We had a lovely time with Lyn and Glenn last night. We met outside Glenn's office at 5pm and had a drink at a nearby bar then went on to a restaurant which had been on my list to try, so I'm glad Lyn suggested it. Wing Seong Fatty's Restaurant (known just as Fatty's) is a casual dining place with superb local food .... just WoW!!
Chatting with Lyn it was as though we'd last seen each other just a week ago .... so lovely to spend time with them, especially as they are leaving Singapore at the end of the month to return to Australia and be nearer their kids. Glenn will work from home. So we were very lucky to catch up with them before they up sticks and go.
Anyway, Fatty's Restaurant is near Bugis Street - an area that used to have a 'naughty' reputation as between the 1950s and 1980s transvestites, transsexuals (boy-girls) used to hang around there picking up sailors and servicemen. Its reputation made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations. The place was being 'cleaned up' when I was there in 1984/5 and by the time I was back in Singapore in the 90s the area had been turned into a glossy shopping mall and was quite boring.
After visiting Sri Krishnan Temple this morning we walked to Bugis Street and nearby Albert Street (named after Queen Victoria's consort) to look around the bustling markets/shops there. David wanted to buy a lightweight backpack or bag. Its a fun shopping experience, an oriental East Lane or Petticoat Lane with 'Del Boy' characters giving lots of patter
Its a market more for the Singaporeans than tourists I think - and there were lots of Chinese tarot card readers offering their services
This was one of the 'Del Boy' characters - he seemed to be drawing a big crowd
We decided to walk to Raffles Hotel next.
I knew that the Hotel is closed till mid 2019 (being refurbished) but a friend visited Singapore a couple of weeks ago and said it was still possible to visit the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling if you're prepared to shell out S$32 each (around £18) but you do get a free bag of monkey nuts and can keep up the age-old tradition of chucking the shells on the floor. He warned that we should get there in the morning before the coaches turned up.
Sadly we got there around 1pm and people were queuing outside the door. We decided not to wait but I did bypass the queue to pop inside and take a very quick photo (having explained to the waiting people what I intended before I got lynched for queue jumping).
The Long Bar
We'll just have to make our own Singapore Slings ... now we have the recipe:
I was disappointed that the hotel is totally encompassed by hoardings/barriers which prevented us from seeing the famous entrance with its iconic Travellers Palms but one staircase hadn't been closed to the public so I had a little nose around (as you do). I could see a small courtyard - but sadly, not the lovely Palm Court.
Of course the Gift Shop was open for business though. David bought himself a T-shirt. We may not have had a Singapore Sling but we have visited the Long Bar and he does have the T-Shirt so that will have to suffice.
David found this amusing
After leaving Raffles we headed towards the River and Boat Quay and walked along the Riverside Walk which has views across to Raffles Landing Site and the Colonial District.
We passed a couple of war memorials. The first is a memorial to civilian victims of Japanese occupation
and this one - World War II memorial
The Anderson Bridge (one of many crossing the river), it opened in 1910 as a solution to the congestion problems caused by the rapid growth of the City and the inability of the existing bridge (Cavenagh Suspension Bridge) to cope with the traffic levels.
Plaque from the Cavenagh Bridge
There are some interesting statues near the Cavenagh Bridge.
This is called 'The first generation' - five boys playing in and around the river
These are the 'River Merchants'
Coolies and bullock cart
We stopped at one of the very many riverside cafe/bars to sit in the shade and enjoy a beer and just watch the world go by. The bum boats were busy taking tourists on river cruises
The Marina Bay Sands Hotel does tend to dominate the skyline
Riverside bars
The river is very clean - we watched the guys in this little boat skimming leaves and rubbish off the surface of the water with a net. In fact, whilst we were sitting by the river we noticed lots of very large fish and a turtle swimming in the river. I'm guessing the turtle was dumped there as it seems to be a common problem judging by the notices we've seen in lots of temples asking the public not to release unwanted turtles in their lakes/ponds.
I think turtles/tortoises are symbols of longevity to the Chinese so perhaps they're given as gifts but once they grow they become a nuisance (but that's just my theory)
Most of these riverside cafes/restaurants serve fish and shellfish - and many had tanks containing live crabs and lobsters on display - I suppose you can't get fresher than this but I don't like seeing them on display.
