Wednesday 23 December 2015

Singapore is a .... Fine City - Scarlet Hotel, China Town, Raffles hotel and Singapore Slings

The holiday started out with us being fetched from the airport and transferred to the Scarlet hotel. 
The Scarlet by far lived up to our expectations. Views not so good as it was in a street in China town, the room while small was very comfortable with stunning bathroom.

The interesting thing about the hotel, it is a row of restored 1868 shop houses and an 1924 Art Deco building.
The hotel "travels" gracefully down a slight hill that curves to the left, so when you are inside walking to or from your room you also go up or downhill curving slightly left or right depending on direction of travel.


1924 Art Deco part of the Hotel


Hotel "travels" gracefully down the hill
Front of Scarlet Hotel

Hotel Corridor - "Going Up the Hill"

We arrived at the hotel at 7:00 a.m. showered and left to explore at 9:30.
We walked through China Town unfortunately the stalls were not open as yet so we caught MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) to Orchard Rd.  

It was extremely hot and humid but not to be perturbed we proceeded to walk the whole length of Orchard to Plaza Singapura. Then went to Clarke Quay and had fish dumpling soup with noodles in a food court. 
For us we found things a bit pricey having to X by 10, South Africa has a VERY weak currency.
As it was so hot we then proceeded to Sque at Clarke quay overlooking the river for a couple of beers, a trend to follow for the rest of the trip.



By the end of the day we were a bit tired from the flight the night before so we caught the MRT and walked back to the hotel via the hustle and bustle of China Town. 
This was followed by a nice relaxing swim in the hotels jacuzzi and and ended up sleeping on the loungers by the pool for a while. 
Pam by this point was going on for 36 hours no sleep by this time.

Jacuzzi

Loungers
  
Dining Room


Dining Room
 We only ate breakfast in the hotel as we opted to rather eat out on the streets in China town or in the hawker markets.
The breakfast was a standard English breakfast (very good and substantial) but I could also indulge in an eastern breakfast called Congee.


Dining Room


Reception Area


Reception Area


Chandelier in Reception Area
  
Meeting Room


Our Room
 We were not destined to stay in our room for the entire stay as we discovered a rather unpleasant smell of cigarette smoke permeating the room, so after initially trying an ozone machine they moved us with an upgrade to our second room


Second Room


Second Room


Second Room











After a refreshing swim and not to waste any available minute it was back out onto the streets off on the MRT to Raffles hotel. 
Singapore slings at the Long bar. It is their 100th anniversary. Such a treat. 


Raffles Hotel
Singapore Slings

Raffles Hotel - Long Bar

Us with Singapore Slings and peanuts






Roof wafters keeping the patrons cool

There was a little girl with her family at the next table who was given a fruit punch that look the same as a Singapore Sling - such attention to detail to make all their guests feel at home. We ate peanuts and threw the shells on the ground as Raffles tradition expects.

Then it was back on the MRT to Chinatown to have dinner at the China town seafood restaurant.  Stunning atmosphere and vibe.


China Town Seafood restaurant

China Town

China Town Seafood restaurant

And finally back to the hotel at 21:30. Exhausted, footsore and exhilarated. 

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