We were woken by the noise of the cleaning staff; opening their store room next door - early! It was eventually mid-morning before we rose, a quick shower then out to discover the delights of Singapore.
On the corner of our road a street side cafe was doing a roaring trade. We were watched all the way past by inquisitive eyes, there didn't seem like too many westerners gracing this part of town. We got to the Aljunied MRT station with no hassle, although having not walked too far we were both wringing wet - the heat was stifling. The metro by the way is a shining example of a modern transport system.
We faffed around as usual at the ticket machines having been told a day pass couldn't be sold to us here. We had to get one of those each from a bigger terminus. A 50p ticket got us to City Hall where we purchased a day pass for about £5 each. Beware though! You have to pay a £5 deposit per plastic pass which can be redeemed, again, only at perticipating stations.
We came back up into the heat (trains and stations were well air conditioned) into the huge Raffles Shopping Mall, we needed sustenance, thank God for Starbucks.
Yes, I know, they pay little tax and are part of big buisnesses plan to dominate the world, but...we hadn't eaten since Sydney and...they do make good coffee.
After brunch we ventured away from the cool interior of the mall, map in hand looking for Raffles Hotel, the home of the Singapore Sling. What we didn't expect to see opposite was the imposing tower and spire of St Andrew's Cathedral, Singapore's largest and oldest Anglican house of worship. Quick photos taken I made a mental note to go inside it at some point. Now where was Raffles Hotel? Just round the corner from the mall, it seemed, well, front entrance on Beach Road.
According to the web blurb it was opened in 1887 and is one of the few remaining great 19th century hotels in the word. In fact, it was declared a National Monument by the Singapore Government in 1987. Walking past the liveried Sikh concierge we were following in the footsteps of non other than Rudyard Kipling, Michael Jackson and Kate and Wills - esteemed indeed!
To put it bluntly we were in typical tourist dress for the tropics. Vest, shorts and flip flops, and to be honest, never expected to get in. It seems though a blind eye is cast during the day as we wandered around this grand old dame of colonial architecture, through palm fringed cloisters, gazing longingly at the elaborate dining saloons with not a chance of us getting to sit down in one.
We walked gingerly up to the first balcony for a peep into the famous Long Bar and as I was about to take a photo on zoom setting of the inside we were both welcomed by an imacculately besuited maitre d'. Not expecting to be let in we tentatively walked into the bar where other tourists were gathered, some dressed for the occasion but others, like us, in casual order.
A Singapore Sling was out of the question at that time of day but I had a beer (Tiger of course) and Lynn a wine. We were being treated like any other customer, something I think the hotel should be proud of, we would be back later in the evening to sample more.
We now had to do a recce to find the bus station from where we could get the shuttle into Malaysia for the train in two days time. That required a trip on the Metro to the station called Bugis, a place where many ex-members of my regiment and countless others used to hang out on the notorious street named after the district.
We were dab hands on the metro now and found our way to it via a stop in Little India. The bus station on Victoria Road was adjacent to the metro station, we sussed out what was required and headed towards what we hoped would be a bar, yes, it was still very hot and sultry.
Sadly Bugis Street is no more the bar filled den of iniquity of the good old days, it's now a covered Bazzar. I walked through it just for nostalgia as I'd not been serving in the late 60's when my battalion had been there.
We took the metro back to our end of town and had a drink in one of the street side eateries. Back to the hotel for a quick shower then find somewhere to eat before heading back into town.
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