Today is my birthday and I had thought of loads of things to do but ended up spending most of the day at the Raffles hotel and Raffles Arcade.

I went for a late breakfast in the Ah Teng bakery which is in the Raffles Arcade. They had my favourite tea which is Earl Gray and when the man asked if I wanted milk and I said no with a face that said you cannot have milk with Earl Gray I got a smile of approval. I felt rather prim sat there with a copy of the Straits Times reading about the corruption in Singapore and world news events which affect this small country. Then I felt like a little kid once I got my favourite pudding of Tiramisu. My god...it was so good I almost felt bad eating it!...almost...

I was due to meet Ryan and Aneeka in the Lobby of the Raffles hotel so I got a shifty on and walked through the complex. I saw the fountains and the bars and the famous green lawn before finally reaching the front. It was amazing and there was a 1939 worlds fair car parked on the drive topping off the look. When they there is a dress code they generally mean it. I managed to get into the Lobby and sit down for about 20 minutes but I definitely saw a few people turned away! I went to the Long bar which is the famous bar that makes the Singapore Slings and ordered myself an original Singapore Sling. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it but the taste grew on me. The Long Bar has a saying (something along the lines of as this is not 100% correct) that nothing shall touch it's floor but peanut shells. Mainly inferring no smoking *smile*. But yes! You eat peanuts and literally throw the shells on the floor!

A while later both Ryan and Aneeka arrived in the Long bar, another misunderstanding on what time and where to meet. Only 1 of us has a working phone so it's easily done! They left about an hour or so later on and I ordered another Singapore Sling. This time the Spring Sling. There are about 7 or 8 different types. After that I decided to treat myself to a Champagne Tea afternoon....not cheap but it was a limited time offer in the Tiffin bar.

It was amazing. So much food and drink I thought I would burst and need rolling onto the train back to the hostel. You could have some of the buffet whilst you were waiting for your cake stand. The buffet consisted of fresh fruit and cake such as Battenberg and Victoria sponge (usual tea party cake). There was also a section of Dim Sum, which was gorgeous compared to that horrible stuff I had the other night! They also gave you tea or coffee and a glass of Champagne. The tea cake stand had 10 little cakes on it (2 of 5 different types) and a selection of little sandwiches on the bottom. You were also offered some Scones, Eclairs and some Macaroons. I have never had anything as nice as an Earl Gray flavoured Macaroon...

I took lots of pictures before rolling myself back to the hostel to Skype home and tell them what I had been up to. I couldn't see it but I could hear the qualifying of the F1 from almost everywhere I walked in Central Singapore. Nice but once again the F1 scuppered my plans of going to the sky park tonight. Something about them needing it for an F1 party...damnit. Looks like I won't be able to do that before going to Australia, oh well.

Today has been quite an expensive day and it's been the first expensive day in a long time which has not involved onward travel or hostel costs. Australia beckons as I fly to Perth tomorrow night and I can't help but think I would have liked to have stayed a little longer in Singapore.

The picture is of the start of the Champagne tea at Raffles Tiffin bar.