Buns2025: Days 14-18 – Belfast > Singapore

Soundtrack: “Departure”, R.E.M.

Filling in the last few gaps from a couch in Nyungar Boodjar, home at last.

My final morning in Belfast was full of rain. I had a plan: check out of hotel, take my case down to the Central Train Station and store it for a couple of hours, go get breakfast and last minute souvenirs, then head back and take the bus straight from the station to Dublin airport. Nothing that a little rain would affect.

Belfast Central Train Station doesn’t have luggage lockers. Nor does it have a nice and easy ramp to get to it, just steps. For all I know the lack of lockers might hail back to the worst of the troubles, when the IRA had a habit of putting bombs into places like that. The station is currently undergoing a significant revamp, lots of construction everywhere, so it does look a bit like a bomb hit it, and as a result the only way I found to get into the place was up stairs. At the time there were other folks lugging cases who also had the same fun. The helpful helpdesk let me know that there were tourist shops that would store luggage (places I’d literally just walked past). There are several bus companies that go from the station to Dublin airport, only 1 has any way of buying tickets at the station. When I went to buy a ticket, they told me to go online as it would be cheaper. To be fair it was, I managed to get a ticket for 9 pounds instead of 19. Ah, Belfast.

After finding the shop and paying the 10 pounds I saved on bus tickets to store my luggage, I headed back to Munch/Mango for another decent feed. They have signs saying they’ll take payment in euros, and as I still had a bunch figured I’d do that. Turned out to involve a bit of maths, but we got there, and I paid over just to round it to even notes. While the maths was going on had a quick chat with the manager, her and her partner are from Slovakia and she recommended travel to Bratislava. One day.

Belfast also has some of the daftest pedestrian crossing signs. Not all, but some have the flashing green man light in poles angled 90 degrees to the road. Nowhere in the world do pedestrians look at the poles to their left or right to know when to cross: they all look straight ahead to the other side of the road and expect to see the sign there. Even chickens crossing roads for purposes unknown look straight across the road at pedestrian crossings. But for select places in Belfast, nope, there is no wee green man to be seen across the road, he’s in the pole next to you. So if you want to see a whole lot of people standing confused at a crossing, looking in every direction to work out if it’s safe to step out in front of a bus, Belfast is for you.

The bus to Dublin airport was easy and convenient, am definitely a fan. As the bus then goes into Dublin central, it was interesting to see the different types on the bus, including the lovely old couple who even brought along a thermos of tea. The airport itself is okay, not huge but my flight was still at one of the furthest gates. They unsurprisingly also have a decent collection of Irish whiskey. I didn’t buy any, as I already had some in my case and my next connection was a scheduled 1 hour 20 minutes, so the less I’d be carrying on a mad dash through Frankfurt airport the better.

Dublin to Frankfurt flight took about 1 hour 40 minutes, we left a little late (likely due to issues with overhead luggage as lots of people were packing lots in their carryon, making it a tight squeeze) but we made up time. I was hoping that German efficiency would mean I wouldn’t have a long walk to my connecting gate, but I wasn’t that lucky. My Dublin flight didn’t have a gate, so we were all loaded into buses and taken to the other side of the terminal. As we drove around we passed several 747 jumbo jets, and I started thinking that I’ve never been on one, so maybe I should make that a bucket list thing to organise. We eventually parked, and at least I had a plan for the future. Made my departure gate right when boarding was supposed to happen, but there were some delays so I got to stand around letting my lungs recover. As I waited to board, I could see that there were stairs in the plane going up, so I thought the flight was an A380. When I got closer and could see the type of plane painted on the side, I may have giggled a little. My flight was a 747. Quickest bucket list item tick ever.

Sadly I wasn’t in first or business class on the 747, so I can report that up the back they have about as much room as any plane really. Especially when the person in front reclines their seat. I still managed to doze for a lot of the flight, aside from rewatching Run Lola Run for the first time in years, it’s still entertaining, if somewhat bizarre.

Landed gently in Singapore, for such a huge plane the 747 seemed to take off and land very smoothly. It seems to be a rainy season in Singapore right now, so I swapped the cold and wet of Belfast for the temperate and wet, at least the rain was taking the edge off the humidity. Staying in Little India this time, rather than my usual Bencoolen, which is just down the road really. I didn’t realise how much party central Little India gets in the evening, when the dance bars and restaurants and shops all play thumping music, and the streets are full until quite late. Checked into hotel, found a local place for a decent mutton biryani, then took the MRT over to the wonderful Swan Song.

As the Auld Alliance was currently moving premises (they aren’t going far, fortunately) they’re currently closed. I should have dropped them a line and asked if I could help move. At least my other regular whisky haunt, Swan Song, were open. Given the wonderful generosity previously shown by the owner Mr A, I didn’t show up empty handed, and brought him a little something from Ireland, a 17 year-old bottling from the Celtic Whiskey Shop (cask 59, Cooley Distillery, aged in bourbon, finished in fino sherry and tokaij). On the bar were a number of Mr A’s recent acquisitions, including a 1975 St Magdalene (Lowland distillery closed in 1983) that was quite sumptuous, lots of fruit on the palate and a lingering finish; a 1975 Convalmore (Speyside, closed in 1985) which started with a lot of cask tanning but opened up into an amazing dram that just filled the mouth with flavour; and a 1979 Laphroaig (Islay, still operating thank goodness) that while still peaty, had a wonderful balance. Three wonderful whiskies I may never have the chance to try again. Finished with a Jura (Island, still operating) heavily peated (heavily peated for Jura isn’t really really peaty) full of wonderful island flavours. After two flights, maybe 24 hours in airconditioning, and sweating a bit as my body felt actual warmth again, I didn’t go big on the whisky.

