Monday 26 January 2015

From the Coral Sea to the South China Sea
(Part 4)

More from Singapore: 26th January 2015

I enjoyed a wonderful night's sleep in the huge bed at the Shangri-La and awoke refreshed. Buffet Breakfast was in 'The Line' restaurant which the hotel claims is "a spectacular display of cutting edge modern surrounds, The Line is designed by the world acclaimed Adam D. Tihany". It's modern, illuminated by large orange-coloured rectangular lighting fittings mounted at odd angles and full of hard surfaces and structural beams so, of course, I didn't like it. Even though I picked a less-busy area, it was still noisy and accompanied (like the whole of Singapore I rather think) by the penetrating low-frequency rumble of air conditioning plant. It's a large restaurant, broken up into a number of areas each with a different table layout. The food, however, was impressive. A wide range of styles is on offer from what the hotel rather archly calls "16 interactive theatre kitchens". This means there are lots of counters manned by cooks who take your requirements and cook it in front of you. Simpler items are laid out for self-service. I was impressed with the variety on offer and the quality of the end product.

Part of 'The Line' Restaurant, Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.

After breakfast, I met up with the the lady from 'Destination Asia Singapore' at the special Hospitality Desk for people on this Noble Caledonia trip. I discovered that the reason I'd not found her the previous evening was because the 'main party' didn't arrive at the hotel until after 8.0 p.m. because of delay to the British Airways flight from London. At noon, the whole group will have a sightseeing tour including lunch at a Chinese Restaurant and a river trip. We'll then check-in at the airport for our overnight flight to Papua New Guinea.

More when I'm able. You can find all the posts on this trip here.

My pictures

Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.
Singapore.