One last day in Singapore

After surviving many cab debacles in Kuala Lumpur, Mrs. Selfish and I finally got wise and arranged for a cab to pick us up from the Sheraton Imperial.  After 3 days in Kuala Lumpur, surprisingly our most honest cab driver was the one that took us to the airport.

Nevertheless it was slightly uncomfortable with all of our bags.  The standard cabs in Kuala Lumpur were slightly different from home, and we found we always had to put one of our bags up front next to the driver.  The reason being that a lot of the trunk’s space is occupied by a natural gas tank!

But no matter!  We were off to our last stop in South East Asia, a one day stopover in Singapore.

After a very short flight, we hit the ground running, grabbing the first cab we could find.  Our destination was the Changi Village Food Centre, to try some of their world famous Nasi Lemak. Nasi Lemak is a Malay dish, but everywhere does it differently, and it is really, really good in Singapore.  The variations we saw tended to have fried chicken, little fried fish, and a few vegetables mixed with a tangy Malaysian sauce.  So good.

Unfortunately, the International Nasi Lemak hawker stand, our intended target was closed, but 5 minutes of frantic searching landed us at Mizzy Corner, which was excellent.

We told our cabbie it would only take us 15 minutes or so (Mrs. Selfish and I eat extremely fast), but he was surprised when we returned to the cab less than 20 minutes later.  After that it was time to check-in to our hotel, the Conrad Singapore.

The Conrad Singapore

The Conrad Singapore is a category 9 hotel, which means it costs 50,000 – 80,000 HHonors points to book, depending on the date.  At the time of our booking (before the Hilton devaluation), it was a mere category 6, which meant our stay was a measly 40,000 points.  Was it worth it?

I’m not sure.  It was certainly a nice hotel, in a good location.  Were I a business traveler it would probably be a great choice, but after spending 4 nights at the Conrad Koh Samui (which was only 50,000 points a night) I found it a little lackluster.  Nevertheless, the room was nice:

Thanks to Mrs. Selfish’s gold status, we were upgraded to an Executive Level room – which meant the room was slightly larger and came with a little welcome gift of chocolates:

The bathroom was extremely well stocked, with a bathtub and shower, and all of the usual amenities.  It even came with a rubber duckie!

Another side benefit was the laundry service.  As a gold member, Mrs. Selfish received $20 SGD in free laundry, which meant we were able to wash two pairs of boxers and only pay $3 SGD in taxes.  Score!

After relaxing in the room for a bit and hitting the gym our next stop was the world famous Marina Bay Sands:

Not only is the Marina Bay Sands one of the world’s most profitable casinos, but it’s also a confoundingly awesome piece of architecture. The surfboard-looking thing that perches on top of the three hotel buildings has one of the world’s coolest infinity pools.

Unfortunately, the infinity pool are only open to the guests (we couldn’t even take a picture), but their bar was open, and the views were spectacular:

For dinner we tried hitting up the Chin Chin Eating House, best known for their Hainese Chicken, but as luck would have it we showed up too late and they were all out of chicken.

We ordered some Hainese fried pork cutlet instead, which was excellent. I highly recommend Chin Chin Eating House, though I would suggest showing up before 9 pm!

We headed back to the hotel, defeated, but happily full.  The next morning we woke up for one of the best benefits of the Conrad Singapore – the breakfast!

Oscar’s at the Conrad Singapore has probably one of the best breakfast selections I’ve ever seen at a hotel.  Their Eastern breakfast options were excellent, and their selection of Western foods was staggering.  Not only could you get freshly made French-toast, but they even had an ice cream bar!

So Long, Singapore

Shortly after breakfast we hopped in a cab, and headed for Changi Airport.  A few hours later we were leaving South East Asia on a plane bound for Hong Kong. Next up, 33 days in China!