Sunday 14 July 2013
Thursday 4 July 2013
Catching up with Friends in Singapore
We left Tulamben early on Wednesday morning and arrived in Singapore at around four o'clock. Our bags were some of the last to turn up on the carousel as Steve's dive bag had been flagged because it contained a knife which meant we were also stopped at security and questioned - he had to explain it was a dive knife. We then had to wait ages in the taxi queue before taking a taxi to the city to Philippa Fogerty's apartment in Tanjong Pagar, our base for the next three nights.
Phil was at work but would meet us later. After a bit of confusion with the concierge we made our way up to the Phil's apartment on 42nd floor. The views over the harbour were amazing.
After showers and a change of clothes we headed out to the "Mr Punch Bar" on the roof top of the Toy Museum. It was happy hour so we enjoyed a few Mojitos while we waited for Phil. When she arrived we had a few Lychee Martinis before we decided to head for something to eat. We took a taxi over to Jumbo at Clarke Quay were we ordered a huge black pepper crab. The waitress put bibs on each of us and armed us with the tools required to eat the large crustacean. The crab arrived and we got to work - smashing the claws and breaking the legs to get at the meat inside. Soon all that remained was a pile of broken crab shell, legs and claws. It was messy but very tasty.
We spent Thursday morning handbag shopping, spending at least an hour in one shop trying A4 pads and laptop sleeves in an array of different bags! Rupan did however manage to purchase two handbags! Steve found this very exhausting and was in need of some food so we had a late lunch at Sushi Tei - very tasty.
Later on that evening Rupan had arranged to meet up with two of her friends that used to be ENT registrars on the Birmingham rotation. They have now both settled as consultants in Singapore and Rupan was interested to see how they were getting on. She met them at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital and had a quick look around the ENT department. We then all met up at Lau Pau Sat Festival Market for Tiger beer happy hour and then on to 'Satay Street' for 100 sticks of chicken, beef and prawns!
On the way home we stopped in at the Lantern Bar at One Fullerton to enjoy fabulous rooftop views of the Marina Bay whilst sipping the obligatory Lychee Martini...
Phil had Friday off and Rupan wanted her advice on a further handbag purchase - more handbag shopping. Yay! The bag met with Phil's approval so a purchase was made. It was now lunch time. On our previous trip to Singapore we ate at Maxwells food court, Phil had said it had been done up so we decided to check it out. Not sure much had changed - it had a new lick of orange paint though. Thankfully the food was still delicious.
That evening we met some of Phil's BBC work colleagues at Morton's Bar at the Mandarin Oriental. It was happy hour - half price Martinis and free steak sandwiches.
Later that evening we left Mortons and headed down to Gluttons Bay to meet Phil's new fella Rory. You would think that we wouldn't be hungry but we still managed a black pepper crab, skate wing, pork, rice and murtabak, washed down with a couple of pitchers of Tiger Beer.
Next morning we waved good bye to Phil and promised ourselves that we would go back on our diets when we got back to the UK.
Phil was at work but would meet us later. After a bit of confusion with the concierge we made our way up to the Phil's apartment on 42nd floor. The views over the harbour were amazing.
After showers and a change of clothes we headed out to the "Mr Punch Bar" on the roof top of the Toy Museum. It was happy hour so we enjoyed a few Mojitos while we waited for Phil. When she arrived we had a few Lychee Martinis before we decided to head for something to eat. We took a taxi over to Jumbo at Clarke Quay were we ordered a huge black pepper crab. The waitress put bibs on each of us and armed us with the tools required to eat the large crustacean. The crab arrived and we got to work - smashing the claws and breaking the legs to get at the meat inside. Soon all that remained was a pile of broken crab shell, legs and claws. It was messy but very tasty.
We spent Thursday morning handbag shopping, spending at least an hour in one shop trying A4 pads and laptop sleeves in an array of different bags! Rupan did however manage to purchase two handbags! Steve found this very exhausting and was in need of some food so we had a late lunch at Sushi Tei - very tasty.
Later on that evening Rupan had arranged to meet up with two of her friends that used to be ENT registrars on the Birmingham rotation. They have now both settled as consultants in Singapore and Rupan was interested to see how they were getting on. She met them at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital and had a quick look around the ENT department. We then all met up at Lau Pau Sat Festival Market for Tiger beer happy hour and then on to 'Satay Street' for 100 sticks of chicken, beef and prawns!
On the way home we stopped in at the Lantern Bar at One Fullerton to enjoy fabulous rooftop views of the Marina Bay whilst sipping the obligatory Lychee Martini...
