Breakfast for a buck....Singapore in a Junk


Day 2 in Singapore - Kenny G and Milo in the same day!

5:15am....loud laughter commenced at the lack of sleeping competence! Once the horrible truth had sunk in, the only sane response was to accept and move on. There appeared to be a couple of hours to go before we had any hope of breakfast so we decided that a '70's revival was called for....out came the iPod and speakers with Carole King and, yes...the Bay City Rollers.

Being diligent touristy types, we decided take a touristy tour. The only one that fit into our need to arrive back at the hotel in time to be picked up by the airport shuttle was a tour on the Imperial Cheng-Ho Junk around the Singapore harbour. But first...we'd noticed a "hypermart" around the corner from the hotel - and lo and behold...breakfast for $1 (toast, eggs & tea). The only minor hiccup was that we didn't realize the tea had been pre-sugared - so we decided to add some. Sadly, we didn't know that Singaporean salt likes to masquerade as sugar so it was quite the sweet and savory experience. Undeterred, we finished up the tea and made for counter once again because we'd discovered that they had canned versions of Milo and Horlicks (yeah, yeah...we know) - not to mention packaged versions of Ribena! By now the Chinese women behind the counter were thinking we were completely bonkers (between us taking pictures of the $1 breakfast sign and ogling the multitude of canned drinks). We decided on a couple of steaming cups of Horlicks - and for those who have never experienced that, let me tell you....all suddenly becomes right with the world.

Back at the hotel, we grabbed a cab to Clifford Pier where we booked our "Junk"et. After a bit of a drive in a shuttle bus, we arrived at the Singapore Cruise Centre where Amber was fascinated by a Mr. Soybean place (especially the soy crumpets). The Junk arrived in all its resplendent glory, intricate carvings all over the place. We were loaded on and started off on our stately way....and much to our collective horror....were "entertained" by the plaintive wailings of KennyG massacring tried and true elevator favourites. Note the pained expression...

Suffice to say, it was a pleasant two hours cruising about (Kenny excepted) but, aside from the fact I'm actually doing just that, nothing to write home about.

Post Junk, we made for the shopping heaven of the previous day to pick up my suit and shirts. This resulted in a tearful goodbye from Boss George - and, of course, a suggestion that it was not too late to order three more suits! Our airport pickup was only a couple of hours away and we had yet to find an internet cafe to let all those people that really, really care about us know that we were still alive and shopping. The internet cafe search was absurdly unsuccessful but...we did manage to pick up knock-off Jean-Paul Gaultier wallets - so all was not lost. We couldn't leave Singapore without one more ABSURDLY cheap but INCREDIBLE meal at the Blue Diamond. So, in we trudged (much to the delight of the manager) and shoveled in mouthfuls of biriyani and chai. If only the restaurants in Vancouver's Little India could make chai like this (I think they must use condensed milk)...and a chai latte is not even on the same planet. Note that these Blue Diamond types are not pushovers - they completely ignored our demand that they live up to their promise to "deliver anywhere" - so Vancouver loses out.

Back to the hotel to pick up our luggage.....

...we were whisked off to the airport and piled onto the Singapore Airlines flight to Calcutta - me sitting next to a rather annoying and chubby Bengali dude. Oh well...good training for the next few days. Calcutta craziness to follow shortly.....

Posted: Tue - October 21, 2003 at 08:59 AM      

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