We spent little time finding the coach that would bring us to Sands, but the vehicle was more idle than moving as it had to stop at three terminals before moving onto the road. Upon arrival I was disappointed by the hotel we were checking in as it was too noisy and crowded. The hotel lobby was huge and spacious but it was also full of people walking by. Worse still, hotel check-in only started at three. So we dumped our luggage with the hotel and took a taxi to Geylang for the famous beef kway teow.

After lunch we walked along the fruit stalls and bought some before heading back to the hotel for checking-in. Worse still we were told that they didn’t have a room for us unless we waited for another extra two hours. So I wandered around in the Shoppe next to the hotel while my parents went gambling, and it was only until five something that we finally got our room. Pissed, we complained and got $100 worth of dining credits which we later got exchanged for access to the internet.

The room was fine – the toilet was out of portion and the view was great, with an outlook to the Marinas Bay, but the details could have been more cared to. But the lounge chair beside the window was an amazing spot to just sit or nap on.

Next we went to some hotel facilities we could enjoy, like the infinity pool on the 57th floor and the gym room on the 55th. Both had great views of the bay, and the infinity pool was extraordinary. 

The view was terrific: the pool was designed to appear as if it was infinite. What most people do at the pool is not to swim but to enjoy the view of the Bay from the pool while enjoying a sunbath at the same time. As for people who are there for a serious exercise of the body, the pool is a great spot to swim as it is long and just a single swim from the left to the right is exhausting enough! Another thing I like about the pool is that it is separated into kids’ and adults’ only session, so people who wanted to swim quietly would not be disturbed by all the screams and splashes the kids are always make. The pool on the adults’ side was also less crowded too! We basically went to swim everyday as the view was too good to be missed.

As for the gym room quite a rich variety of machines are available and one could easily spend an hour working out without realising how much calories they have burnt, which was good. And necessary for a trip to Singapore too, as you could so easily overeat as the food were all tooo delicious!

But if you ask if i would stay at the Sands if i were to travel to Singapore again, I would say: negative. The view was great, the facilities are more than fine, but the hotel was just too crowded. The hotel lobby was more crowded than a shopping mall and one felt little privacy here. Everything appeared too busy too, and this was not a place to slow down and relax.

There are better - and cheaper - hotels in Singapore. Would probably opt for those instead of The Sands - if i could convince my parents to stay at a place without a casino, that is.

Geylang is a relatively poorer district, and is commonly known for the stalls selling durians and fruits, numerous cheap food as well as legal prostitution available. Among the cafes is the Lor 9 famous beef kway teow, a favourite among the local people. Years back then when I travelled to Singapore for the first time I had a taste of the kway teow and it marked an impression so deep that I wanted to try it again really bad. Luckily we managed to find the shop by asking a taxi driver during our last visit. The stall was not eye-catching at all. We went at two thirty and the place was empty. A short, cheerful woman greeted us with a menu, and within 30 seconds our order was placed.

The dish of beef kway teow (S) was amazing. It was cooked with a dark and rich gravy. The rice noodles were chopped into shorter pieces and stuck together when stir-fried, but it was still great as they could hold the delicious gravy in. The beef were not extraordinarily juicy but that did not matter, as the kway teow alone was tasty enough.  A drizzle of spicy soy sauce made it even more amazing to eat.

We also ordered a dish of spicy cuttlefish with vegetables(M), as well as a special seafood tofu (S).The latter tasted like tofu with minced fish, and tasted great after dipping in the sweet soy sauce it came with. The meal was a cheap one and the place wasn’t that dirty and crowded at all, and the kway teow was really worth all the travelling.

After a brief rest at our room we went to the Esplanade, right across the Bay, for the seafood dinner we reserved a few days ago on the web: prior reservation was a must as we learnt from our prior experience with No Signboard Seafood. We could just walk straight in this time and there were people queuing up for a table!

No Signboard Seafood just had its debuk in Hong Kong and reviews on its services and food were generally negative, but NSS in Singapore is still as popular as it has always been. And the food is great too. We ordered the Chili Crab (small) with mantou, the Coffee ribs(s), Cornflakes prawns(s),stir-fried vegetables(s) and a Tofu pot(s), and stir-fried noodles (we cancelled our order once we realized we would never be able to finish it).

The option of ordering the dish at a smaller portion was the second thing I love most about NSS – it allows smaller groups like ours to try more without having to waste a lot of food.

The first dish that came was the coffee ribs. The cubes of meat were coated in a dark, sticky sauce and drizzled with sesame. They were piping hot, and smelt of coffee but the meat tasted sweet, juicy and tender. It was great and definitely worth trying!

Then the much anticipated chili crab came in a large pot with the mantou. The sauce looked intimatingly pepper red-hot but it was not as spicy as it appeared to be. There were traces of cooked egg in it which gave the sauce a sweet aftertaste. It was so yummy that you could not help dipping the mantou into the sauce to eat the sauce! As for the crabs they were a little less impression-leaving, but the shell, well-cooked in the sauce, was soft enough to eat too. Still I thought the sauce was so outstanding that you could basically cook anything with it to make a great dish, and that need not to be a crab. It could be prawns and it might taste even better!

As for the veggies, the stir-fried one was quite spicy while the tofu pot was really boring to eat.

The last dish to be ready was the cereal prawns. The portion was generous as there were, like, ten smaller prawns hidden in the impressive heap of crunchy cornflakes!(that was the point when we decided to cancel our noodles). The prawns were terrific as even the shells were cooked until absolutely crispy, and the flesh was really fresh and juicy. Even the cornflakes, being a little sweet, tasted terrifically great. It was an amazingly clever invention of the Singaporeans indeed!

