Singapore Aug 2014 - Days 13-14

Time to head back to Singapore for a night to break up our journey home. We get up, packed and have our last breakfast (steak and eggs of course!). Our flight isn't until 12:55 to no major rush. 

We get to the airport (returning to the scene of our mad panic last time when we realised we had no Australian visas just as we were checking in for our flight to Sydney!). I am pleased to say it wasn't so fraught this time. The only thing is our flight has been delayed a little but only for an hour so not too bad. 

Cool house in the airport!

Randomly there are WH smiths everywhere in Bali airport!

Before long we are ready to take off...

On our way to Singers. Very much looking forward to a night out with Cat and Erik tonight who we are also staying with. 

We fly over Nusa Dua where we stayed last time...

Cool picture of the mountain poking out from behind the clouds as we fly over Bali. 

More traveller types... Classic traveller uniform. 

We land at Singapore and head to Cat and Erik's place. Their place is absolutely gorgeous. An amazing condo with a huge pool, gym, tennis court and lovely apartment. 

After a bottle of Champers sat by the pool we head out for drinks and dinner. 

First stop is the Arab quarter which is a series of little steets full of resturant and bars. 

And of course a temple. Wouldn't be an Arab quarter without a temple. 

We go for a drink in a bar called Bar Stories which is a cocktail place without the menu. Each one is bespoke and they ask you loads of questions to provide a personalised cocktail. Very tasty. 

We then jump in a cab to the Marina to meet Cat who had been working late and go for dinner at a really cool Japanese restaurant called Kinki overlooking the Marina and back over Marina Bay Sands.

http://m.kinki.com.sg 

After a delicious dinner we head upstairs for drinks on the roof terrace. Great views. 

A very colourful picture with Erik and Cat. 

After dinner Cat has to leave us as she has a big day at work tomorrow so we head onto Bar Street, another really cool area with loads of bars (obviously!) and restaurants. Great to be taken around by someone who lives here. There really is more to Singapore than we originally thought in terms of night life. 

Not a great picture but the two buildings in front are condo's which has a 400 meter running track going around the outskirts of the roof. Not a bad location for a run! Beats a running machine. 

Preparing for a beer festival. 

We go for a load more drinks on one of the roof tops and then a lovely little bar full of expats which was great. 

At about 2pm we head back as Nat hungover on a 13 hour flight is not pretty!

In the morning we get up and head for  traditional Singapore breakfast at a little chain restaurant called Toast Box. 

The speciality is eggs that are barely cooked that you dip toast into which has  weird and wonderful jams and toppings on. Come to think of it it seems more traditional British than Singapore! We surely invented egg and soldiers!

Then it is time to head back to Changi for our long flight home. Good news is there is a Hard Rock at the airport! (No new glass though as it just says Singapore on it - annoying we trapsed across town to get my replacement glass now!). We grab a quick bite then board at 12:55. Unfortunately no A380 on the way home. Boo!

It's been a fantastic holiday and well needed relax. It has also felt like we have been away ages. Now it's time to put the blog back to sleep until our next adventure. 

Bali Aug 2014 - Day 12

Last day in Bali today. Boo!! Feels like we have been here so long though. It's been brilliant. We get up earlier today to make full use of the day as we are going to head out earlier for drinks at another key sunset vantage point later on. I start the day off with a very relaxing (if not a little bruising) deep tissue massage in the spa. Felt great afterwards. My back and neck were so full of knots. 

We head back to the at 3pm to get ready to go out. The plan was to head across to Jimbaran bay on the other side of the island so we needed to set off in good time as the traffic is typically appalling in Bali even for short distances. 

First stop is the monstrous hotel the Ayana Resort. It is huge but beautiful. We are literally driving through the grounds for about 10 mins before we get to the reception. 

http://ayanaresort.com/id/home

Gorgeous flowers and landscaping. 

Cool bar stool. 

Now, we came to this hotel to go to the uber cool Rock Bar to watch the sunset. 

http://www.ayanaresort.com/rockbarbali/wp/

The bar, as the name suggests, is set on the rocks by the sea. Unfortunately it's full when we arrive. God knows what time people were queuing from as we arrived by 5pm which should have been in good time. We therefore need to go to the bar on top of the cliffs instead which is also gorgeous and offers a similarly spectacular view of the sunset. Even hotel guests were not able to get into the bar which would really annoy me if I was staying here! So we order some drinks, find our spot and settle into what then became known as the 'sunset waiting room'. Service is terrible though. 

Now get ready for lots of sunset pictures!

Probably my favorite picture to date...

And gone... The sun finally sets on our Bali adventure (literally speaking). 

Sunset selfie. 

After the sunset Rock Bar starts to empty out so we head down there for a drink. We need to get a funicular railway down the side of the cliffs which only holds 8 people at a time (hence the queue!). 

This guy below nearly blows us up after 3 failed attempts to throw a match through the gas powered flame. Third attempt it lit but obviously by then there was a fair amount of surplus gas floating around. He didn't need his eyebrows anyway!

Probably the coolest DJ booth on the planet (the white box on top of the big rock)...

Making our way down on the funicular   railway.  This bar is sooooo cool. Epic setting amongst the rocks and actually pretty big too. 

A close up of the DJ. 

Very cool bar. Great contrast with the bottles all lit up and the dark night behind. 

Gorgeous beds for rocking back and watching the sunset. 

Getting the funicular back up.

Amazing wedding venue. Really cool chapel. 

We then make our way to Sundara at he Four Seasons. This had been on my to do list since the last time we were here. At Christmas it was 50-50 between here and the St Regis for Christmas dinner but we opted for St Regis as it was next door to our hotel. 

http://sundarabali.com

The restaurant is spectacular. Actually one of the nicest we have been in this week and it has had very tough competition. Amazing decor, amazing setting, fantastic service, delicious food and phenomenal wine (gorgeous Malbec from Mendoza). Also very cool drinks menu on the iPad. 

Far too much water on this table...

The view from our gorgeous table looking out over the infinity pool and the beach with the airport in the background (surprisingly you can't hear any planes though). 

The food was some of the best we have had. Gorgeous duck parfait to start for me, Nat has some beef sushi rolls, then I had the chicken and Nat the salmon. All absolutely delicious - even the sides of bread, corn on the cob with feta, creamy mashed potatoes and Asian vegetables. Salivating again just writing this. 

The lovely courtyard for an after dinner drink. 

The infinity pool the restaurant looks out over. 

Every last detail of this resturant is prefect. 

We book a cab to head back to our hotel at about 11pm very content after a lovely evening. Randomly when we get back this is parked outside our hotel... Unfortunately we couldn't book it for our transfer to the airport tomorrow. No room for cases!