Problem
Where can I get to taste local specialities and unusual products? Without wandering around a market in the heat in June, the hottest month in Singapore.
Stay Cool In June Shopping In Singapore
Yes, it's supposed to be the same temperature all year, which is what some people tell you. About 28 f or 82 C, in the eighties, rising to the ninetie, most of the year. Then they say that June is the hottest month.
In the city, when it's not raining or breezy or cloudy the temperature can go up. The secret to staying cool physically and mentally is to stay indoors. The locals drink lukewarm water and iced coffee or tea. We Westerners, expats and Permanent Residents drink iced water and drink hot coffee or tea.)
So the solution to shopping out of the sun is to stay indoors in a swanky hotel. Such as the Novotel. What do you get at the Ex-pat Fair. I've been to several.
Last time, entry was free but you might like to buy a raffle ticket. This could be one of several attractive prizes, or money off an item of jewellery from one of the stalls. That item which seemed expensive is now within reach.
You also get a free cup of gourmet coffee. What else is free? Tiny nibbles of this and that so you can make an informed choice which of six jams or pickles or chutneys or biscuits to buy.
Novelties? Artworks. Bags, Necklaces, which can be made to order. Items from other Asian coutnries around the region.
The Fair ends at five, early enough for you to meet up with anybody else, colleagues or family who are in business meetings. What next?
Exploring The Novotel On Stevens Area
I am interested in seeing the 'new' Novotel built on the site of the Pines which I used to visit regularly when my family had membership. I would invite American and Japanese ex-pat friends to lunch after a swim or sunbathing beside the pool.
The Ghost Of The Pines
For me the lost Pines Club, previously called the Pinetree Club hangs like a ghost over the area. The loss of our money haunts my happy memories.
The Novotel on Stevens was built on the site of the Pines Club which went out of business. The banks took action reclaiming their loan, a kind of mortgage of the club for money apparently invested by the club owner in projects in China which were not successful.
My family's membership money went. We were not happy. The so-called guarantee of getting your money back if you ever wanted to leave the club was worthless when the club went out of business. We now belong to a club which is a collective (The Tanglin). A mortgage could not, or should not, be taken out without the knowledge and approval of the members.
Let's look on the bright side. In its heyday, the Pines had a wonderful Chinese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a Western Restaurant, a poolside bar elegant enought to entertain friends, and a delightful waterfall feature.
Looking Around The Hotel
So how does the development compare? The 'new' Novotel on Stevens has a swimming pool. Their website says rooms have waterfall showers.
Novotel is part of the Accor group of hotels. If you go to their website they ask you to sign up to the Accor group to get news and offers of hotels are various prices around the world.
Why the cumbersome title, Novotel On Stevens? What is special about Stevens? It's handy to know the exact location. More important, the name distinguishes this Novotel from the other one on Clarke Quay, so a taxi takes you to the right place.
Taxi, Bus Or shuttle?
Do you need a taxi? Leaving laden with your shopping? You can order a taxi or a Grab, which combines taxis and private vehicles under one umbrella organization.
The website says they have a bus stop outside the hotel entrance. For hotel residents there's a shuttle bus to nearby Orchard Road, the shopping hub,.
(I noticed the shuttle bus from the Sheraton Towers, near Newton station, goes first thing in the morning, for those business people and tourists who want to get going early in the day, not for languid, late rising shoppers.)
Train and walk
From Stevens MRT on the Downtown blue railway line, it's an estimated 17 minute walk, 1.3 km. That's okay if you are the sort who jogs in the heat, carrying a water bottle, and you don't mind arriving sweaty and sticky.
Before catching your bus or taxi away from the area, in the same complex, take a look at the menu and decor of the upmarket Fisk fish restaurant, where a member of my family had lunch and recommended the food and wine.
Useful websites
theexpatfairs.com
https://www.novotel-singapore-stevens.com
https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-9543-novotel-singapore-on-stevens/index.shtml
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pines-members-fume-over-clubs-likely-relocation
Author Angela Lansbury
Later post on Stevens and Scotts roads and Bukit Timah and Dunearn Roads.