To put things into perspective re: the height of some of some of Singapore's hotels and office blocks, here is our hotel, The Furama City Centre. We are on the 20th floor (there are 23 in total). It is dwarfed by the neighbouring buildings
Chatting with Lyn it was as though we'd last seen each other just a week ago .... so lovely to spend time with them, especially as they are leaving Singapore at the end of the month to return to Australia and be nearer their kids. Glenn will work from home. So we were very lucky to catch up with them before they up sticks and go.
Anyway, Fatty's Restaurant is near Bugis Street - an area that used to have a 'naughty' reputation as between the 1950s and 1980s transvestites, transsexuals (boy-girls) used to hang around there picking up sailors and servicemen. Its reputation made it one of Singapore's top tourist destinations. The place was being 'cleaned up' when I was there in 1984/5 and by the time I was back in Singapore in the 90s the area had been turned into a glossy shopping mall and was quite boring.
After visiting Sri Krishnan Temple this morning we walked to Bugis Street and nearby Albert Street (named after Queen Victoria's consort) to look around the bustling markets/shops there. David wanted to buy a lightweight backpack or bag. Its a fun shopping experience, an oriental East Lane or Petticoat Lane with 'Del Boy' characters giving lots of patter
Its a market more for the Singaporeans than tourists I think - and there were lots of Chinese tarot card readers offering their services
This was one of the 'Del Boy' characters - he seemed to be drawing a big crowd
We decided to walk to Raffles Hotel next.
I knew that the Hotel is closed till mid 2019 (being refurbished) but a friend visited Singapore a couple of weeks ago and said it was still possible to visit the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling if you're prepared to shell out S$32 each (around £18) but you do get a free bag of monkey nuts and can keep up the age-old tradition of chucking the shells on the floor. He warned that we should get there in the morning before the coaches turned up.
Sadly we got there around 1pm and people were queuing outside the door. We decided not to wait but I did bypass the queue to pop inside and take a very quick photo (having explained to the waiting people what I intended before I got lynched for queue jumping).
The Long Bar
We'll just have to make our own Singapore Slings ... now we have the recipe:
I was disappointed that the hotel is totally encompassed by hoardings/barriers which prevented us from seeing the famous entrance with its iconic Travellers Palms but one staircase hadn't been closed to the public so I had a little nose around (as you do). I could see a small courtyard - but sadly, not the lovely Palm Court.
Of course the Gift Shop was open for business though. David bought himself a T-shirt. We may not have had a Singapore Sling but we have visited the Long Bar and he does have the T-Shirt so that will have to suffice.
David found this amusing
We passed a couple of war memorials. The first is a memorial to civilian victims of Japanese occupation
and this one - World War II memorial
The Anderson Bridge (one of many crossing the river), it opened in 1910 as a solution to the congestion problems caused by the rapid growth of the City and the inability of the existing bridge (Cavenagh Suspension Bridge) to cope with the traffic levels.
Plaque from the Cavenagh Bridge
There are some interesting statues near the Cavenagh Bridge.
This is called 'The first generation' - five boys playing in and around the river
These are the 'River Merchants'
Coolies and bullock cart
We stopped at one of the very many riverside cafe/bars to sit in the shade and enjoy a beer and just watch the world go by. The bum boats were busy taking tourists on river cruises
The Marina Bay Sands Hotel does tend to dominate the skyline
Riverside bars
The river is very clean - we watched the guys in this little boat skimming leaves and rubbish off the surface of the water with a net. In fact, whilst we were sitting by the river we noticed lots of very large fish and a turtle swimming in the river. I'm guessing the turtle was dumped there as it seems to be a common problem judging by the notices we've seen in lots of temples asking the public not to release unwanted turtles in their lakes/ponds.
I think turtles/tortoises are symbols of longevity to the Chinese so perhaps they're given as gifts but once they grow they become a nuisance (but that's just my theory)
Most of these riverside cafes/restaurants serve fish and shellfish - and many had tanks containing live crabs and lobsters on display - I suppose you can't get fresher than this but I don't like seeing them on display.
To put things into perspective re: the height of some of some of Singapore's hotels and office blocks, here is our hotel, The Furama City Centre. We are on the 20th floor (there are 23 in total). It is dwarfed by the neighbouring buildings
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for visiting our Blog and taking the time to comment on our posts.
I have disabled the Captcha requirement at the request of followers who find it irritating when posting comments. However to ensure this doesn't lead to a spate of spam posts I can no longer accept comments from Anonymous sources.
All comments will be moderated before posting which might lead to a delay in your comments showing on the page. Please bear with us, we'll check in as often as possible dependent on WIFI availability.
Apologies if this is a problem
Thank you
Sue xx