Singapore: the final day

It is traditional for the children to squeeze as much as possible into the last day of their annual Christmas visit. Today was no exception.

The girls went for massages at Knead in Holland Village, followed by lunch at Original Sin in Jalan Merah Saga. Their compliments about the salad dressing resulted in a lesson from the chef on how to make a balsamic reduction.

Meanwhile the boys returned to China Town to fill in some of the gaps from the first trip when everyone had the plague. Lunch at Da Paolo in Club Street comprised tagliatelle fegato anatra (duck liver) and the legendary spaghetti nero seppia (squid ink), both perfectly cooked. We ambled back along the river front running the gauntlet of restaurant staff thrusting menus under our noses while offering happy hour specials to two already satiated gentlemen.

It is also traditional for the children to squeeze as much as possible into their suitcases and carry-on baggage. Today was no exception. A few hours of typical last-minute intensive PC, laptop, flash drive and hard drive file transfers also took place.

As if today’s excellent lunches were not enough, the last family meal was held at the Halia restaurant in the Botanic Gardens. The night setting has to be one of the best in Singapore in the midst of the dimly lit trees and plants of the Ginger Garden. Each of the dishes on the menu was listed with excellently matched wines by the glass, particularly the unusual pairing of Wagyu pot pie with a Chilean PengWine Fairy Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec blend (only available in select stores in the USA and Singapore it would seem). We finished the meal with two warm chocolate tortes.

We strolled through the Gardens back to the car for the drive to the airport. There were snuggles for the girls and stoic handshakes for the men. Mrs M shared a moment with a slightly crazy woman who was also seeing off her daughter after the Christmas visit.

We returned to an empty house.