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Friday, December 20

A Brunching We Will Go

No matter where life finds you, there are certain places you simply must play ‘tourist’ at in your country of occupancy.  The biggest ‘tourist destination’ in Singapore stands out in a brilliantly-blinking, architecturally-rich, wondrous way…Marina Bay Sands.  While the inspiration behind it is supposed to be three decks of card, I think it more resembles a massive ship parked on top of three towers.  Whatever you make of it, this building can’t be missed.  When we were still staying downtown, we would sit in our 31st floor apartment at Great World and watch the seemingly daily light show going on from the roof of this grand spectacle.  While I can only imagine what airline pilots think of the flashing laser lights shooting across their path as they approached or departed from Changi Airport, we personally couldn’t wait to visit this modern wonder. 

This is a pretty new place on the Singapore destination landscape.  The project was only fully completed in early 2011.  Our research prior to moving to Singers had repeatedly shown us the image of the infinity pool on the roof.  We have since discovered that you can actually only go see said pool if you have a room booked at the hotel.  Alas, this is sadly still on the to-do list.  But like any place here in Singapore, there is a mall.  Now, this mall is nothing to scoff at.  Think indoor Rodeo Drive and way beyond my means.  But mweh… another mall… whatever.  More interesting to me is the casino!  On the August day that we went, we didn’t actually get to go in as we were touting around two little men who had no interest in gambling, nor did the casino have any interest in hosting them either.  I’m totally not a big gambler as I prefer the bargain-basement tables and I doubt there were any of those in this particular casino, but on that big day when Kimono Hubby and I get to return there… alone… we would like to play our hand just to cross it off the list of things we never thought we would do in our lives.  For now, we had to be content with a simple stroll by just to say we saw it. 

There was one part of the mall that I am remiss not to have yet mentioned… the indoor canal, complete with gondola rides!  Adding to the beauty of this indoor spectacle, there is a Rain Oculus that collects the down-pouring waters and shoots it into the river below.  Now that is design I admire, when you can connect your man-made structure intrinsically with nature’s glory.  And trust me, the rain storms here in Singapore are glorious.  There is also a decent-sized  theater in side of which we more recently went to see Mickey’s Magic Show at and I got to see my dear Kimono Peanut’s face when they ‘cut’ a girl in half.  I do wish I could erase that image from his young and impressionable mind, because I totally see him attempting that one someday, probably soon.  Perhaps blanket apologies now to the girl he attempts it on, hmm???  Pray he uses his foam pirate sword.

Now our original trip to Marina Bay was for something quite grand… and I don’t just mean the grand price tag we paid for it!  We were there for a brunch at the world-renowned restaurant KU DÉ TA.  Made even more special and momentous was the company we were with, new and very dear friends that we had made by the pool at Great World.  These are totally our kind of people as they didn’t hesitate to say a hell-yea to the $178 per person for the free-flowing cocktail and champagne version of brunch.  That is only $140 US dollars after all!  Okay, yes.  I too gagged on the price.  But once in a lifetime!  Woohoo!  And… raise a glass and you forget all about the price!  There was one bonus… all the kids were under 6 years old so they were free.  See??  Not so bad, then, right?  Right?   
 
So there we were.  57 floors up.  A waist high glass wall is the only thing separating us from the amazing 360 degree view of Singapore we are perched to take in.  Comfy chairs and pitcher after pitcher (after pitcher...) of sangria coming our way, along with the occasional random cocktail and maybe a shot to celebrate new, international friendships.  We were there from something like 11:00 til 3:00.  You would think we tried everything on the menu in that time frame, but honestly we got so distracted in conversations and laughter, that we only ordered a handful of menu items, most of which the kids ate.  Inside was an amazing buffet spread of crudités, pastries and desserts of which after the second hour, our kids were freely returning to and filling yet another plate.  The staff there was so lovely and friendly to all three of our young brood.  I honestly can’t thank them enough for that blessing.  We had been seated in a quiet corner off to one side, surely in anticipation of potentially wild Western kids, but they were all so well-behaved and spent their time either staring in wonder at the ocean and shipping vessels beyond or engrossed in a game or a Peppa Pig episode on the IPad that dear Jaqui was smart enough to bring along.  I honestly don’t think we would have left when we did except we were bumping up on the hour of the next big reservation influx.  Not wanting to give up a kidney for a second bill, we sadly called it a perfect brunch/day and headed to our individual homes/hotel rooms.

Now, was the food worth the astronomical price?  No, of course not.  But!  That view, the experience and spending quality time getting to know some amazing people… worth every penny.  THIS is one of the most sees in Singapore.  And if you don’t want to pay the price at KU DÉ TA, did I mention there is a free Sky Park one floor down?  Yes.  That is probably where you will find us the next time around. 

Monday, December 16

To Win or Not To Win...

Sooo... I'm trying something I have never tried before.  I entered into a blog writing contest.  There were rules and it wasn't in my usual style of blog writing, but here it is anyway...

Top 8 Truths About Moving to Singapore

Family, friends and loyal readers, do you think you would be so kind as to check this out and leave a comment on it of 10 words or more?  It will ask for email verification just to make sure that spam messages are making it into the contest.  Just check your email and verify your comment.  I will love you for doing this!  Oh wait... I love you anyway.  But this gives you extra kudos in my book of shiny, happy people. 

One last thing... wish me luck!