New Year at the Tanglin Club. Choice of grand meal in the Churchill Room, jolly meal in the Tavern, or for a moderate price after 10 pm drinks and the mini buffet in the lounge.
It was a nervous New Year for those in Australia and New Zealand, who have the big cities which are first to see in the New Year. With fires around Australia, some people were calling for the Sydney fieworks to be cancelled, but they went ahead.
Meanwhile, we had family from London, UK, and Singapore gathered in Singapore so it was the happiest New Year ever. (The previous one was in Vietnam, where we received a phone call telling us that they were engaged.)
The Tanglin was perfect. The Tanglin sells lovely scarves at modest prices, too, but the photography table had blocked the display cabinet.
I thought at first it was a paid for photography. You could have had your photo taken in hats, Afterwards I presumed it was free and for the Tanglin Club magazine.
I never tried the beef. Delicious savoury puffs. Unlimited wine.
A loud band played in the hall after ten when the meals were over. At just before midnight we were treated to the sound and sight of a Scottish bagpipes band in kilts.
I later tried to identify the tartan, green with a white stripe, without success.
Balloons were attached to weights.
We went home on the MRT, Singapore's underground train service. Maybe the tipsy revellers from the Tnaglin and other clubs and hotels had gone home by taxi. The people on the underground were all serious and soberly dressed, prim and proper. Not like London underground on New Year's Eve and St Patricks, where everybody is in gharish clothes, funny hats, face paints, and singing. I suppose you hesitate to sing on the MRT in Singapore. You might get arrested.
We felt we had had more fun than most. We did not see the fireworks in Singapore. Later we read on the internet that the Chinese city of Shanghai had drones creating patterns in the sky.
However, for the Chinese in China and Singapore and around Asia, the joy of Chinese New Year is next on the events calendar.
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About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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