Crescent Sun Travelers

Breakfast at the Maxwell Reserve is a very British Colonial affair, I do say. Even my best manners seem somehow lacking.

At the airport, we have the Grab driver drop us off at the entrance to the Jewell, the facilities integrated high-end mall. By high end, I mean Porsche has their own café. That kinda high end. We have plenty of great shopping at home, plus our bags are stuffed, so we’re not here for a designed monogramed anything. We’re here to score the last waterfall of the trip. The Rain Vortex is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, dropping some 131 feet through an indoor 7 story forest valley. I can only imagine the pitch meeting. “You know what this airport REALLY needs???” The flow starts at 10am to much fanfare, which we take in with big smiles. It really has gotten expensive to entertain us.

We walk the connector to Terminal 3 and bypass the airline lounge. We opt instead for the terminal’s butterfly garden because “You know what this airport REALLY needs???” Yes, if you’re going to put an actual living butterfly garden in an airport, I’m damned sure gonna stop by.

From there we take a leisurely walk to the gate where the civility continues. We’re flying direct to JFK, a scheduled 18 hours. Since we’ve been here, Israel and the USA have started a major offensive against Iran, a place we flew directly over on our trip in. Either by original plan or by inciteful rerouting, today we’re going the other way home, our flightpath over the Pacific, Alaska and Chicago.

Once again, Singapore Airlines proves its status as one of the world’s best. Our meals included, in no particular order, chicken satay, Wagu steak, and lobster thermidor. Wines included a 2016 Chateau Livran Bordeaux and a fine Spanish Alberino. Somehow after a 17 hour flight, you still wish you had a little more time in your pod.

We’ve been home for about a week when I am writing this. With some time to think on our time in Asia, here are some random reflections.

The Thai people are some of the kindest we have ever met anywhere in the world. When our friends ask us “how was it”, all our stories are about the people we had the privilege to spend time with.

We absolutely fell in love with Chiang Mai. Mandy says she felt like a traveler in Phuket and Krabi, but felt like she was at home in Chiang Mai. It could easily be a sister city to our beloved Philly, historic and hardscrabble with undertones of constantly reinventing itself.

Even though we’re not religious, we were moved by many of the Buddhist temples. Their beauty and sense of peace provide a calming effect on your soul.

Our time at the Farmstead was absolutely the most authentic thing we have ever done on a trip. Definitely not for everybody, but if you’d like to experience how these rural tribes live, it is very much available. A few days we will talk about always.

We were a bit conflicted about doing an elephant experience, having heard stories of cruelty and even abuse. We are very glad we did this for ourselves. I’m not sure how it used to be, but the people who run the preserves now absolutely dedicate their lives to the bonding, care and protection of these regal beasts.

We understand why Krabi and Phuket are so popular. Beautiful, hot weather, great food, incredibly affordable. But if we were in the neighborhood again, we’d plan on doing nights further from the busy hubs.

It’s no surprise Singapore Air is so good. It’s just like the rest of Singapore. Well designed, well engineered, well practiced. Proper, polished and polite by plan.

Can’t wait to go back!

In one last gesture of amazing service, the hotel has a boxed breakfast waiting for us when we check out at 5am. They even waited until they saw us to brew the Americanos to ensure they were piping hot. We make the airport in good time, but the signage to return the car is nonexistent, so that adds a few minutes. The airport is basic at best and a crush of people. Even their robotic janitor seems to be out of the 1950s. Fortunately, Singapore Airlines has their act together and makes the boarding process very civilized.

(click on the picture to view the full size image)

We land at SIN around 11am. It’s like walking through a portal of some sort. The entirety of Singapore’s mere 284 square mile diamond, 31 miles east to west and 17 miles north to south, is engineered, modern, clean and efficient. And high end. A very lux taxi van, which would be considered a limo anywhere else, whisks us to the Maxwell Reserve, a Marriott Autograph class facility. It’s absolutely dripping with old money style, a salute to the country's colonial roots. Also, a single cup of coffee here cost more than most dinners we had over the last two weeks. Thank goodness breakfast is included.