Found breakfast at nearby Ananda Bhavan, serving vegetarian since 1924, and had the breakfast special of marsala thosai and various little pots of yummy things. It’s a cute little place, nothing fancy, and some of the serving staff looked like they’d been on the payroll since the place opened, still happily feeding tourists and locals alike. Did a bit of wandering and shopping, thinking I’d got some chocolate for when L arrived (more on that later). The Singapore plan was generally to spend time with L, her brother G, and niece C, as G and C were off to Black Pink on Saturday night thanks to super uncle me signing up as a Blink. (Now that was a name for the tour I didn’t think of, “Twinks to Blinks”, oh well, opportunity missed there.) So I didn’t really make any plans for me, just figured I’d go with the flow of others. So the rest of this entry will be kinda short, as it’s not really my story to tell.

Once G and C got in and settled, we took a wander around the shopping districts of Singapore, stopping for lunch at a food court for some decent Korean-themed offerings, before more shopping. It’ll come as no surprised that the streets were full of Blinks, at every turn there were folks dressed in two colours wielding the heart hammer glow sticks. Eventuall tired and shopped out, G and C retired and I went in search of food, finding some noodles, dumplings and fried pork that hit the spot. Then it was waiting for L to arrive in the early hours of Saturday.

Snickers. In Australia, there is only one Snickers, the nutty chocolate bar. So when I found a three pack with a big label Snickers Fruit and Nut, I thought I’d found something different, yet still a chocolate bar, that would be good to have in the fridge for L when she arrived. I did my due diligence, ruling out the presence of gluten, and felt quite happy with myself. Turns out that Snickers elsewhere in the world have diluted their brand. There is no one true Snickers, there are variants, different types, less well regarded cousins. Into this category falls the Snickers Fruit and Nut, which is, for all intents and purposes, a date based protein bar with only a drizzling of chocolate. It’s definitely the dodgy cousin, the one who turns up at family gatherings with the cheap potato salad who then borrows $50 of you never to pay it back. Snickers Fruit and Nut should come with a health warning: this product is healthier than you’re expecting, and is not suitable for chocaholics.

Slept in while G and C hit the Black Pink pop up merch stall, then met up in Chinatown for food. Found a queue in a hawker centre leading to a stall with a sign in chinese only selling bowls of goodness, a sure sign of something tasty. The line moved fast, as there’s only one thing on the menu here: you step up, hand over the cash, and get your tray with a bowl of fish balls, tofu and beancurd rolls, and broth. And it’s delicious, the slightly sweet broth, meat and fish paste tofu, not too heavy but definitely satisfying. (Subsequent googling reveals that I had yong tau foo from Yong Xiang Xing Dou Fu, which is one reputably one of the top two places for yong tau foo in Singapore.) It’s good. Check it out. Then it was rest time for all, before G and C (well, mostly C) got ready for their big night out. L and I took a detour to a gaming shop which has a dice challenge: $12 for one claw-scoop from the dice bucket. Sadly I wasn’t in good form so ended up with a meagre 28 (needed 34 or more to get on their leaderboard).

Last time I was at Singapore stadium, it was a sea of red, black and white monsters for Lady Gaga. This time it was a flock of two-tone blinks. I’ve never seen so much of that shade of pale pink, and maybe never will again (unless I get roped in for support on another tour). Heart hammer glow sticks as far as the eye could see. L and I went with G and C to the gate, then thankfully fled for calmer places. These turned out to be one of the older, colonial heritage areas of Singapore, to catch up with local pal D, after first detouring to another gaming shop where we tried but there was nothing we wanted to buy. They did tell us about a neat thing they do, a one-shot Dungeons and Dragons session set in early Singapore, which would be an awesome thing for gaming tourists. We had a wonderful evening catching up with D, chatting about all manner of things, eating fine food from the mini Hawker centre nearby, looking at the old style buildings fighting for space among the newer taller constructions. We managed to get back to the hotel before the MRT filled with Blinks, but not before I managed to stumble over a knocked over obstacle and graze the crap out of my calves. There was no focus on three points of contact here, just a very tired me toppling slowly. Maybe my next travel goal can be be to do a trip without bloodloss.

Sunday’s plan was to have a quick breakfast while C told us all about the concert, before heading to the airport. Note to Singapore visitors: there are two places called Hong Kong Dim Sum Shop fairly close to each other, but the one that google maps shows isn’t the same one that comes up in the Grab app, and that one also doesn’t open at 10am. So it took two goes to get there, but we got fed in the end. The final bun was an obligatory char siu bao, and it was very tasty.

Then to the airport and home we headed, through the heaving streets of Little India, Sunday being the day off for the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers from Bangladesh and India. (According to the Ministry of Manpower — now there’s a name for a government department — Singapore has over 1.5 million foreign workers, about 20% of the island’s total population.)

Thanks to the cough and cold, the jet lag (I only seem to get jet lag travelling long distances west to east), and the pace of lots of little jumps, I was feeling a bit run down by the end, so much so that for possibly the first time ever I slept through the take-off. My eyes were open for the safety demonstration, but the next time they opened we were already climbing through the clouds.

I feel I could have seen and done more on this trip, and certainly wanted to see and do more, but my energy levels were definitely pushed significantly. It’s also been a while since I’ve done northern hemisphere late autumn, so the early dark caught me off guard a little after the last couple of trips. There’s definitely nowhere on this trip I don’t want to go back to, Paris, Dublin and Belfast still have a few more things for me to explore, as well as the rest of Ireland/Northern Ireland. So we’ll see how that goes.