Singapore - Day 2

It's Paul's birthday today & he was made a fuss of all day - cake & champagne from hotel staff on arrival, cake & singing at breakfast & personalised menus & more cake (souffle actually) at dinner! Needless to say, I think he had a good one!

After filling ourselves with the most decadent & expansive buffet breakfast I have ever indulged in at our hotel we walked it off by visiting Suntec City shopping centre, Haji Lane & Arab Street. Of course we had to take Richard & Rachel for a Selfie Coffee! Richard was in awe of the city's architecture (as we all were) & took great delight in the many optical illusions that the designers had created.

Our journey back to the hotel took us for a quick detour to Raffles Hotel gift shop (unfortunately the Hotel was closed for major renovations) where we picked up a gift for Bettye (Paul & Richard's mum) before Richard, Rachel & Paul retired to the pool. I took a quick taxi ride to Orchard Road - Singapore's major shopping precinct with every designer brand store you can think of in one stretch of road. What a nightmare - every man & his dog apparently visits Orchard Road on a Sunday! The stores were packed & I had to dodge a plethora of 'selfie stick' carrying tourists on the street! It was all worth it though, as I sourced Paul's favourite cologne & managed a side trip to Victoria's Secret as well. Cocktails & a swim at the pool were a wonderful reward when I finally made it back to the hotel.

Dinner had been organised at Morton's Steakhouse, located within the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The food, ambiance & staff were amazing; the prices eye watering. However, staff had gone to great detail to ensure Paul was treated like a star. In addition to personalised menus he also received a birthday card & photo of us all that had been signed by all of the staff.

We finished off the evening with a walk & visit to Marina Bay Sands Sky Tower where we took in the incredible views of Singapore by night from the architectural wonder that is the "ship" atop the Marina Bay Sands resort! Pretty spectacular & well worth the experience!Read more