Unplanned French Wine Tasting

We have aperitif hour at Maison Boulud. The tasting platter is disappointing for a fine French restaurant. Have they ever heard of French bread? There is a salmon offering over a plain white bread. Seriously?

With the rather ordinary pate, they serve pita bread. Really? And the frites are average, even McDonalds are better.

We had hoped to again people watch the parade down the boardwalk. It is Friday and their upstairs is slammed with Friday night happy hour. We're relegated to a table in the main restaurant. 

CJ spies a wine sampler flight. 6 wines. It's expensive but the wines appear premium. The Indian sommelier who serves them up is a pleasant bonus. The bubbly is a Blanc de Blancs.

Next up a pair of white wines, a Chablis unwooded Chardonnay and a white Bordeaux from Graves, a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Banc. We had ordered a sampler for one hoping we could make each serving work for the two of us. The pours are monstrous for a sampling flight.

On to the red wines. The first is a fine Pinot Noir from the Gevry-Chambertain appellation of Burgundy. It is a 2022 wine made from old vines.

The star of the show is next up. We last had a wine from this producer some 30 years ago. The next red is 2012 Chateau Lynch Bages from Paulliac in Bordeaux. It is luscious and a beast. As James would say, "Give it a few years." This 14 year old will be drinking just fine in ten to twenty years!

The flight concludes with a Sauternes, a desert wine from the sub-region of Barsac in Bordeaux.

It was incredible fun, perhaps the best tasting flight ever; certainly the most expensive ever. That said, we cannot complain about value based on both quality and quantity. 

Singapore Orchid Gardens

We return to the orchid gardens after many years. They truly are spectacular.

Who knew there were this many variety of orchids?

We just make it, well perhaps we were five or ten steps short, before the skies opened up. The forecast threated rain all three days. Today when we venture out, it decides to fulfill its prediction. Lucky us.

Continuing on through the Mist House.

The rains stop and we continue outdoors. There are also cool sculptures here.

We're again forced to seek shelter. This time for nearly an hour.

We arrive back at MBS wet and cold. Instead of going to the room, we go directly to afternoon tea. Our favourite hostess touches Carol and finds her hands freezing. She gives her this shawl.

Enjoying Marina Bay Sands

The MBS complex is huge. We explore the shopping on the way to have lunch at Milo. Why have lunch when our package includes a full day of food. Because this lovely waitress cutting fresh basil onto our salad is Mia, James' fiance.

Like the Venetian in Las Vegas, MBS has gondola rides.

Aperitif hour this evening is directly across the mall from today's lunch spot, Milo. Koma is our second favorite spot and another Japanese restaurant. There are three we frequent here. It is the home of the best aperitif presentation and the coolest sake carafe. We sick James on the hunt for one of these.

After dinner, we explore more of MBS. At one end of the mall is a section of the usual high end clothing shops. This area is unique to children. Pictures is a Dolce & Gabbana toddler outfit. It is obvious MBS caters to the uber-rich or people with more money than brains.

On the return to our room from the mall, we pass by Wakuda. James prepares us a cocktail.

First Stop - Singapore

The idiot's war forced us to get tickets on Qatar reimbursed and rebook on Singapore Airlines. Once the war began, prices more than doubled. Many thanks butthead.

The day we wished to fly to France, we couldn't find seats. We decided to book a stopover in Singapore. If we must stop in Singapore, why not book into the Marina Bay Sands and do so for 5 nights.

Here we are, in our customary multi-room suite overlooking the Singapore Straits.

We arrive just in time to enjoy the aperitif hour at Wakuda. But where is James? He and Mia are returning from South Korea. Sammy is on holiday in New York. We are left in the able hands of Marcin, the General Manager, and Chuan, Sammy's able replacement. We know Marcin. He's from Poland and has worked in Adelaide.

First order of business is to retrieve the two bottles of sake Sammy set aside for CJ. Once Chuan finds and delivers the bottles, we now have instant credibility. He serves us Blossom Moon, the Spring cousin of the delicious Autumn Moon Sammy served on our last visit. We have good visit with Chuan and Marcin.

Day 2 is R&R day. Brekkie is our usual Asian fare. CJ continues to doctor the laksa or chicken soup with unimaginable quantities of killer additives.

Today the treat is red dragon fruit. On another day the morning fruit specialty will be longons.

At 3pm we have a late lunch at Afternoon Tea. It's nearly enough to call it an early dinner.

At half past five we rendezvous with James at Wakuda and the fun begins. James bears a gift, a bottle of rum from the Philippines. Aperitif hour has a set menu. Carol orders one of the two cocktails. James ignores her order and prepares a special strawberry cocktail for her in place of the one on the menu.