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|
Great selfie @ Le Chocolat. Could have done with better
pastries though |
Since
Noah came, couple dates have been few and far between (and that's why
all 3 previous ones were
extensively covered). One which allowed us to have a night off Noah was even
more precious!
Thanks
to the collective help of Noah's maternal grandparents and aunts, who gave him
an incredible staycation separately, and the recommendation of some dads on
my Daddy Matters group, Li Li and I finally had the
opportunity to have some romantic couple time to ourselves at The Scarlet
Singapore, a refurbished shop-house-converted-into-boutique-hotel which I had
never heard of prior to this trip.
 |
|
The Scarlet Singapore |
The
mystique of a boutique hotel aside, what attracted me more to this location was
the fact that it was a few steps away from Maxwell Food Centre (which would
satisfy our local food craving), and comfortable walking distance away from
heritage sites like Sri Mariaman temple, the Red Dot Museum, Chinatown, bustling
Tanjong Pagar, and also chill-out spots like Club Street and Duxton Hill. It
meant that even if the room was not as good as expected, we would have no lack
of places to spend some quality time together without the need to take any
public transport.
 |
Tian Tian Chicken Rice, arguably the world's most famous
Hainanese Chicken rice thanks to Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay, my first
try after nearly 33 years. It was good!
|
 |
|
金华鱼头米粉, undoubtedly the most delicious Fish Head Bee Hoon
I had ever eaten! |
The
Scarlet Hotel itself reminded me very much of Hotel
Muse in Bangkok with a nostalgic twist, as its classy dark-coloured
contemporary interior design made us forget for a while that we were actually in
a shop-house lot. Service was one of the best parts of the experience, as the
team was nice local blend of different ethnic groups, all well-trained and ready
to lend a warm helping hand when required.
 |
|
Taking a picture in the
lobby |
 |
|
I loved the loud red corridor, though it started to
remind me I was in a shop-house lot. |
There
is no question that the designers did an intricate job. Every doorknob, wall
accessory and toilet fitting screamed of creativity. However, our room was
really quite small (I expected it) and did not have any windows. Luckily, they
ensured the room at least had some skylight to make it feel less
claustrophobic.
 |
|
Our cosy little turquoise-themed
room |
 |
|
Li Li loved the basin area of the little toilet, but if I
were to be very honest, the finishing of the floor and wall tiles left a lot to
be desired, maybe I just expected more in such a well-crafted
hotel. |
The
best part of the staycation turned out to be the hotel breakfast. It was a
combination of a perfectly-executed American breakfast and a small but very
presentable Continental breakfast spread, served in the hotel's beautiful
Italian restaurant. I personally feel that this is a masterstroke, because it
would be a huge ask for Scarlet to serve up local/Asian flavours that can beat
the insane amount of tip-top local delicacies available at the nearby Maxwell
Food Centre.
 |
|
Yummy American
Breakfast |
 |
|
Nice selection of breads and
pastry |
 |
|
It felt like we were dining in
Europe |
Just
when my Noah-withdrawal symptoms grew to its almost-unbearable peak after
breakfast, my cute sister-in-law sent me this.
 |
|
Guess where he was? Looks like he was having a heck of a
time as well. |
So
I would like to hereby extend my gratitude to Kunqi, Fengyi, my
parents-in-law for taking such good care of Noah when we were 'on leave' and my
dear brothers in Daddy Matters for recommending so many ideas before I decided
on this one. We needed it, especially before our little one arrives this
September. Hopefully we can find time for another such getaway before then.
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