Travel plans and memories

I KNOW that PD will be disappointed, but we decide not to bother with the fish night at the Pub. Partly it's the menu that I'm not keen on, but partly too it's the atrocious weather we're having. It's definitely a night in which to batten down the hatches against the rain and the wind. Anyhow, we have a fish evening of our own, with one of My Good Lady's excellent tuna pies for dinner. Later, too, we crack open a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and discuss our travel plans for next year.

My Good Lady has already spoken of her wish to visit the place of her birth, Brunei, the independent little state on the island of Borneo. I'm quite keen to explore Singapore a little more deeply. We've been there twice, but on both occasions only as transit passengers on our way to Sydney. My two main memories of Singapore consist of the cleanliness of the streets and of lunching at the Bar and Billiard Restaurant of the Raffles Hotel. After our second meal there, the maître d' shook my hand and told me I was always welcome to come back. I couldn't help thinking, not bad going for me, a poor lad from Lancashire, hobnobbing in one of the most iconic hotels of the Far East. And the meals weren't even all that expensive! It'll certainly be great the go back there.