Checked in, bags dropped, we set out to explore. We only have a day here and we picked this property for its central location. Mandy has a nice walking tour mapped out and first stop Chinatown, just a 10 minute stroll from our front door. At the edge of Chinatown is the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, very ornate in the classic Chinese Buddha style, also very active this early afternoon with what appears to be constant services going on. It's our first interaction with the Chinese Buddha, remarkably different in both tone and aesthetic than the Thai Buddhas we just spent the last two weeks with,

Just past the temple there is a blessing ceremony going on for a newly opened business. Ok, part blessing, part marketing, but the pair of 2-person purple dragons were awfully fun.

We take in the Chinatown sites.

Heading to our next destination, I can’t help but walk into Café Monochrome, Singapore’s 2D ice cream shop. I very much want to paint one of my cars like this.

(not actually a picture I took, just a thing I want to do...)

We continue to Thian Hock Keng temple, built to worship Mazu, the Chinese sea goddess. Again very busy for an early Tuesday afternoon, packed with worshipers making offerings, saying prayers and lighting long sticks of incense. Across the room from the alter are the tables where the worshipers purchase the accoutrements of offerings, flowers, trinkets, fruits, and other foods. These tables are set up around hundreds of sacks of rice stacked to fashion a giant sea turtle. This is definitely not the Catholic church I grew up in.

A bit of lunch at Dumpling Darlings helps us escape the dead-still daytime heat before we continue on with our walk. Ultra mod overlaid on the colonial. A study in design, transformation and efficiency.

(this is DEFINITELY where James Bond reports to when he gets to Singapore)

We end the walk at the Old Hill Police Station with its colorful windows and shutters. We figure the Disney inspired thinking is “let’s make getting arrested more fun!”

Back at the hotel, we shower (absolutely cannot shower enough here) and chill before dinner. We have reservations at Ce La Vi, the rooftop restaurant atop the iconic Marina Bay Sands triple tower. It starts to rain just as we get into our Grab (Asian Uber). Walking into Tower 3 is another step up entirely. This is movie-class high end. A full third of the shopping arcade in the lower level is marquis watch brand stores, and Rolex is barely in the middle of the pack here. The only watch shop allowed on the main concourse level is Richard Mille, whose entry level 2026 RM 74-02 model starts around $603,000. Of course, you can’t buy one… the current wait list is about 4 years.

When our reservation time comes around, it’s still raining so the restaurant is closed. They are gracious enough to let us go up to the top level and hang out at the coved bar while we wait out the weather. Honestly, all we really wanted to do was have a drink or two up here, but that’s only possible with a full dinner reservation and $400 guaranteed minimum spend. We were willing to take that hit, even with the marginal menu and mediocre food reviews, because we figured it was a once in a lifetime experience. The rain worked in our favor, letting us escape for just the cost of a couple of overpriced, but excellently crafted, espresso martinis.

Foodies we are, so this gave us a chance to find a better, more authentic dining experience. An international melting pot, Singapore is home to some of the finest Korean restaurants outside of Korea. We cab it to Wang Dae Bak, this town’s (and country’s!) best Korean BBQ joint. It’s informal and clearly a local’s spot. Our friendly server talks us through the menu and we pick a platter with steak, pork belly and pork collar, plus a “half half omelet” with crabmeat on one side and kimchi on the other. Sides, sauces and beers appear. One of the sides, which the server simply calls tofu, is the single best preparation we have ever had, with a light custard texture and sweet/savory sauce. Another side, which looked like 3” long egg noodles and was just called fish cake, was so good it resulted in a chopstick dual between Mandy and I (especially dangerous because they use stainless steel chopsticks here!) Our server takes care of the grilling, plus keeps filling the outer trough of the grill with premixed eggs which we scoop out and add to every bite. This place very much outperforms its excellent ratings.

Dinner done, we cab it back to the Bay to catch the last Spectra Light and Water Show. We almost didn’t but were glad we decided to rally. The show spans about a third of a mile wide and incorporates fountains, lasers, massive amplification, and some serious computing power to get all the elements synched. The result is delightful.