![\"Park](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Park-Hotel-Davids-Tom-Yum-Entree.jpg\" "\\"Park")
Park Hotel - David's Tom Yum Entree<\/p><\/div>\n
Mains in David\u2019s case was served before I\u2019d finished my entr\u00e9e \u2013 I guess manners are different the world over but that was a bit of a surprise. He had dory served on finely diced veggies with some spinach. The 3 items were stacked on top of each other as is the modern chef\u2019s whim. The meal was very tiny and in fact could almost be mistaken as garnish! I had dory served on Japanese curried veggies. The veggies were exactly the same \u2018dice\u2019 as David\u2019s and the meal size similar. Half way through (which was a long time being me, even for such a small meal) some rice arrived!<\/p>\n
We decided on dessert as well seeing as it was my birthday, and the fact that there was still plenty of room for it in our tummies.<\/p>\n
![\"Park](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Park-Hotel-Mays-Ganache-Dessert.jpg\" "\\"Park")
Park Hotel - May's Ganache Dessert<\/p><\/div>\n
I chose chocolate ganache served with \u2018baby carrot\u2019 something or another, which was a worry. Still not sure if it was the frozen blob of yellow something on top of the ganache or the fine drizzle of jus on the plate. I also scored a half scoop of a white sorbet, 2 huge, and delicious, raspberries and 2 white chocolate \u2018leaves\u2019. David\u2019s cr\u00e8me brulee was in a dish so small he could barely fit his spoon inside it and he had a finger of wafer with 3 brown dots on it and 4 huge raspberries. Well of course then he started: \u00a0 quietly enough that the staff couldn’t hear but even so… \u201cExcuse me! Could I have a spoon that will actually fit in the dish?\u201d Which made me laugh, which encourages him onwards\u2026 \u201cI\u2019m still hungry, can I charge this to some other poor sop\u2019s room?\u201d \u201cWhere\u2019s this lively bar?\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Park](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Park-Hotel-Davids-Creme-Brulee-Dessert.jpg\" "\\"Park")
Park Hotel - David's Creme Brulee Dessert<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cOh, it\u2019s the 2 people sitting on the 2 lounge chairs behind us and ignoring one another!\u201d \u201cHow will we join them in the bar when there are only the 2 chairs? We\u2019ll have to sit on their laps \u2013 May, which one do you fancy?\u201d There was more which I can\u2019t remember in detail but I was absolutely in stitches, all the while being looked at in a confused and almost frowning manner by the main waitress which just made both of us worse \u2013 David for the things he was saying and me for laughing.<\/p>\n
Oh I\u2019ve missed out that David asked for a shiraz at the beginning of the meal, which he had to repeat and the waitress went away, apparently shuffling under the bar, then whispering to another staff member and then came back and said \u201cShiraz? Is that a red wine?\u201d and David said \u201cYes\u201d. And she should consider herself lucky that\u2019s all he said \u2013 nothing funny. She scampered off, obviously relieved. You\u2019d think she\u2019d never heard of it! I wouldn\u2019t mind if she was a trainee or something but she was actually instructing the young (and very friendly) girl who actually did most of our serving. I\u2019d asked for a Sing Sling but she came back and told me they were all out of gin so I had a rum in pineapple juice instead. David\u2019s shiraz arrived in a glass bigger than his head which he obviously enjoyed as he had 3 in the end. The meal cost $190. Wheweeeee!<\/p>\n
After that we went up to our room to watch some more golf and have a cuppa until 11pm and that was another day gone.<\/p>\n
MONDAY 19th July
\nSentosa Island day. We started with breakfast in the hotel which was still very quiet, and that got no complaints from us, except that there were no chocolate rolls in the pastry selection. We got paired up with an English couple who had just arrived from Hong Kong and they said that if we think Singapore is busy we should try HK! We had a really nice chat to them, comparing notes on what we\u2019d seen, and still wanted to see, and then back to the room for a shower, get dressed and out, except the safe wouldn\u2019t unlock for us to get the movie camera out. It turns out they\u2019ve had a few safes do this when there\u2019s a laptop inside and that\u2019s exactly what we did have so it held us up a bit from leaving but the delay truly didn\u2019t matter. Why would a safe lock irreparably if there\u2019s a laptop in it? The laptop was off so it\u2019s just an inert pile of plastic and wire!<\/p>\n
