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We arrived in Singapore bang on time, having experienced quite a bit of turbulance on the way. The seat belt light was on numerous times and there were constant anouncements about "remaining seated with your seat belt done up". Other than that the flight with SA was very pleasant, and we were very relieved to find our cases waiting for us as we quickly cleared customs and found a maxi cab to get us into the city.
The Marina Mandarin is just across the way from where Sue and I stayed last year and so we were quite familiar with the area - once we had checked in and discovered our rooms would not be ready for an hour or so ( pretty poor seeing that checkin time is 2pm and it was 2.30pm already!) we walked over to the Suntec City Mall and got tickets for the hop on hop off bus city tour. We got off at the Singapore Flyer and enjoyed a ride taking In the wonderful views, although by now it was pouring with rain and the droplets running down the glass spoilt our photos somewhat. It was amazing to see the new Marina Bay Sands Hotel complex all finished - last year when we were there it was only half completed! It was a pity that we didn't have time to take a ride to the top and see the gardens up on the huge platform which sits on the the three towers!
The remainder of the bus tour took us along some new reclamation work in Marina Bay and out through the suburbs and back down Orchard Road. The rain had cooled things off nicely and we sat on the upper deck and thoroughly enjoyed the ride - the Christmas decorations along the streets were amazing. There were huge crowds of people out shopping and evrywhere you looked was decked out in brightly coloured bunting and lights.
We got off at The Raffles Hotel and had a look at a collection of 23 Lamboughini cars that were parked in the hotel forecourt! All late models, it was real drool material and we posed alongside a couple for imaginary "owner" shots! In need of some refreshment we headed into the Long Bar and mindful of the cost of "the singapore sling" Mumsie had last time we ordered two schooners and two pints of beer and sat back in the old leather chairs and enjoyed them! True to tradition the peanuts were still on the tables and the shells crushed all over the floor, which made both Mumsie and Jason want to clean it up!
Got the bill and got a rude shock to find that our four beers had cost $82.50! Bloody Hell! Never mind it was worth it just to see the Lambos!
From there we walked back through the City Link Mall to the hotel and got our rooms - Mumsie and mine had fantastic views of Marina Bay, but Katie and Jase missed out! We had a freshen up and then went down to the Dirty Nellies pub just up the road for a few more refreshments - better value there with five Coronas in a bucket of ice for $35 and cocktails for $15..... With food firmly on our minds we headed over to the Fountain of Wealth area and were just in time to see a laser light show on the foutain which was great, then we found a busy restaurant and had a beaut asian meal. By now we were getting a little tired after the very early start, but we thought we should all the Xmas lights in full splendour at night, so we caught the train up to Orchard Road and joined the thousands of people doing the same. They were sensational! So many colours and so many designs!
After getting the super efficient train back to our hotel we had quick showers and were asleep in minutes! We had packed a heap into our brief stopover and loved every bit of it.
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