Singapore, ship and Bangkok

Friday

Woke up to an overcast day and rain! There was a shopping mall attached to the hotel so we managed to venture out for a wander without getting soaked. Coffee and donut for breakfast then rain stopped so we ventured further afield with a walk to Raffles Hotel. Afternoon tea followed and a little relaxing and studying of the guide book. Had a great dinner at IndoChine restaurant on the banks of the Singapore River, spectacular setting and eaten entirely with chopsticks.



Saturday

hot hot hot. Breakfast at the hotel then headed off for open top bus tours of the city. Arrived back at the hotel around 3 to see the evidence of how hot it actually was and in hindsight sun cream should have been worn - arms and face pillar box red and sore (most attractive) Headed off to the port in a cab, easy checkin, wandered around the ship, unpacked then headed off into town for the evening - boat trip down the River - Singapore by night is breathtaking, a wander round Clarke Quay then back to the ship to crash out.

Sunday

Set off at 10am for Bangkok, spent the day reading in the shade making plans for our Bangkok trips and slopping on the aftersun. Ended up chatting to a retired IBMer from Glasgow - what a small world

Monday

Sea day...still sitting in the shade. Ventured into the Casino in the evening armed with a whole $10 for the slot machines and ended up winning over $50 so well chuffed

Tuesday

Arrive in Bangkok. Took a taxi to the Grand Palace (shared with 3 Manchester women and they crammed 4 of us into the back of a taxi - very cosy) and had a wander round, what an amazing place so magical and sparkly. After the Palace we took a river taxi to avoid some of the awful traffic then took a shorter taxi journey back to the ship. Ventured out again to see Bangkok by night and the stalls of hooky bags etc, ended up in one of the seedier areas (although they all seem pretty seedy in the evening) stopped for some water then headed back to ship.

Wednesday (today)

Back into Bangkok to have a wander about and find some internet connectivity to update you all.....leaving at lunchtime and heading to Ho Chi Minh City....

The Journey

Getting to your destination has bever really been part of the holiday, we have always experienced it as a necessary pain endured before a visit can start. This time it was different - neither of us had flown this far before and with a bucket of Star Alliance miles to use we were going to ensure that this was part of the holiday and not just a means to an end.

Wednesday 20th

Taxi came at 3pm and we headed off to Edinburgh Airport. The snow had returned in places overnight but both Edinburgh and Heathrow were fine. Checked bags through to Singapore and headed to departures, huge queue at security so no lounge before boarding our shortest of the 3 flights to enjoy for the last time bmi's domestic business class which stops next week. Arrived Heathrow Terminal one and took a stroll over to T3 - what a busy place!

Heading through departures there was easy..there are a few perks with having a boarding card with a F on it and one is no queues. Thai Airlines don't have their own lounge in Heathrow so we had a choice of the SAS London Lounge or the Singapore Airlines First lounge...we had loads of time so split our time between them.

Before we knew it the time had come to board 'the big one'. Our 747 awaited and whilst not the newest of planes the First Class cabin was great - only 10 seats in the nose of the plane, tons of room. It was full - 8 Brits and 2 Thai, most travelling alone and the one other couple was a British gent who must have been 80+ and had been involved in building the bridge over the River Kwai and his younger Thai travel companion. Everyone looked pretty 'normal' no Celebs and I thought it quite surreal to have my 'Rough Guide to SE Asia on a Budget' (a lovely present from Ian snr) next to Vogue magazine.


The cabin crew were lovely (we had 3 of them for the cabin), seats were great and dinner was served. - with real cutlery, which I had not seen on a flight since pre-9/11. Ian managed about 5 course which took us till well after midnight and it was soon time to convert the chair to a bed and hit the sack. Airline issued lilac pyjamas were donned and we looked a bit like a load of extras from the Tellytubbies, lights out and sleep.

When morning came it was actually afternoon local time so we have breakfast/dinner, watched a movie then arrived in Bangkok at around 4pm local.

Getting off the plane we had got about 50 feet and found someone with our names on a board, we were then driven by buggy through the terminal and whisked through security to be delivered to the Thai First Class Lounge - wow! We got taken to our own litte room with sofas, chairs, desk and a fab B&O tv to relax and served coffee and juice.

The Thai Spa was across the corridor so we headed off for some relaxation, Ian having a back and shoulder and Carol going for the 'full body', massaged, showered and change we went back to the First Class Lounge then headed off for the Singapore flight.

Two hour flight with yet more food we arrived in Singapore around 11pm - a little delay getting through Immigration as they tried to ascertain if the fat bloke in Ians passport was the same person standing in front of them! and for the first time since London got to stand outside and get some fresh air - really humid and you almost feel you can taste it. Taxi to the hotel and checked in for our two night stay (on points) to find we had been upgraded so have a great room and ready to explore Singapore.

We seem to be in the right time zone and (touch wood) have no jetlag so there is definately something to be said for travelling in style.