city, similar to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, or Central Park in New York City.  This used to be an actual fort, so there are some remains of it.  Lots of walkways for jogging, and plenty of stairs to climb.

who needs a Stairmaster?

remains of the Fort Gate

We descended from Fort Canning and found ourselves right next to the Peranakan Museum, so we went in to learn about their history and culture (and take advantage of their A/C).  Peranakan is a term to describe descendants from early Chinese traders who decided to settle in Singapore and marry local women.  There was a special exhibit of the traditional dress for women, which is a sarong bottom with a kebaya on top.  A modern version of it is worn by the Singapore Airlines flight attendants.  (I almost bought one for Halloween but I didn't know my numerical size in Asia and there were no fitting rooms)  It was getting to dinner time; we expended many calories walking around in the heat so we deserved a nice meal.  Karen and I headed to Raffles City to have dinner at a restaurant we passed by earlier called Grandma's.  We ordered chicken rice along with some vegetables and a fish in "Assam gravy".  The Assam gravy ended up being a sour soup, which was surprising to us and wasn't very tasty.  The vegetables were delicious, and the chicken was really good.

chicken rice, sambal potato leaves, sambal okra, fish in Assam gravy, chicken soup

We were so tired from the day's excursion that we fell asleep at 9pm!  (though the jet lag probably contributed)  Tomorrow, we hit Chinatown, Little India, and find a really good hawker center for some delectable eats before heading to the Night Safari!