Bangladesh
Being stuck at the gate before SQ 447 meant a lot of hungry people, even if it was only an hour's delay. Singapore Airlines arranged snack boxes (catered by the Intercontinental Hotel in Dhaka!) to feed hungry passengers a litle bit of sandwich and fried chicken-- absolutely nothing fancy, but guessing that was greatly appreciated by those who otherwise would have had nothing to eat.
The SIN-DAC and DAC-SIN flights, SQ 446 and SQ 447, are pretty short-- barely 3.5 hours, so while some might have enjoyed the onboard meal, I opted to sleep the whole flight. This actually proved pretty clutch, along with the slightly delayed arrival to Singapore, as I was able to make it and feel pretty alive on arrival.
Singapore MRT is a pretty slow way to the airport vs. driving/taxi, but given how early I arrived, it worked out pretty well, as the MRT is pretty comfortable. Varel Singapore, one of Marriott's very newest hotels in Singapore, is barely a few months (few weeks?) open. Not a large hotel, it has a semi-open-air lobby which seems to be the current fad in high-end luxury hotels in Singapore, but lacking the size, the semi-open-air lobby also feels a bit odd? Quite welcoming but you also have to feel for the front desk employees who get to stand in front of a swamp cooler all day. The rooms at least are very nice, if a bit small, and being brand-new they are in immacculate shape. Bathroom is small but the shower/tub is large, and there are some very nice touches, such as a little balcony as well as in-room filtered water.
Next stop was to catch up with the Powers family. Always good to see them, even if our schedulers were both tight and it was pouring rain (again), which put a kibosh on our food plans.
Spent the rest of the afternoon trying to avoid getting too went, and ticking off a few food places that had been on my list for a while. Woobbee for milk tea is pretty solid, with a stronger tea than some of their competitors. Also forgot it was a Monday lunch rush, and holy crap, everywhere was packed with office workers on their lunch breaks. Marina One's food hall had a few restaurants with absolutely crazy lines, maybe ideas for next time. By the time I navigated my way to HeyTea inside The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, the lunch rush had died down, and the brand-new seasonal king guava jasmine milk tea was a much more subtle drink than the traditional milk tea I'd had not too long ago at Woobbee. Final stop of the afternoon was at Sim Lim Square to see local computer parts pricing and availability, which, like everywhere else due to the AI-driven insanity, is best described as expensive AF and very poor, at least for the highest-end/highest-capacity parts.