An early start as today is "film the whole hotel day". We started with an interview with the General Manager Louis Sailer. He's worked in Singapore for over a decade(in stages) and not only knows everyone but is known BY everyone. We filmed in the Straits Room on the 4th floor of the hotel. This room was part of the Singapore Club and it's very ornate ... with corniching on the ceiling, elaborate light fittings ... a wonderful place to have a formal dinner ... or formal interview. Louis gets "it".
We spent the rest of the morning filming in places like the Post Room (bar that used to be part of the Post Office), the restaurants, outdoor infinity swimming pool (SUPERB) and general areas. The hotel is full of character & characters and films very nicely. The Fullerton Building was built in 1928 ... and on January 1st 2001 (after a $400 million dollar refurb) opened as the hotel with 400 rooms and suites.
There is a private elevator in my Suite ... there is now a single armchair in there ... this is "luxury". It's the "small things" that make that word real.
Part of the filming was with the Concierge, Lynn ... who has become my "tv wife". She arranged a few feature excursions for us ... not only the cruise down the Singapore River yesterday but this afternoon we visited two boutiques ... Chopard - that has its Asian flagship store here in Singapore and then Rossi - where they tailor men's shirts & suits. We are not talking a 8 hour low quality back-room, Rossi is all about taste and choice ... and Daniel Lum talked me through the real way of being measured for clothes and of course having them made up. I was shocked to film that my neck size is now 16.5 ... eek ... i need to diet! I am up a collar size in a year!!!!!!! No more fries for me. We were chauffeured around town in a vintage Rolls-Royce which was a real head-turner.
We spent a while filming on the hotel roof which gave us excellent views of Singapore - in bright sunlight. There is a lot to see & do here ... I hope we have time to do it all.
We wrapped up the day on Singapore's famous night safari. My expectations were actually quite low ... but thankfully exceeded by the show that is put on and yours truly was dragged on stage to meet a rather large snake. You'll have to see more of that on the show ... needless to say that "Maggie" the boa was a "loving creature". Lynn was with me everywhere today ... a highly entertaining and knowledgeable lady!
Later in the evening, I popped into the "Butter Factory", a local nightspot - to celebrate Time Out magazine birthday. Once again its an amazing venue ... very chic and full of people who just want fun. There are NO drugs here in Singapore ... alochol duty is enormous and residents are not even allowed to bring alcohol & cigarettes into the country through Duty Free ... the fun here is "clean" ... quite refreshing.
We leave The Fullerton early tomorrow. This hotel gets "it". My team has been VERY impressed by the service, the staff and the atmosphere. The F&B manager Errol is omnipresent (sometimes scarily so) and the PR lady Carolyn is one in a million ... we are going to miss her. I love The Fullerton - what else can I say?
Song of the Day: Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd
Weather: Stunning (LM)
daniel - the shirt man
tea in the pool
my tv "wife" Lynn
the armchair in the elevator - EXCELLENT!