Phil had Friday off and Rupan wanted her advice on a further handbag purchase - more handbag shopping. Yay! The bag met with Phil's approval so a purchase was made. It was now lunch time. On our previous trip to Singapore we ate at Maxwells food court, Phil had said it had been done up so we decided to check it out. Not sure much had changed - it had a new lick of orange paint though. Thankfully the food was still delicious.
That evening we met some of Phil's BBC work colleagues at Morton's Bar at the Mandarin Oriental. It was happy hour - half price Martinis and free steak sandwiches.
Later that evening we left Mortons and headed down to Gluttons Bay to meet Phil's new fella Rory. You would think that we wouldn't be hungry but we still managed a black pepper crab, skate wing, pork, rice and murtabak, washed down with a couple of pitchers of Tiger Beer.
Next morning we waved good bye to Phil and promised ourselves that we would go back on our diets when we got back to the UK.
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| Look at those lovely nails! |
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| Nice bag and flip-flop combo! |
Diving in Tulamben
This was our second trip to Scuba Seraya in Tulamben which is in the North East part of Bali, we were here last year but flew from Perth. This time we left Birmingham early on Tuesday 18th June and took the bus down to Heathrow. We spent the couple of hours before the flight in the business lounge stuffing our faces with sausage baps and Danish pastries – yum yum. During the thirteen hour flight to Singapore a screaming kid assaulted our ears and someone with bad wind (not Steve for a change) violated our noses and taste buds.
We transferred in Singapore and boarded the flight to Bali and upon arrival our driver took us the three hours to the resort. He used the horn to warn other drivers that we will be passing on a blind bend, overtaking whilst there is oncoming traffic and to scare the sh*t out of motorcyclists! It made for an eventful transfer.
We arrived at the resort late afternoon on the Wednesday 19th June; it was a lot easier getting here from Perth.
We were very tired but managed to have something to eat and a few Bintangs before retiring to bed.
The diving was great - the guides remembered us from our last trip, and it soon felt that we had not been away. Check out Rupan’s photos.
We have both been given pointy sticks so now we look like proper dive guides apart from Steve’s close-up eyesight is failing – due to age, so he is useless at spotting small stuff and Rupan has a habit of loosing stuff – she has even managed to loose the pointy stick. Luckily Steve’s distance vision is still intact and he was able to retrieve the pointy stick and now they come in handy for stabbing each other in the bottom.
Rupan also managed to pick up a few hitchhikers on several of the dives. You’d hear a little yelp, turn and find Rupan prising a feather star off her leg with the pointy stick. Very funny!
In a moment of in-between dive boredom Rupan drew a flower on Steve’s arm. Alit our dive guide noticed the artwork and has now decided to tag Steve with the nickname “Lady Boy”.
Steve has decided he is getting too much like Rupan, he needs to pee before a dive, forgets he’s equipment, can’t see anything while on the dive, needs help getting out of the water and needs a pee after the dive. All things that Rupan sees as the norm – welcome to Rupan’s World!
We transferred in Singapore and boarded the flight to Bali and upon arrival our driver took us the three hours to the resort. He used the horn to warn other drivers that we will be passing on a blind bend, overtaking whilst there is oncoming traffic and to scare the sh*t out of motorcyclists! It made for an eventful transfer.
We arrived at the resort late afternoon on the Wednesday 19th June; it was a lot easier getting here from Perth.
We were very tired but managed to have something to eat and a few Bintangs before retiring to bed.
The diving was great - the guides remembered us from our last trip, and it soon felt that we had not been away. Check out Rupan’s photos.
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| Bubble Shrimp |
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| Leaf Scorpion Fish |
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| Leaf Scorpion Fish |
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| Frog Fish |
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| Nudi |
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| Whip Coral Shrimp |
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| Hermit Crab |
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| Nudi |
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| Blenny |
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| Temple |
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| Nudi |
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| Pygmy Seahorse |
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| Soft Coral Crab |
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| Enjoying post dive Bintang |
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| Enjoying a post dive Bintang |
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| Nudi |
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| The Dive Guides |
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| Boxer Crab |
Rupan also managed to pick up a few hitchhikers on several of the dives. You’d hear a little yelp, turn and find Rupan prising a feather star off her leg with the pointy stick. Very funny!
In a moment of in-between dive boredom Rupan drew a flower on Steve’s arm. Alit our dive guide noticed the artwork and has now decided to tag Steve with the nickname “Lady Boy”.
Steve has decided he is getting too much like Rupan, he needs to pee before a dive, forgets he’s equipment, can’t see anything while on the dive, needs help getting out of the water and needs a pee after the dive. All things that Rupan sees as the norm – welcome to Rupan’s World!
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