Singapore Aug 2014 - Day 1&2

It's that time again to try to remember my blog password, dust down the old case and get ready for holiday. Luckily I have no issue finding my passport as it is permanent fixture in my laptop case at the moment or the best way to Heathrow! We have a nice flight time today - 11:30am from Heathrow to Changi, Singapore. Nice bit of breakfast at Oriels in T3 before we take off.  

Classic Brits going on holiday when having a beer at 10am seems completely acceptable and normal. Tea didn't even enter my mind! 

When we get to the gate we had a nice surprise. Unfortunately it wasn't an upgrade but it is kind of an upgrade... A whole plane upgrade to the new A380. The double decker monster. Can't quite contemplate how big this thing is. It seats 525 passengers, has a wingspan of 80 meters which is 54% longer than a 747 and can carry up to 3,000 suitcases. Even Nat's shoe and handbag collection couldn't fill this bad boy.  Apparently there are only 20 runways/airports in the world that have the capacity/equipment for one of these to land at at the moment. 

They don't usually let us common people on the upper deck...

...And still don't... Our seats are downstairs!! 

The two levels of walkways to get onto the plane depending on what floor you are on. 

The plane is fantastic once on it. The design is great. They have got every last detail right and it seems so bright and spacious. Even the windows are about twice the size of normal plane windows. 

Great entertainment system too. That's my Saturday afternoon sorted - Game of Thrones Season 3 ready to go! Unfortunately we only make it to episode 9 out of 10. At least we have the season finale to look forward to on the way back. 

Nat getting excited. 

And now me getting excited when they bring out the chocolate ice cream pots. 

After a pretty comfortable 13 hour flight we land in Singapore at 7.30am. It's a bit of a killer of a flight time as because we are 7 hours ahead it means we have lost a nights sleep and were not tired enough to sleep on the way as it is only midnight at home. 

As always Singapore airport is slick. Such an amazing airport. We breeze through passport control. Get our luggage and hop in a cab into town. Straight away we are reminded why we love Singapore so much. The place is pristine. Every last piece of it. Landscaped to perfection. Amazing buildings and architecture. The place just works. 

First glimpse of our hotel in the distance (no not the big wheel!)

Arriving at the Marina Bay Sands, or MBS as the locals call it. 

Very cool reception. And what is even better is they let us have our room early which is a godsend as we are starting to feel pretty tired now and did not fancy waiting 8 hours!

Gorgeous room, bigger than our flat, with an amazing view over the Marina. 

We decide to have a couple or hours sleep before heading out which was well needed. We had to drag ourselves out of bed to stop us sleeping through the day and ruining our sleep pattern for another day though. But with the main reason I booked this hotel waiting upstairs it was great motivation to drag ourselves out of bed. 

And there she is... Hands down the coolest hotel pool I have ever seen. An infinity pool situated on the 57th floor with probably the best view of Singapore. 

We came for a drink in the bar here whilst traveling but obviously couldn't go in and this is when I vowed that I would stay here and swim in this pool if I ever came to Singapore again. Tick. 

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon. 

Natty's turn to be swimming on the edge of the world. 

Love this pic. 

Kind of ruins the illusion when you get to the edge though. I wanted it to just be a waterfall falling onto the road below...

Singapore selfie. 

The atmosphere by the pool is amazing and the music is even better!

After spending most of the day here we decide to head back to the room to get ready to go out. 

Ku De Ta - will be in here for a drink later on...

The view off the back of the hotel of the amazing botanical gardens is equally as impressive. 

Naturally the jacuzzi also has a cracking view too. 

First stop for our night out is 15 floors up to Ku De Ta for a few very expensive drinks. £9 a pint is a bit of a stinger. Especially for Stella!! But well worth it. 

Cracking sunset. 

The city looks amazing as all the lights start to come on. 

After a few drinks we attempt to go for dinner at the Fullerton Bay Hotel in a restaurant called the Clifford which has a a great view back over the marina towards our hotel. However the restaurant was not my cup of tea - absolutely lovely (see below) but more of a white table cloth stuffy atmosphere kind of place. No place for my chat - so we decide to just have a drink on the lovely terrace instead and head back to our hotel which is where a lot of the cool restaurants seem to be. 

http://www.fullertonbayhotel.com/dining/clifford

View back over the bay to our hotel. At least we got a great view of the light show from here. 

Back at the hotel our food options are very limited as it is now 9.30pm and every restaurant seems to close at 10pm, taking last orders at 9.30pm. We manage to find Sky57 which is he restaurant the other side of the pool to Ku De Ta and have some 'bar snacks' and a glass of red on the terrace. 

The food was amazing but I am pretty sure a chicken curry does not make a good 'bar snack'. Especially as we didn't even have a proper table. Still polished it off though with no spillage. 

We head back for a drink by the pool at one of the other bars and stumble across what appears to be a huge pool party. The pool is still heaving at 10.40pm. I am just about to rush down to get my swim shorts back on and I realise it closes at 11pm so head to the bar instead. Always tomorrow night. 

At 11pm we hear the final whistle go (literally) and everyone is ushered out of the pool. We finish our beers and head to bed. Great first day and definitely ready for bed.