We set off for the MRT from Clarke Quay, down the 90 steps and onto the train to Harbour Side shopping centre where we had to go up escalators to the 3rd floor to catch the Sentosa Express. This included joining yet another massive cattle corral to buy tickets for the Songs of the Sea show and Butterfly World. I went to a different queue to buy the tickets for the monorail while David queued for the other tickets. My queue was very short so I sat on the edge of a flower box to wait for him to join me. It was a long wait! And he\u2019s not that patient a man so was sighing and shifting from one leg to the other every time I could see him, just to make sure I appreciated his efforts. And I did.<\/p>\n
Once he got served we went through the turnstiles and deliberately missed one train so that we could be first in line for the next one (and thereby get a seat). We parked ourselves right next to the door that would open and I\u2019d already seen that people got out the other side so we didn\u2019t have to allow them space and wouldn\u2019t get shoved out of pole position \u2013 goody!!! We stood as widely as we could, blocking any hopeful contenders who wished to push us aside for the few chairs. Yes, one couple did try to push us aside, would you believe? But we stood strong and I think they got the hint. David didn\u2019t take a seat once the train did arrive, which was pretty silly as they were then taken by \u2018healthy young things\u2019, but I got one so that I\u2019d feel safe for the journey. It turned out to be a really short journey anyway LOL<\/p>\n
There was not as much to do on Sentosa Island as we had thought. There was a Universal Studios that we wouldn\u2019t have gone to anyway but it was booked out before we\u2019d bought our tickets. There was a concrete-paved toboggan ride which you accessed by a ski lift and we\u2019d have liked to take the ski lift in both directions and miss the toboggan but that option didn\u2019t seem available so we didn\u2019t do that either. Instead we asked for directions to the lookout hill from 2 people who worked on stalls around the place but both were as vague as each other so we just set out to explore anyway.<\/p>\n
Things were extremely hard to find! The English couple had warned us of this and they were right. \u2013 up, down, roundabout, ask directions and get nothing descriptive enough that it was of use. Signposts sent you off in one direction but then you\u2019d reach the next intersection and it would tell you other things but not the one you were looking for! It was all good fun! Or not. But it was not as if we were in any kind of a rush.<\/p>\n
![\"Sentosa](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Sentosa-Island-Wrought-Iron-Clock.jpg\" "\\"Sentosa")
Sentosa Island Wrought Iron Clock<\/p><\/div>\n
We found a sloping zig-zag footpath so presumed that it could possibly lead to the lookout and took it. At the top was a gorgeous wrought iron contraption with bells hanging in the 2 pergola-looking sections and we found out later it was a clock of sorts. There were no hands, no clock face, but the bells chimed in the Westminster pattern on the quarter hour. In this photo you can see the bells, the red train on the monorail \u2013 these came in a range of colours \u2013 and an odd, orange shape that I\u2019ll tell you about…<\/p>\n
![\"Sentosa](\"http:\/\/mayl.id.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/Sentosa-Island-Clock-and-Monorail.jpg\" "\\"Sentosa")
Sentosa Island Clock and Monorail<\/p><\/div>\n
The orange shape belonged to a water sculpture about 200 metres long and 2 or 3 metres wide which meandered its way up a long slope with paving either side. Some of it represented sea creatures in shape but all was decorated with these small mosaic tiles in garish colours. It looked more as if some giant had thrown up than a thing of beauty. And it was also not a thing of practical use as it said \u2018no swimming\u2019 at regular intervals. It would have been wonderful for small children to have played and paddled in! There were gentle water spouts spitting into it at intervals but it was not for fun<\/span>!<\/p>\n After a few wrong turns, at the highest end of the ugly water feature, at the foot of the Merlion, we found the Merlion souvenir shop and asked for directions as to how to get inside the thing. David had paid for tickets while buying the other 2 sets. The shop man waved his arms around and gave us some words but they still didn\u2019t help us find the entrance. Somehow, we stumbled between 2 high metal fences where building works were cordoned off and down some steps and there at last was the entrance!<\/p>\n Next page\/…<\/a><\/p>\n Please feel free to leave a comment in the fields below before leaving this page. Email addresses will not be used in any way, nor displayed for anyone to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For a birthday treat (as if holidaying in Singapore wasn\u2019t enough!) it was decided to have dinner in our hotel once we\u2019d asked to check the menu to make sure it appeared appealing. Considering how quiet the dining room was … Continue reading