February 7,2025
We said our goodbyes to the wonderful staff at Raffles and left with Savy and Song for one last ride…to the airport.
We passed this building many times while we were in Siem Reap…I finally took a photo…evidently there’s a market for snow skiing and ice hockey in Cambodia.
Once at the airport, Savy handed us over to the folks in immigration…and again everything, including security was seamless. We had a short wait for our flight to Singapore.
Lunch on Singapore Air …braised beef…
…pork belly…
Timmy calls this “the parking lot”…
We were met by a JetQuay rep and whisked off to immigration…
…and the Jet Quay lounge. After about 15 minutes, our bags were loaded into our car and we were on our way to spend one night in Raffles Singapore before our flight home to New York.
Raffles lobby…
…reception…check in took all of 5 minutes…
…then the young woman walked us through the side lobby to our suite.
Here’s our suite…I read “Of Human Bondage” many years ago…I don’t remember the plot, I do remember it making me sad. The Maugham suite at Raffles had the opposite effect.
We were greeted by our butler… yes a butler. Seems every suite guest has a butler. Fancy.
Here’s Timmy choosing our chocolates. Double fancy.
I’m just going to leave these photos of the room here…
Like a small apartment…
Two closets…here’s mine
Timmy didn’t even unpack…so all this space was wasted on him
The bathroom is larger than our NY family room …no lie.
After photographing every nook and cranny of our room…I changed into my suit…
… and found the swimming pool (after a few wrong turns… in the wrong building)…
The pool was beautiful and the water temperature perfick.
I stayed for several hours… then headed back to Timmy…
This is our balcony space …overlooking the main building. At eight o’clock we went in search of the Courtyard…and dinner.
We felt like we couldn’t be in Raffles without ordering an Original Singapore Sling…
It was fine…but I don’t think I need to have another 
Dinner lived up to the hype…Timmy had a smashed burger…
…I loved my Mee Goreng: Wok fried yellow noodles with chicken, prawns and vegetables.
After dinner we thought about going to the Long Bar…but the line to get in was ridiculous. That’s the thing about Raffles Singapore…it’s a zoo. Right smack in the middle of everything…it’s a tourist magnet…and not in a good way. Every public space is overrun with folks taking photos. I’m glad we stayed for the one night to experience the hospitality…but if we ever return to Singapore, we are heading right back to Capella…so much more peaceful and relaxing.
Anyway, we slept well and slept in…then headed to breakfast …
…that’s a robot silently mowing the lawn 
We enjoyed breakfast next to the blue fountain …
…had to have that watermelon juice ♥️
After breakfast we packed…well I did…
Raffles doorman in traditional attire…
Our driver fetched us and deposited us at the JetQuay terminal.
We were through immigration and security in a flash and then enjoyed our time in the JetQuay lounge.
At boarding, Edna took us in her buggy to the gate …
We also stopped on the way to change my remaining Singapore currency…somehow I made $7.00 on the exchange
We passed through all the major attractions …and then we were on board…
I tried to capture the steam coming off Timmy’s towel…somehow he avoided second degree burns…
Lobster Thermidor …as yummy as it looks
I watched two movies and binged two shows…
Pandan cake ♥️♥️
We were able to sleep and the 18+ hours really weren’t horrible.
We arrived at JFK to twenty degree weather. Yikes!
We’ve been home for three weeks and I’ve had so much fun sorting through all the photos and updating this blog. From the minute we left on January 13, we had the best time…from Capella on Sentosa Island to Siem Reap…every day was a joy. Our Symphony cruise was probably the best one yet…from the wonderful shore excursions arranged for us by Ralph at Tully Travel…to the nightly entertainment, the fine dining and most especially our beloved crew…we could not have imagined a more perfick winter escape. The only sour note? Returning to New York in February…three snow events, temperatures barely above 20 degrees. 
Double Yikes.
Anyway, we have finally escaped back to Florida… we are renting in Port St. Joe and I can’t tell you how wonderful it was to arrive yesterday to warmth and sunshine And then this morning to wake up and walk the beach. First impression? Port St. Joe is peaceful and laid back…so far we love it…I’ll come back in a few weeks with some real data. Thanks for following along ♥️
