Finally the Drrons are off on a Real OS Trip

[drron]

So as there is often a nice orchid display at BKK. This time with a replica Royal Throne.
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Whilst we were checking in I noticed a guy in the full Hazmat outfit walk past. I watched him go to the next aisle of checkin. Got a surprise seeing this.
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A China Eastern checkin.
We were sent off to the fast track entrance. Through pretty quickly with a very quick wanding of my Knee. But mrsdrron likes stopping here.
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But nothing took her fancy so off to the TG Royal silk lounge.

 

[drron]

A reasonable lounge and all self service. Spirits were out but not wine.
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An Ok breakfast selection.
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Though I decided not to try this delicacy.
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Decided to leave the lounge about 10 minutes before boarding was to start. A mistake. The inbound flight was 40 minutes late and the gate area became a zoo.
As usual mrsdrron positions us well so when J boarding was announced only 1 fellow beat us on. This morning it was a long haul A350-900 configuration.
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Having had brekkie in the lounge I turned down the offer of a meal. It looked the same as the meal we had when we flew into Bangkok so wasn't missing much.
I watched a couple of documentaries on the Singapore F&B scene during Covid. It was obviously horrendous as the Government banned eating in. In the first 6 weeks of the lockdown over 1000 places closed permanently. But then in 2021 ~ another 1250 shut up shop for good. A big price to pay.

The only other thing about the flight was when we began the descent into Singapore my left ear became painful and I found my Left Eustachian tube was blocked.

 

[drron]

We landed about 30 minutes late but quickly through Immigration,about 2 minutes wait for our bag,straight through Customs to the empty taxi queue and straight into a waiting taxi. So we were at the Fairmont hotel in under an hour from when we left the plane.
So checked in before 1400,granted late checkout at 1400 and up to our room. A basic room in the North Tower but on the 23rd floor.
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And a box of choccies.
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[drron]

The views from our room.
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Now mrsdrron is an Accor member but our last stays were in 2019. So no Status. But we were on a Luxury Escapes Package which had originally been booked for March 2020 but changed 3 times until now. As part of that we had access to the Gold Lounge.
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Self serve apart from the wine.A really good selection of food.

 

[woodyren]

Glad to see another fan of the Oyster Omelette. I was very disappointed to miss out on one while in Singapore.

 

[SYD]

Glad to see another fan of the Oyster Omelette. I was very disappointed to miss out on one while in Singapore.

Sorry, any oyster that’s had heat applied has died in vain…

 

[Pushka]

Sorry, any oyster that’s had heat applied has died in vain…

Every oyster ( edited - served to me ) - has died in vain...

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

I don't care how they come on the plate, raw, cooked, somewhere in between, I will eat them

 

[drron]

Sorry, any oyster that’s had heat applied has died in vain…

Unless they are Bluff oysters.

 

[drron]

On top of the other perks we also got a free dinner in the Asian Marketplace Cafe. Sold as a seafood buffet. Certainly a fair bit of seafood. The sashimi salmon was excellent,the prawns were nice. However the crab looked anything but fresh and the scallops were awful.

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The dish on the right is chilli crab. Didn't look great but the pot was emptied regularly. I saw one fairly large fellow go back and fill his bowl 4 times with it.
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[drron]

And there is still more.
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That is diced lamb leg.
The satays were good and the fellow was busy all the time.
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The Murtubak guy was also good at his job.
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But I saved the best until last. Make your own Laksa.
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Was it worth it? Well worth the price we paid.

 

[drron]

A bit of a sleep in for Friday 13th. Up to the lounge for a small breafast and admiring the views.
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The reason for the small breakfast was because we were off to this place.
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Yes lunch at Whitegrass on Black Friday.
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And the menus. We could pick different menus so mrsdrron chose the smaller and I the larger.
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I paid the supplement for the Waygu.

 

[drron]

Mrsdrron was talking to the manager/sommelier about how she enjoyed a low alcohol NZ Sav Blanc when at home. The sommelier disappeared then brought back a French low alcohol (8.5%) sav blanc.It was quite nice so we had that. They do have quite a few wines by the glass and when we return we will go down that path.
So the Amusee bouche for mrsdrron.
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And mine had a little bit extra -tiny sashimi prawns which were very nice.
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Then my appetiser an excellent tuna dish whilst mrsdrron was NZ salmon.
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Second appetiser for me Hokkaido scallops.Wonderful. Mrsdrron enjoyed her corn consomme.
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Then my extra course -Japanese Amadai tilefish. Very crisp on the outside and so moist and tasty inside, Excellent..

 

[drron]

Then to the mains. Mrsdrron had the French poulet with langoustines. she thought it very good.
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My Waygu was worth the supplement.
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Then the desserts. Okinawa pineapple for mrsdrron and Rosemary ice cream with pistachio and cherries for me. Both were enjoyable.
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And to finish off a little cake.
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The chef you will not be surprised to know is Japanese but trained in France. It shows not only in the food but also the crockery.
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Though this plate looks like a Japanese style it is made in Germany.
We ended up getting along very well with the manager/sommelier Wendy so had a couple of good conversations. I think because she liked my summation of our lunches at Odette and Whitegrass. Odette is very much on the production and presentation where Whitegrass is basically about the food.
We were last to leave hence the previous pictures of an empty restaurant. We were also each given a complimentary glass of a Yuzu liqueur.
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A very nice end to a very enjoyable lunch.

 

[drron]

Whitegrass is in the Chijmes complex which has a huge number of eateries and bars. We walked back through the complex. I thought it looked like a Spanish Mission but they weren't welcome in these parts. turns out that Caldwell House where Whitegrass is is the second oldest building in Singapore dating from 1840/41. In the mid 1850s the Catholics bought the house and gradually the surrounding land turning it into a convent and girls school. They moved out in the 1980s and eventually what was left handed over to the Government. It was renamed in 1990

CHIJMES

CHIJMES is a historic building complex located in the heart of City Hall, which began life as a Catholic Convent also known as Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ).

chijmes.com.sg

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[drron]

Continuing our walk back.
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Back at the hotel they had changed the flowers.
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After freshening up we walked around Raffles City shopping mall and changed some money.

 

[tgh]

Do not rush home folks, weather is Brisvegas has been abysmal and continues.
Humidity near 100% for the last 24 hours , our hard floors are all wet and slippery and everything is turning green.
No sign of a change in the wether pattern and we could have another east coast low later next week...

 

[drron]

So only good for sheep at the moment?

Do not rush home folks, weather is Brisvegas has been abysmal and continues.
Humidity near 100% for the last 24 hours , our hard floors are all wet and slippery and everything is turning green.
No sign of a change in the wether pattern and we could have another east coast low later next week...

 

[kookaburra75]

So only good for sheep at the moment?

Do not rush home folks, weather is Brisvegas has been abysmal and continues.
Humidity near 100% for the last 24 hours , our hard floors are all wet and slippery and everything is turning green.
No sign of a change in the wether pattern and we could have another east coast low later next week...

They have issued Sheep Graziers warnings, although I'm never sure whether that's for the sheep, or to beware of Sheep Graziers.

 

[ausfox]

The main thing is to not get wethered. Gasp!