Where can I get to taste local specialities and unusual products? Without wandering around a market in the heat in June, the hottest month in Singapore.
Stay Cool In June Shopping In Singapore
Yes, it's supposed to be the same temperature all year, which is what some people tell you. About 28 f or 82 C, in the eighties, rising to the ninetie, most of the year. Then they say that June is the hottest month.
In the city, when it's not raining or breezy or cloudy the temperature can go up. The secret to staying cool physically and mentally is to stay indoors. The locals drink lukewarm water and iced coffee or tea. We Westerners, expats and Permanent Residents drink iced water and drink hot coffee or tea.)
So the solution to shopping out of the sun is to stay indoors in a swanky hotel. Such as the Novotel. What do you get at the Ex-pat Fair. I've been to several.
Last time, entry was free but you might like to buy a raffle ticket. This could be one of several attractive prizes, or money off an item of jewellery from one of the stalls. That item which seemed expensive is now within reach.
You also get a free cup of gourmet coffee. What else is free? Tiny nibbles of this and that so you can make an informed choice which of six jams or pickles or chutneys or biscuits to buy.
Novelties? Artworks. Bags, Necklaces, which can be made to order. Items from other Asian coutnries around the region.
The Fair ends at five, early enough for you to meet up with anybody else, colleagues or family who are in business meetings. What next?
Exploring The Novotel On Stevens Area
I am interested in seeing the 'new' Novotel built on the site of the Pines which I used to visit regularly when my family had membership. I would invite American and Japanese ex-pat friends to lunch after a swim or sunbathing beside the pool.
The Ghost Of The Pines
For me the lost Pines Club, previously called the Pinetree Club hangs like a ghost over the area. The loss of our money haunts my happy memories.
The Novotel on Stevens was built on the site of the Pines Club which went out of business. The banks took action reclaiming their loan, a kind of mortgage of the club for money apparently invested by the club owner in projects in China which were not successful.
My family's membership money went. We were not happy. The so-called guarantee of getting your money back if you ever wanted to leave the club was worthless when the club went out of business. We now belong to a club which is a collective (The Tanglin). A mortgage could not, or should not, be taken out without the knowledge and approval of the members.
Let's look on the bright side. In its heyday, the Pines had a wonderful Chinese restaurant, a Japanese restaurant, a Western Restaurant, a poolside bar elegant enought to entertain friends, and a delightful waterfall feature.
Looking Around The Hotel
So how does the development compare? The 'new' Novotel on Stevens has a swimming pool. Their website says rooms have waterfall showers.
Novotel is part of the Accor group of hotels. If you go to their website they ask you to sign up to the Accor group to get news and offers of hotels are various prices around the world.
Why the cumbersome title, Novotel On Stevens? What is special about Stevens? It's handy to know the exact location. More important, the name distinguishes this Novotel from the other one on Clarke Quay, so a taxi takes you to the right place.
Taxi, Bus Or shuttle?
Do you need a taxi? Leaving laden with your shopping? You can order a taxi or a Grab, which combines taxis and private vehicles under one umbrella organization.
The website says they have a bus stop outside the hotel entrance. For hotel residents there's a shuttle bus to nearby Orchard Road, the shopping hub,.
(I noticed the shuttle bus from the Sheraton Towers, near Newton station, goes first thing in the morning, for those business people and tourists who want to get going early in the day, not for languid, late rising shoppers.)
Train and walk
From Stevens MRT on the Downtown blue railway line, it's an estimated 17 minute walk, 1.3 km. That's okay if you are the sort who jogs in the heat, carrying a water bottle, and you don't mind arriving sweaty and sticky.
Before catching your bus or taxi away from the area, in the same complex, take a look at the menu and decor of the upmarket Fisk fish restaurant, where a member of my family had lunch and recommended the food and wine.
Useful websites
theexpatfairs.com
https://www.novotel-singapore-stevens.com
https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-9543-novotel-singapore-on-stevens/index.shtml
Author Angela Lansbury
Later post on Stevens and Scotts roads and Bukit Timah and Dunearn Roads.
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