Suddenly Singapore II: Orchard Lights & Casino Lights
On my second day in Singapore, I arranged a meet up with KH's wife in Singapore, Moonlight Piggy an ex-colleague of his. Met her over lunch at the food court attached to the Tanjung Pagar MRT station. She told me to look out for the giant Minion standing near the control booth. True enough, there she was in a superbly yellow dress (imperial yellow!) and came running over to give me a hug. That must have been some scene for the commuters. :D. Being the gracious host, she treated me to one of Singapore's favourite food, fish soup. Hot and soupy, definitely a crowd pleaser for the Chinese. She ordered for me, so I just sat and waited, no need to 'chop' our seats with tissues. LOL. She also gave me some chocolate cookies from Laurent Bernard Chocolatier and told me to share them with KH (on the other hand, I gave her a pair of Doraemon travel chopsticks :P). Wanted to end lunch with coffee, but crowds were crazy so we had to settle for tong sui. And halfway through our tong sui, the power actually went off.
After work, we loitered at the hotel lounge helping ourselves to some finger food and drinks. Went out to Orchard after that to look at the decorations. Not so impressive any more. Used to go ooh-ahhh when I was younger. Big and flashy, but lacking in details. My funny colleagues tried so hard to find the dodgy plaza where they saw a whole bunch of Pinoy prostitutes the last they were there. Finally found it-- Cuppage Plaza. Sex workers in short dresses and industrial strength make-up were standing around the higher floors. Seeing how some of my more 'desperate' colleagues were walking up and down the corridor and stealing glances, they actually took notice and waved at them. What a waste of time! Show me the Chinatown PRC gigolos instead!
Being our last night in Singapore, we went to Marina Bay Sands (my boss was itching for Baccarat). Alighted at Marina Bay MRT station and took the scenic route to MBS. Inside, finally say the whirlpool inverted fountain in action. The last I was there, it was still under construction. Really ugly actually, like a bad case of the runs. Wonder if it has some feng shui symbolism-- empty all your pockets in the casino! Saw my boss throw SGD1,000 on the table. His minimum bet was SGD100. I just loitered around, trying to avoid the ciggie smoke. Observed the gamblers. Some were so seasoned that they stood between tables, putting a bet here, taking their winnings there.. without losing a beat. Luck wasn't quite on my boss' side. No big winnings. He was looking for that elusive banker / player winning streak. Hadn't found it yet. And whenever the dealer refills its tray with chips, the players all leave, believing that the players' luck would end. And its fun seeing how the casino staff operate. Like what Ace Rothstein says in the movie "Casino":
"In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I'm watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all."
Had enough of roulette, card tables, crap tables, dice tables and slot machines. Made a move at 11:00 pm and left my boss to continue his battle. Stopped by at a 24 hour McDonalds to have a Happy Meal. Our Pinoy colleague had earlier issued each of us a voucher for Christmas. That was my dinner. Nuggets, corn and Milo. The next morning, my boss looked al groggy but happy. He gambled till 1:30 am and left with and 600% winnings! I smell a free dinner.... :D
After work, we loitered at the hotel lounge helping ourselves to some finger food and drinks. Went out to Orchard after that to look at the decorations. Not so impressive any more. Used to go ooh-ahhh when I was younger. Big and flashy, but lacking in details. My funny colleagues tried so hard to find the dodgy plaza where they saw a whole bunch of Pinoy prostitutes the last they were there. Finally found it-- Cuppage Plaza. Sex workers in short dresses and industrial strength make-up were standing around the higher floors. Seeing how some of my more 'desperate' colleagues were walking up and down the corridor and stealing glances, they actually took notice and waved at them. What a waste of time! Show me the Chinatown PRC gigolos instead!
Being our last night in Singapore, we went to Marina Bay Sands (my boss was itching for Baccarat). Alighted at Marina Bay MRT station and took the scenic route to MBS. Inside, finally say the whirlpool inverted fountain in action. The last I was there, it was still under construction. Really ugly actually, like a bad case of the runs. Wonder if it has some feng shui symbolism-- empty all your pockets in the casino! Saw my boss throw SGD1,000 on the table. His minimum bet was SGD100. I just loitered around, trying to avoid the ciggie smoke. Observed the gamblers. Some were so seasoned that they stood between tables, putting a bet here, taking their winnings there.. without losing a beat. Luck wasn't quite on my boss' side. No big winnings. He was looking for that elusive banker / player winning streak. Hadn't found it yet. And whenever the dealer refills its tray with chips, the players all leave, believing that the players' luck would end. And its fun seeing how the casino staff operate. Like what Ace Rothstein says in the movie "Casino":
"In Vegas, everybody's gotta watch everybody else. Since the players are looking to beat the casino, the dealers are watching the players. The box men are watching the dealers. The floor men are watching the box men. The pit bosses are watching the floor men. The shift bosses are watching the pit bosses. The casino manager is watching the shift bosses. I'm watching the casino manager. And the eye-in-the-sky is watching us all."
Had enough of roulette, card tables, crap tables, dice tables and slot machines. Made a move at 11:00 pm and left my boss to continue his battle. Stopped by at a 24 hour McDonalds to have a Happy Meal. Our Pinoy colleague had earlier issued each of us a voucher for Christmas. That was my dinner. Nuggets, corn and Milo. The next morning, my boss looked al groggy but happy. He gambled till 1:30 am and left with and 600% winnings! I smell a free dinner.... :D
Comments
You win some, you lose some
@Hdaran:
Perhaps its layered over
You win some, you lose some
@Hdaran:
Perhaps its layered over
You win some, you lose some
You win some, you lose some
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