Singapore Day 1: of Street and Wicked

No man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.

-Elbert Hubbard

It felt like it's been ages since we had a proper holiday. Sure there was Melbourne in December but I guess one cannot tame a nomads spirit. So off we dashed to our southern neighbour for a quick escape.

It was a nice surprise that Air Asia  was kind enough to upgrade us to the hot seat as it was Teddy Bens Birthday. Thank you.

this was our wonderful view. Doesn't it look like a field of cotton candy? Wait...let me help with the imagining...better?

So first thing we did was get some grubs. Yes, typical Malaysians aren't we? Food always comes first for us.

We headed to this scenic little bistro called Epicurious which serves brunch. Perfect for us as we typically enjoy our sleep too much to bother with having two separate meals being breakfast AND lunch.

Appetiser being golden crunchy fries served with cheese dips. The dip was to dip for! Cheesy with out  being too rich we could have just had this as a meal preferably washed down with some cold beer but it was too early for that kind of celebration.

Teddy Bens Rosti: Shredded potato pancake. I'm not a big fan of this so I wont bother with the description. If you are really curious leave a comment below and I'll get Ben to tell you about it.

The lamb shank was so so. Perhaps if the meat was more properly seasoned then the taste would have been present. But the texture was lovely, tender and juicy, unfortunate about the taste.

My favourite brunch, eggs Benedict over runny. Remember to tell them runny! Oh the oozing goodness was nearly too much, would have preferred if it was paired with some smoked salmon then I would have climaxed right there and then in gastronomical ecstasy.

Epicurious  

The Quayside

60 Robertson Quay

6734 7720

WEBSITE

After brunch, we all took a short walk along Robertson Quay. Really a lovely place. Full of restaurants, bars, nice track to have a wee jog if you ever fancy too. Lovely view too. Ah but the price there is too much to ask. Luckily we have someone who asked. So we stayed along the Quay and enjoyed every sight. 

Teddy Ben has no patience for me to fiddle with my picture taking contraption so I accepted it as a challenge. Here are a slew of pictures I took while walking. Do they qualify as street photography? I wouldn't know, but here they are.

Behold the Skeleton of a flamboyant Banana!

The morning ship assembly.

Rule of thirds...am I doing it right?

Intrusion of photography privacy.

Follow the rainbow

Old School ice cream sandwich man.

Hogwarts or Pigfarts?

 Roads signs that actually came in handy as we had to retrace our steps several times. Yes, we tend to wander of in our little quests.

Obviously I have problems getting into the middle of things.  

Singapore seems to always be under construction here and there.

Alright so we had the brilliant idea of walking from Roberson Quay to Marina Bay Sands for our special evening soiree. We did it in Melbourne so it shouldn't be too hard right? Oh how naive we were. Singapore is much closer to the equator than Melbourne. Hence we conveniently forgot the fact that it was sweltering hot in the tropical heat. So to cut our losses, we hopped on to a cab. the end. Well not quite. 

Our quest for the day was to watch Wicked. Yes Wicked isn't it? Teddy Ben and I are huge theatre buffs and the fact that wicked was showing not just several hundred kilometres and a straits away had us giddy with excitement. Also it was a good birthday present for Teddy Ben, an easy one that could be shared with me. I know, aren't I the devious smart one.

In every country we visit, we usually try to stretch our money as best we could but once just once we would indulge in the best food available to our pockets. Just once, in every country, a swanky posh meal.

So dinner and theatre it was. We had a street of celebrity chef restaurants to choose from in Marina Bay Sands. A very swanky place indeed. Finally we decided on Daniel Boulud.

Yup, this food talent over 9000 crazy French guy you may have seen from AFC.

 So ready?

 Assorted bread.

 Frisee Salad "Cervelle de Canut"

Very Light and refreshing. I generally avoid shallots but the taste here work so well together in harmony that the offensive family member of the pungent family played quite well.

Tomato soup of Ratatouille Basil oil and Sourdough Croutons. Smooth...

The waiters there were world class. The linguist in me detected Australians and Filipinos in the mix. Friendly and ever helpful and attentive makes for a nice service.

Seafood risotto with Salmon, prawns, scallops, clams, lemon and saffron foam. Perfect consistency with a little bite to the grain. 

 Steak minute "Au Poivre" with gratin dauphinoise, mushrooms and fine beans.

Bloody good steak right there. Pun proudly intended.

We were a tad early to catch the show. So we had a nice quite meal to eat and chat about the show.

Yes, I wore green for wicked. There we're a few of us, not many. And why not? It matches my jade bracelet. Got this dress from Doublewoot.

Dessert we opted for a simple brownie and while Teddy Ben popped into the loo, I asked the waiter if it wasn't too much trouble to add a little scribble of well wishes as a surprise. The waiter was so obliging that he even asked for the name. Oh bless them.

 The happy Birthday boy.

The generous people at db even gave a complimentary basket of Madeline. How nice are they really? If you aren't sure what are Madeleine? They are a sort of light pastry, not unlike our Malaysian kuih bahulu but with a soft lemon citrus note.

In the end we spent about $58 for a 2 course meal and $68 on a 3 course meal both with a glass of wine

Luc Saint Roche, Languedoc 2010 and Chateau Mas Neuf, Costieres de Nimes, Compostelle 2005

DB Bistro Moderne

Marina Bay Sands

10 Bayfront Avenue

Tel: 6688 8525

Lunch: noon to 2.30pm

Dinner: 5.30pm till late daily

Brunch: 11 am to 3pm, weekends

Opening hours:

Reservations recommended.

Finally it was time for us to scurry off to the theater.

The theatre architecture was very modern. Quite refreshing though my heart will always lie with the more flamboyant old fashion English Theatre. It is a place for drama and expression after all.

 No pictures were allowed in the hall. But let me tell you, to experience a story unfold in front of you as your eyes and senses are allowed to wander to every little details on stage is a truly dream like state. 

To see and hear the actors at an arms length breath and speak  sends goosebumps to me. Its is the sort of immersion that no amount of technology in 2D, HD, 3D can ever achieve.

I loved it! I had wanted to wait by the stage door perchance of congratulating the cast but...Teddy Ben was getting grumpy so we had to leave.

The performance was electrical.

The story moving as we were shown the other side of the story of Oz. We sighed and sympathised, sang and cried, gasped and sat stunned to our seat as if we were watching our own flesh and blood going through the turmoils of teen hood. There is a lot of heart in this show. 

I was so very glad to be able to catch it

Do head on to Sand Theatre website to find out more shows.