Wow! I had no idea how busy it was going to be at home! We need to get away again for a holiday – SOON! Oh! We are. In fact we are now in Cornwall. This is to try out the caravan and visit Helston for Flora Day on 8th May. Yesterday we celebrated International StarWars Day – “May the Fourth be with you!” Although I would admit to the gathering with Martin’s family was a coincidental celebration. It was marked by a short treasure hunt set by me which involved the girls having to unshred a shredded page with a clue typed on it. Involved a lot of selotape, but even then the instruction was all garbaged up. Still, with several brains in gear, the Easter egg prize was soon captured.
More significantly, Lauren set us a treasure hunt in return! Her first! All on her lonesome ownsome! So, as we’ve long suspected – it’s catching!
Back to the task in hand. Let’s complete the Myanmar & Oz series. The end-game! (That reminds me – Finn and I went to the cinema to see “Avengers, The End-Game”. Three hours of it. Well, minus a bit when I nipped out to the pub next door for a swift half!)
OK. We managed to find Brisbane airport and lobbed the lovely Kia Sorrento back at Europcar. The trick was in finding someone with whom to leave the keys. When we did, the guy wasn’t interested in inspecting the car. He just seemed delighted to be getting it back in one piece.
We were travelling to Singapore with Robin and family.
Indeed they were treating us to a three night stay in the up-market Conrad Hotel – on the club floor. This was our birthday treat – and very good it was too! The moral of this story is that if you want a posh hotel, get your kids to book it – and, preferably, pay for it too! Thanks Robin and Linda! ???
We tried to get seats on the plane together – really, we did. But R&L had not checked in on-line. They were hoping for the best. However, our experience is that you can always hope for the best – but don’t expect to get it! Not on today’s jammed up, multi-co-share flights. They are nearly always virtually full and, with online check-in widely available, everyone is catching on. It’s so easy, although I have yet to succeed in completing the process on my Android phone. I ALWAYS have to resort to using a PC somewhere. The fault lies in the selection of a UK number for our emergency contact. I can never get past that stage… So, hope for the best, but plan for the worst!
We are in our pre-selected, pre-checked-in seats and Robin and family are scattered around near the rear toilets. Perhaps scattered is too strong a word. They were in two blocks. Robin and children in one place and Linda in another. Actually, I suspect that Linda may have conned a business class seat. We only saw her once during the whole flight.
Anyway in the window seat next to us was an an Indian lady. She came on board with a massive rucksack which looked to weigh about 20 kg. She also had another piece of hand luggage which I reckon was about 15 kg. She proceeded to communicate on her phone most of the trip. She did explain to me that she was dealing with old messages, but then why was she hiding her phone from the crew? And why did it keep buzzing? And why did she keep replying when it did vibrate? Questions, questions, questions!
Eventually, we got to Singapore where Glenda presented someone else’s thumbs – again. More explanations. More shoving of her current, valid passport in the faces of immigration officers… I think we will be flying via Bangkok or Hong Kong or Timbuctoo next time!
The taxi queue was massive but fortunately for us there was a maxi-taxi in the line with no takers. So we skipped to the front of the line and all six of us piled in and off we went. Slowly – because the expressway into the city was blocked by an accident.
The Conrad Hotel is magnificent. And the views from the 28th floor were spectacular – especially at night.
There were, however, a couple of hyperactive children in the room opposite. And they enjoyed an early morning swim…
Followed by breakfast…
The hotel gave each room a teddy bear named Conrad. Slightly smaller than “Conrad the First” as found in the lobby!
The boys enjoyed the free drink service…
… especially at gin o’clock…
The taxi rank outside the hotel was always full of Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and Maseratis.
The trouble is we need six of them to go anywhere together! They only take one passenger each!
Behind the hotel there’s a rather fancy fountain…
Which is bigger than it looks. As seen from our floor…
The Fountain of Wealth. This fountain was listed by the Guinness Book of Records in 1998 as the largest fountain in the world. Completed in 1995, it appears as a gold ring in the palm of the hand symbolizing the preservation of wealth. Allegedly! It is located beside one of Singapore’s largest shopping malls, Suntec City. As the fountain is adjacent to our hotel, clearly our hotel is FAR, FAR to close to the shops! Ironically, Linda and Glenda did manage to get lost in there one evening. And I mean REALLY lost – not just “shopping lost”!
The mono-rail is free to use on Sentosa and, indeed, to ride off the island even though it costs to get on. So being economically minded, we took the rail back to the mainland.
That afternoon, our table received a birthday cake delivered by singing waiters!
This hotel stay was, after all, our birthday present from Robin and Linda. Some of you think we had celebrated too many times already – on our Caribbean cruise, several places in Florida and again several places in Spain, Portugal and France! Get over it – we have!
The flight home was dreadful. 15 hours battling into 200 kph headwinds. Bouncing all over the place. Seatbelt signs on most of the way. The seat in front of Glenda was broken and reclined about eight inches as opposed to the regulation four. Appalling selection of films – 120 rubbish films (as far as Glenda is concerned). Dreadful food – I found the vegetarian option was slightly better. Will order that in future. If indeed there is a future! Glenda has announced – in no uncertain terms – that she isn’t going to do this sector in this way ever again! We shall have to see…
OK. Let’s skip to the final “disaster” back in Ukonia. I’d booked the Heathrow Express about 90 days ahead to take advantage of the reduced prices. All electronic – on the phone. Worked well – except I’d booked it in the wrong direction! Paddington TO Heathrow. Wrong! However the ticket inspectors at both ends of the journey took pity on a couple of tired tourists, pointed out the error of my ways and opened up the barriers for us. Very reasonable chaps.
I’d like to point out that our holiday has been mainly fabulous… but I’m sure you’d rather hear about the trials and tribulations!
So let’s call that tour well and truly finished.
And although this year’s Spanish Caravan Extravaganza hasn’t started – we leave in exactly two week’s time (now, one week’s time) – we have already heard on the grapevine that our boat to the Iberian peninsula has sunk. Maybe. Probably, just an engine fire! But even so, that’s a little inconvenient for the 2400 passengers and 650 cars each crossing can take. I can’t imagine how long the queue will be when they get the fire put out!
Read the next exciting series of reports to find out whether we made it to Santander – or not! Starting on the 19 May – Starwars plus 15 – or soon thereafter!
THE END