Tuesday, April 12, 2016

East meets west in Singapore, Sheraton Towers hotel's waterfalls, bagels and durians

I recently attended a couple of Toastmasters International meetings at the Sheraton Towers hotel in Singapore, conveniently near Newton MRT. The cost is $20, a lot for a Toastmasters meeting, most of which offer free entertainment and food to guests who are potential members. But for $20 you can get an evening of networking, up to eight entertaining prepared speeches, a buffet of noodles, rice, often sandwiches and/or local food and fruit, coffee, ice water and lemon slices. $20 is about £10 in English money.

If you want to join this Singapore Toastmasters club, get a mentor, and attend regularly (they have three meetings a month on the first three Monday evenings, from 6.15 onwards, the cost is higher than most other clubs. Did I hear $500 - about £250, for 6 months or a year? If you are in business, this would come off your tax or be paid for by your employer as a business expense and it trains you to give presentations, preparing slides, managing slide or video presentations, timing a presentation, and writing speeches and delivering them in an entertaining and audible manner with correct presentation.

Meanwhile, if you do not have the time or money to join for a whole year, you can attend a meeting as a guest for the guest fee of $20. You learn from the feedback given after the speeches, analysing the good aspects of each speech, and recommending improvements.
Sheraton Tower Hotel, Singapore, dining by the waterfall

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright Angela Lansbury. More photos available.

Sheraton Hotel Decor and Delights
And while you are there, you get to enjoy the glamorous surroundings of the Sheraton hotel. Notice the rope pattern on the banisters going up the grand staircase from level one (in England called the ground floor) to level two.

From the balcony you can look down on the fountains below and the waterfall behind glass at the far end of the ground floor restaurant.

Fancy The Food?
I looked at the downstairs display of foods in a cabinet. A whole cake for a party for $65. A piece of cake for about $8. A bagel for about $3.50. Fresh fruit.

Toastmasters Buffet
Upstairs with Toastmasters, the $20 for the buffet at Singapore's premier Toastmasters club and an evening of entertainment (roughly 6.15 to 9.50 pm), seems good value. I liked the filling fried rice, passed on the popular glass noodles with red pepper, and liked the little salmon pastries, and filled up on easy to handle tomato sandwiches.

The apple crumble pastries were great. I passed on the fruit with the black seeds but enjoyed the red water melon, orange melon and black grapes.

PS The rest rooms (toilet to my UK readers) have flower displays (orchids) and background music.

TOASTMASTERS MORE INFORMATION
www.toastmasters.org.sg
enquiry@toastmasters.org.sg
facebook.com/ToastmastersSingapore

SHERATON HOTEL MORE INFORMATION
Sheraton Towers Hotel, 39 Scotts Road, Singapore 228230
sheraton.com/singapore
sheratonsingapore.com
Tel: (+65) 6737 6888



Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

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