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| Marina Bay Sands Hotel across the Esplanade |
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| Singapore's business district |
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| 21km finishers Matthias, Issa and myself. I completed the 21km in 2:53:47 using the Runkeeper app. |
Saturday night, I had dinner and drinks with my college friends Belen, Vincent and Arnold. We were the same set of friends who used to go out for gimiks after our evening classes, so the meet up was also a trip down memory lane. Drank beers six hours before the run, a major no-no as I experienced later on. Result of the hangover run was a longer completion time, no surprise there. Swore to myself not to do again haha
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| Brave souls running the midnight half marathon around Singapore. |
Before the half marathon started, I was able to meet Elvie and Diane, former Intel badminton colleagues. Actually, meeting Diane was unexpected. I just saw her walking past and called her. Quick hellos, some snaps, good luck wishes and we all went to the battlefield, err starting line.
After the race, I caught up with Issa and hubby Matthias. Matthias was a potential winner in his category, clocking in 2:10:07! We all walked back together to Marina Square where they parked their motorbike.
Four hours of sleep later, former Intel colleauges and badminton friends picked me up for brunch. Joel, Noli and Edwin took me to Robertson Quay for a hearty breakfast at Boomarang Bistro and Bar. Game 6 of NBA's Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder was ongoing. We became instant fans for the duration of the brunch! =)
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| Elvie on the left and Diane on the right. |
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| Top: Saturday dinner friends Belen, Vincent and Arnold at Harry's Bar at Esplanade. Bottom: Sunday brunch with Intel badminton friends at Boomarang at Robertson Quay. |
Accommodation and Transportation
Stayed one night at the Marina Mandarin Hotel, a 15 minute walk to the race venue. Booked a deluxe room a few months ahead with a room upgrade request. During my previous stay last October, they upgraded me to an Executive room with a view of the Marina Bay Sands. This time, it's a more posh Premier room but no MBS views. I still super liked it!
Bus 36, from Changi Airport, stops closest to the hotel. I took the bus for three reasons: price point, shorter duration and proximity to the hotel. It was a cheap S$1.80 for the one way trip.
Cab fare back to Changi airport cost me S$15. There was not enough time to take either the bus or MRT to make it on time for my flight.
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| Hotel facade, taken near the bus stop area. |
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| Upgraded to a Premier room (#1918) from a Deluxe room, yey! |
