Andy
Am so glad that you went to Eng seng it really is fantastic, Muffin was also sucking his fingers to get every last bit. I have been a couple of times and i dont normally like crab!!!
Hope you are enjoying Singapore.
N

the question is: is singapore enjoying him??

thank god he does not chew gum

Actually, Panda has been spotted in Malaysia, in dark glasses and a slouchy hat..(see above post)

Back in Cambridge. It's really hot here. As hot as it was in Singapore.

I'll finish(Ekscrunchy-this is a word that means bring to completion) in a series of random thoughts.

The flight back was on united, SIN-Narita-Dulles-BOS. The SIn-Narita leg was easy. We only had a 45 minute connection, but everything was smooth and we boarded as soon as we got to the gate.

The Narita-IAD leg was fine. Beth slept, I did not. Watched two stupid movies and read a lot. The Dulles part was ridiculous. We had a two hour connection and just bearely made it. A real ong line for immigration and another real lon line for customs. We had to run through the airport to catch our plane. naturally, there was a problem and we sat in the plane for 45 minutes,

hanuman-be glad to play poker for anything, clothes, food, joke books, whatever. Do they play much poker in BKK? It's real big here in the US.

Welcome home, Andy and Beth!

glad the flights went well....have you been to similan yet??


got to go back to the villa for a swim...

Sounds like you had a nice, relaxing time. But with all the gambling, cigars, etc you may want to look at Havana....? :)

Add me to the list of travelers who will go 4,000 miles out of my way to avoid Dulles.

Welcome home.

Lori-I can say that Dulles was the worst international immigration and customs we have ever experienced. Too many people being pushed through a bureaucratic bottleneck. One hour and 45 minutes too clear the whole process. Disgraceful. I'm sure Bob was behind it.

Not to mention that Dulles was saving quite a bit on its air conditioning costs. It was sweltering in there. After our jog to gate D-18 we were drenched in sweat.

'together we can' change dulles to a better airport...

Let's just rename it George W. Bush Airport and have form fit function.

On our second day in Nusa Dua, we went for a walk along the beach pathway. There's a public beach and then the Grand Hyatt. The beach is much nicer on the Grand Hyatt side of the island.

More beaching and cigars.

For dinner, we went to the Lotus Garden. It's just outside Nusa Dua. I had grilled prawns that were good. It was nice to escape the Bali Collection.

Speaking of which, there's security all over Nusa Dua. Every vehicle going onto the island is inspected. There's separate inspections at each hotel and also at the Bali Collection. At the Westin, we had to go through a metal detector. It's slightly creepy.

I also noticed that the vendors at the public beach had several items in Cyrillic. I assume there's a lot of Russian tourists.

Welcome home - perfect weather here to ease the transition...

Are we going to hear more about Singapore?

Welcome home. Glad to see that you're back on East Coast time, posting at 2 and 4am.

Dullest is a delight. Do they still use the Glaciers on Scissors to get you to the mid-field terminal?

Of the first-visit places you went to, which would draw you back the quickest?

I also avoid Dulles. I fly to and from Zurich a couple of times a year, and the price by way of Dulles is always a couple hundred dollars cheaper... but I RESIST!!! It's HORRID!!

Midwest weather is crazy, but at least we aren't having 100 degree temps. We've been "lucky" so far, no tornados ripping through my town. We actually have protection from the storm... the body of a small saint somewhere in the local Catholic church.. St Christopher??

Trying to get back to Bandkok in either July or August. Prices are insane!

Carol

It sounds like a wonderful trip, Andy. It sounds like you and Beth had a wonderfully relaxing time in Bali.

I want to hear more about what you did in Singapore. Eating, of course, is one of the reasons to visit Singapore, and it sounds like you did well on that count.

Welcome home.

On our full day in Singapore, we woke up and took a taxi to Maxwell food Center. It had been recommended by out taxi driver the evening before. It was about 1/2 open at 9:30 a.m.. We had some roti and a few sweet rolls. total cost S$6, about 1/5 of breakfats at the Meridien.'

We walked around Chinatown popping into shops as we chose. We ended up buying a wooden comb for some unknown reason.

We went into a Hindu temple and walked around. It was crowded.

We took a cab to IndoChine on Club street. In fact it was only 4 blocks from where we were, but we could not find it on the map. The cab had to go a roundabout way because of one way streets. We had a very good meal.

We walked to the MRT station with every intention of going up to Little India. However, when we went to buy our tickets, an older man began to help us. He inquired about our trip and we said we had about two hours to tour. he said he had been a guide for 25 years and we should skip Little India and go on a bum boat ride and walk around the area near the river. We followed hid suggestion.

The bum boat ride is sort of interesting and very cool on the water. It was a good idea.

We then went to the Asian Civilization Museum where we spent an hour in the gift shop. Bought several items.

We then walked up to Treue Blue. we were following Guenmai's advice. When we went to the East Coast Road location it had been closed. On our walk, we went through the Digital Mall on Bridge Street. There were lots of young boys tring out a new video game. We looked in on several watch stores, but escaped with no purchase.

When we found True Blue, it was closed until 6:00 p.m. and it was about 4:00 p.m. Once again, we popped in to the Asian Civilzation Gift Shop on Armenian street. beth bough a Kebiya with much kibitzing from several other shopgoers.

We took a taxi to the Seafood center. Unlike the Maxwell Food Center, this was not a bunch of hawker stalls. It was all restaurants. Even though we had advice to try Long Beach and No Signgard, we went to Jumbo because it had lots more people eating than either of the other two. We had Black Pepper Crab, Kai Lan and sweet and sour fish. the fish was very good as were the vegetables. the crab was good, but not as good as Eng Seng. There wasn't as much Black pepper sauce on the crab. You could taste the crab more, but the sauce was not as succulent as Eng Seng.

Cab back to the hotel, packed for our trip home.

We liked Singapore a lot. The food is great. The shopping is amusing. Walking amongst the low rise shop houses was fun. WE would definitely come back here.

Rizzutto- we would go back to the Alam Shanti in Ubud and Singapore at a different hotel. We would also go back to Sanur, but it is just a beach. All three were delightful. Nusa Dua is an antiseptic place. There's nothing Balinese or particularly interesting. Our stay was free, so we didn't waste any money, but it was a waste of time. I would say that Bali has so much more to offer that staying in Nusa Dua is a waste.

Thanks Kathie. We were posting at the same time. Hopefully, my previous post covered our Singapore adventure more thoroughly.

I note for the record that my lack of detail for the Bali portion was to avoid duplication with the POB. Also for the record, we loved Bali and would defintely return. In fact, Beth spoke several times of perhaps organizing a Fodors GTG in Bali in 2010. Not a bad idea. I'll speak to his Bobness on this issue. If anyone else has a vague interest, you should speak up now.

Andy,
Welcome back. We figured you couldn't but have a great time. Now, we all need to see some pictures posted somewhere.

As for the Bali GTG -- sounds like a lot of fun. Is it true you will leave all the planning to Bob? Does that mean it will entail a mandatory stopover at the BKK Marriott?
Tengo.

Andy, I'm sure we'll return to Bali at some point in the next few years. So keep us posted about plans.