Friday 18th JanuaryI had intended to hang out in the flat for most of the day, have a swim and get my stuff in order as I was planning to move onwards to Malaysia two days later, and wanted to have the weekend as free as possible to hang out with the guys. Like the big woman I had turned into since arriving in Singapore, I couldn't help myself from staying clear of the shops, and made my way back to Orchard Street – again....Jesus! - to pick up a few clothes and books that I thought would be put to good use. I spent the afternoon in the Ngee Ann City shopping mall which is a mix of designer stores and more affordable shops, while the food court in the basement was probably the best one I had seen, full of primarily Japanese noodle bars. This place was also home to one of the best book stores I have been to – the Kunokinya Book Store – where you seemed to be able to get any book or magazine under the sun.
After pottering about the flat later in the afternoon, and once Mark had knocked off from work, we met Barry once again and took a taxi to Sentosa Beach, and to a branch of the 'Cafe Del Mar' bars that grew out of the famous establishment in Ibiza. This place was right on the seafront of this island built on reclaimed land (like much of Singapore). It was a cool place to chill out (of course, that's what 'Cafe Del Mar' is famous for), but there were few people about and too quiet for our liking, so we made our way back into town in search of something mor lively.
We had some great Japanese food in town, cooked on hot, metal surfaces in right in front of us: beef, prawns, chicken, scallops, and vegetables. I had been to a place like this in London – Benihana on the Kings Road – but this was much better: laid back, cheap (about 6 quid for a load of food which I couldn't finish) and without any of the gimmicks that people pay through their teeth for in London.
After that, we spent the evening on a bar crawl, taking in the sights and sounds of a cosmopolitan Asian city on a Friday night, and it was quite the eye-opener. Many western men can come to Singapore to enjoy the company of Asian women, have a drink, and maybe a kiss and a cuddle if they like each other enough. Some of these men are so generous that they will even give these women money – how kind of them! It was a funny night, and an interesting introduction to the Asian 'girly bar' (that's what they're called, I didn't make the term up!) which, at least in Singapore, aren't as seedy as they may sound. We eventually got back to the flat around 05.00, it had been a real laugh.
