January 2, 2020 in Singapore

Arrived at Hotel 1887, a converted opera house which sounded charming online, at 2:30 a.m. after almost 30 hours of travel and 3 flights.   Discovered...our reservation through Booking.com had not gone through because booking.com said to the hotel that our credit card was invalid.  However, it worked okay when we finally got a room at the same hotel for $120 'with a balcony', however, the room was so tiny we literally could not stand side by side.  No place to open our suitcases except on the bed, which was king size and took up the entire floor space.  Some hooks on the back of the closet were available to hang our clothes.  Had we stayed there for the 5 nights as planned, it would have been hell.  The bathroom was a wet room.  That's okay, except I couldn't find the toilet paper during the night...

After getting to bed around 3:30 a.m., I discovered the cover wasn't large enough for 2 people and the AC was on full blast and we hadn't found the controls.  I ended up wearing my jacket on top of my nightie, covering one half of me with the extra pillow, and putting my leather coat on top as a cover.  Needless to say, sleep wasn't coming to save me and I watched as the dawn slowly crept through our balcony door.  

They did say we could get a different room for the next 4 days, however, the next morning we found a much nicer hotel and took a cab there.  We're at the Furama City Center in Chinatown with photos of our room and pool below.  Also $120/night.  Maybe $5 more, but definitely a great improvement.



Went back to Chinatown for dinner and ate at Sawasdee, a Thai place, where we had some kind of barbecued pork, cashew chicken, and fried rice with black olive bits.  Delish!

We have complimentary toothbrushes and toothpaste, slippers and robes.  The water wasn't too hot, so I called downstairs this morning and the technician came and fixed that. He also showed me the reason the blow dryer wasn't working was because the 'on' switch was hidden by my clothes...

We went to the pool in the afternoon and planned to nap on the deck chairs but it started to drizzle, so we napped in our sumptuous room instead.  Also, the pool wasn't heated.  Normally, if it's 34 C outside, a cold pool would be refreshing but there was quite a wind and so while I ventured in, I didn't stay long.

Lots of nice things to see in Chinatown, so we picked a good place to stay which is within walking distance of neat places like the ones above and below.


Spices anyone?  OMG.  The whole rabbit warren of shops in Chinatown reminded us of Turkey, as did this huge display of spices.  There were also enormous bags of spices lying about, waiting to be filled into containers like the ones shown.

This was the breakfast, which was included, in Hotel 1887.  Several items were not available, so I ended up having the Nasi goreng istimewa which was tasty, and Hans had the signature big breakfast which was British in style with sausages, eggs, tomato and beans.  I should have had the Eggs slut, LOL, because now I'll never know what that might have been.


We;ve seen this sign elsewhere too.  No Touting.  What does it mean?


Comments

Judy said…
The egg slut dish is anything more fancy then other egg dishes, it’s over the top with extras.
Enjoy reading your post, have lots of fun, even the rough days are memories. Cheers Judy
7:00 PM
Lethe said…
Adventures make the best stories! Sadly, the best stories usually mean something, somewhere, went terribly wrong. I'm glad you got into a much nicer hotel, though. Also, I love nasi goreng and used to eat it in Malaysia all the time at the night markets.

I think the "No Touting" refers to "touts" who are like carnival barkers, trying to get passers-by to purchase something: a ride, taxi, trip, etc. So my guess it's like a "No Soliciting" sign.

I would have eaten the eggs slut.
9:07 AM
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