Our meal was slightly cheaper than what we had expected – the crab was pretty small and so cost not very expensive, and it was definitely worth the money. Too bad the Hong Kong branch had not succeeded in recipicating the taste of the dish!

After dinner we walked back to our hotel via the bridge connecting the Esplanade and the place. The view was great and the sea breeze was pretty cool, and a lot of people were shooting photos of the promenade as we strode. It was a nice night indeed.

1 很胖的咖啡色犀牛 (rhinoceros)有很名貴的犀牛角，看起來有點呆呆的。我很想坐在它的背上，不知道可不可以?

2 安氏羚(nyala)有白色的間條，so cute。

3 大羚羊(eland)看起來有點老。    

4 一對班馬(zebra)情侶正在一起喝水。 

5 高高的長頸鹿(giraffe)在吃樹葉，好吃嗎?    

6 偉大的紅毛猩猩(orange utan)媽媽在無微不至地照顧著紅毛猩猩BB。 天下的母親都是很偉大的。   

7 獵豹(cheetah) 本來是睡著的，我們到達後它就醒來迎接我們。

8  獅子(lion)夫婦在曬日光浴。

這些動物應該很高興，因為Afirca比較熱。這些動物應該很傷心，因為Afirca比較大。

香港ikea 正..大部分人都知~
黎到新加坡到去一去ikea 潮拜一下
都幾多local人去
好出奇地除外一般ge swedish 野(肉丸,扒同甜品)最特別係有星洲風味
大部分同hk個價差唔多**個到肉丸係好貴  所以係hk食多d啦!
仲要日日唔同
我去個日係呢個椰漿飯同魚丸粿條粉(面)
魚丸粿條粉(面)係好彈牙  有別一般潮州魚丸
感覺得意~!
有個好似cream ge bread 都唔差^^

如果突然冇地方好
ikea係好地方(平!正!令!)

最初book package嘅時候, 我仲想湊下熱鬧住去santosa果邊新開嘅festive hotel...
後來覺得佢有d貴, 所以最後揀mandarin...穩穩陣陣...

check in嘅時候已經覺得service好好, 因為我地比check in時間早左好多, 佢都照比房我地..

上到房的時候, 更加估唔到有seaview, 同埋可以望到魚尾獅像...

酒店服務非常好...佢地1日執好多次房架...幾乎係你出去1,2個鐘再返黎佢都會再入黎執下...總之間房就唔會有機會亂...佢地連衫都接埋...

個泳池亦都好鬼正, 側邊有晒凳同床比你訓, 晒下太陽...超爽呀..

我下次再去singapore都會住返呢間酒店, 我想試埋今次冇試到的spa...!

之前上網見到好多人讚嘅海南雞飯, 1場嚟到再加埋住呢度就梗係要食下啦...所以我地1 check完就落去餐廳食 (後尾先知道呢間餐廳其實係我地每日食早餐嘅地方)

1坐低個waiter就走嚟問我地a la carte定係buffet...但係佢話buffet其實仲有15分鐘就完!
咁我地3個人, 就order左2個海南雞飯啦, 1個炒貴刁啦... d食物未嚟果陣有碟熱辣辣嘅蝦片食住先...

首先酒店地方就梗係乾淨又靚啦, 又有晒table setting! 而且碟飯好似28蚊, 即係hkd 100蚊多d...我覺得係合理價錢....

至於d食物, 個海南雞飯我覺得賣相好靚, d飯都好香! 但係我唔係食家, 我食唔出同hk好少少嘅雞飯有乜分別! 不過佢2碟都係比雞胸肉, 我鍾意ar!  貴刁呢, 我喺hk冇食過, 所以比較唔到! 不過呢, 佢都幾夠味同埋唔會好油! 幾ok!

雖然overall幾好, 但係我又唔係好明點解d人會特登嚟食....除非係食環境啦...

去完mandarin食海南雞之後食返間平野先, 喺旅遊書見到話呢間係必食店之一, 再加埋佢只係2.8 1碟, 梗係要去啦...

去到maxwell food centre, 覺得ventilation唔係幾好, 有d焗ar...

我地坐低之後就去天天買野, 我地行過晒咁多條巷, 天天係唯一一間排隊食肆...梗係啦...$2.8咁平!

我地3個人要2碟, 1碟大1碟細,仲有1碟菜...大碟就$3.3, 細碟就$2.8... 仲有埋湯添...抵到暈...

佢setting冇文華咁靚,放得冇咁靚, 同埋佢d雞係冇皮嘅...當然亦都唔算乾淨同埋要自己捧啦...
但係味道okay..有雞味! 但係我仍然覺得唔算超好食...不過以$2.8的價錢, 已經係超值! 我下次會再嚟!

去完newton food centre之後, 決定再食多次胡椒蟹...上網見到好多人話呢間好食, 就去呢度啦...

我地喺酒店搭的士去, 15分鐘就到...當時6點幾已經好多人!

我地打開menu, 見到樣樣都好想食...所以每樣都叫d, 有胡椒蟹啦, 牛油蟹啦, 蝦啦, 扇貝啦, 菜啦, 有個香檳汁嘅雞啦 (酸酸地好好味) ,翅啦..不過因為太好味, 成檯野全部都食晒!

埋單大概260蚊. 咁好味, 好抵ar! 我下次1定會再黎, 食埋今次未食到的野…