Saturday 14 January 2017

Xmas and New Year in Singapore Part 4: After Special K left us, Timbo slowly but surely went down with a cold. Is this love sickness?

Before I start this blog, I must apologise for getting so far behind. As you will read, Timbo was very poorly and had the lurgi for quite a while. Although it took the lustre off this part of the trip, nevertheless we have had a wonderful time together. I cannot help but wonder how other humans cope when they do not have a Barli to look after them.

Tuesday 27 December 2016

Today was an official lazy day, after breakfast we made our way to the pool and my pavilion. I took possession again of my pavilion. Hooray!

We lay outside and snoozed. I even gave Timbo a couple of cuddles. The ignorant ordinary humans did not notice, of course. Part way through the afternoon it started to rain and everybody ran away. Timbo with his usual sang froid (he alleges he had it before I came to look after him, and I do not think he would tell huge fibs to me) said "We can wait a little for the rain to ease off a bit and then make our move." He is a wise Timbo.

So we sat in the pavilion as the rain came down and we waited a little while and the rain did ease off. Timbo is clever at working out the rain in Singapore. We walked over to the covered walkway and took our towels with us. Plenty of the other humans did not take their towels. I have this theory that perhaps they are not used to the sun, so they are no longer strong enough to carry the towels back after they have used them, because the sun has sucked so much energy out of them.

But Timbo was not feeling 100%. He got more unwell each day. It all started with a slight sore throat. Slowly but surely it slipped down and onto his chest. From there it progressed back up and into his nose and he sounded terrible and got even worse as each day went by. He even told Special K if he would rather not get close while he had the lurgi, but said he did not mind. But Special K likes Timbo so much he wanted to be with him. He is a really special chum. That is why we call him Special K. 



Wednesday 28 December 2016

We tried to do something but it was not successful, but we walked from the Aljunied MRT station to the next station, Payar Lebar. It is not anywhere tourists would find interesting, but Timbo being Timbo liked seeing the ordinariness of the buildings. He told me it is one of those small village areas you find in cities that get overlooked and are not heavily developed and have a charm of their own.

We tried booking our coach seats but kept having problems. Eventually it got sorted out. Phew. That was a relief. 


  
Thursday 29 December 2016

In the morning Timbo took his time. I am so glad I did not get his cold, it seems to have knocked him sideways. In the afternoon we sat down by the waterfall feature at the hotel. Timbo was able to snooze there but also take advantage of being in the open. He did not want to sit by the pool as it was too noisy and he could not face the sun as he was feeling so poorly.

We had a room service dinner as poor Timbo felt so bad. It was fish and chips with extra chips as Timbo was determined to feed his cold followed by some ice cream, because everybody knows ice cream has magic powers to restore the infirm. 



Friday 30 December 2016

Much the same. Poor Timbo. I have never seen him this bad, and he told me he used to get it worse when he was a stupid grown up who smoked cigarettes. Ugh! I hate them. I do not like the smell and it gets trapped in my fur.

Special K came to join us Friday evening. That was our last meal in the lovely Real Food in Killiney Road. They will open a new branch in Orchard Road not far away, and easier to stay dry to get there as it is linked by malls to Somerset MRT. 
I thought the sky looked nice as we stepped outside the hotel.
Saturday 31 December 2016

Saturday we did not do a lot. We went pharmacy shopping for Timbo and his cold. We have done a lot of pharmacy shopping, so much so he is going to as many different branches of Watsons or Guardian in case they think he is secretly addicted to expectorant or cold medicine capsules.

We were really stumped where to go for dinner. Eventually Special K had a genius suggestion (he really is a clever person, another reason why he is special) and we went to a Spanish restaurant. We, well Timbo, ordered various tapas. Had we known how very full of potato the tortilla was we would not have ordered both it and the patatas bravas. Timbo still thinks the best patatas bravas he has ever had were in a restaurant in Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria. We went back feeling good after our dinner and quietly saw in the arrival of 2017. No fireworks, no crowds, just happy closeness with my two best friends. What more can a Bärli ask for?



Sunday 1 January 2017

Happy New Year! We woke up late New Year's Day and went out for breakfast. Special K suggested one of two places which might satisfy Timbo and his craving for Eggs Benedict which he was continuously going on about. He told Special K the best ever was made by Laing. The hollandaise sauce had just the right level of vinegariness. The second best was in Café Laville, just above where the Regent’s Canal comes out of a long tunnel and into Little Venice. This is the third best, but a very close third according to Timbo. High praise indeed. I know Timbo likes nice things to be special.

Afterwards, Timbo wanted a walk so we took the MRT to the Botanic Gardens stop, which is the furthest point from the hotel. We went into the rain forest section. Timbo loves it there. He feels calm and relaxed. While we were walking about Timbo told Special K a little bit about Kew Gardens, a place that is very special for Timbo.

Underneath the Spreading Bamboo Clump
One of the trees in the Rain Forest section.
One of the many interesting sculptures in the Botanic Gardens.
This is called 'Nurturing', by Vanessa Marston.
We took the bus back. The Thai Embassy was being demolished it seemed (we found out later it was already remodelled and the older buildings were being pulled down. 

While we were walking to lunch Timbo was looking at the plants and we saw a sexual act in broad daylight. It was shocking to this in Singapore's famous Orchard Road.
 
1 of 2
A flagrant act of copulation in Orchard Road.
2 of 2
A flagrant act of copulation in Orchard Road.
We had a late lunch nearby, tcc at International Building in Orchard Road. Then it was time to go back to the hotel for a last goodbye for the weekend as Special K had to work on the public holiday. His employers are rotters.

Dinner was room service. I graciously permitted Timbo to share. You can see from the crumpled pillow in the background of the photo below that poor, poorly Timbo had another snooze.

Room service dinner was very filling.
Crab cakes, club sandwich and fries.
Yummy.

Monday 2 January 2017

Monday Timbo spent packing in preparation to go to Malacca/Melaka. Then a rest by the waterfall again.

We had dinner with Special K. We tried a place that looked OK selling cheap food, supposedly Hong Kong style. Timbo did not like it at all. It rather killed his appetite. It did not do much for mine either. We then went and bought some fruit for breakfast in the morning and some nibbles for the coach in case Timbo got really hungry, then an ice cream from the 7-11 in Lucky Plaza (Timbo calls it Yucky Plaza, you might easily guess why) as dessert and Timbo noshed it up with pleasure.

As we were returning to the hotel Timbo took photos of the windows flanking the Orchard entrance to Tang's department store. Now Xmas and New Year are over, it is time to get ready for Chinese New Year. Both Timbo and Special K thought the windows were beautifully done, very simple, but effective.


The right hand side of Tang's 2017 CNY display
The left hand side of Tang's 2017 CNY display
The  left hand side of Tang's 2017 CNY display
from a different angle
Back to the hotel. The final, final, farewell.

Bye-bye Singapore. I love you a lot still and want to see you again. Next time I hope Timbo is better and we can do all the things we wanted to but could not.

1 comment:

  1. What lovely photos of the botanic gardens. I can see they would remind Timbo of Kew. What a shame poor Timbo had the dreaded lurgy I am sure you were a great support to him. A very happy to you from all of Sue's bears.

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