A few weeks ago, Alex and I headed down to Singapore so that I could present at the Teach IT conference at Singapore American School. We were lucky that the conference coincided with a long weekend here at ISB, so we could spend some extra time with our wonderful friends Susan and Kent, who teach at SAS.
Things have been totally hectic here in the superkimbo household ever since we moved to Bangkok, so somehow, when I was booking our trip to one of the most expensive cities in the world, I got distracted and ended up reserving us a room at the Grand Hyatt on Scotts Road. No discount, no special deal, just the normal “rack rate.” I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking when I booked those rooms – I just know I was totally frazzled and busy with other things and didn’t want to worry about finding a hotel anymore, and before you know it, I had entered my credit card details and reserved the room. The very, very, very expensive room.
Now, I do have to admit that I usually try to find the nicest place I can, for the most reasonable rate – Alex likes to say that I have “expensive taste,” but I don’t usually blow giant wads of cash on my holidays. Now that we’re back in Bangkok, and I’ve actually paid my credit card bill for last month, I’m claiming that it was a 30th birthday treat to myself. That’s reasonable, right? 30’s a big year, isn’t it?
Plus, as I continue to rationalize the expense, I booked us an “executive floor” room, which means we had free access to the “executive lounge” with free breakfast, free drinks all day, and free snacks and cocktails in the evening. The breakfast was absolutely the best continental breakfast I’ve ever had: fresh raspberries, strawberries and blueberries (super expensive here in Aisa), an excellent variety of tasty cheeses, breads and crackers, all sorts of delicious pastries, a huge selection of teas and coffees and every kind of fresh fruit juicce you can imagine. That’s got to be worth something!
The real problem is that I liked the hotel room. A lot. And I kind of wish I could go back and stay in that same hotel again. And again. And now I clearly have certain “expectations” for other hotel rooms…Lifestyle is a dangerous thing, isn’t it?
What do you like to splurge on (and then rationalize away)?
1.) Shoes (and I don’t really even have THAT many when you compare my shoe wardrobe to many others–not naming any names, Shoe Diva!)..the way I rationalize it is that I do not wear leather, and so the bulk of my shoes come from Payless, because they sell mainly shoes made of manmade materials (in other words- pleather), and so cost about $20 a pair. I usually buy during a Buy 1, Get 1 1/2 off sale, so basically, I can buy about five or six pairs of shoes for what most people pay for one pair (possibly less, as I know some people who will pay well over $100 for a pair of shoes). That is not unreasonable, right?? It’s not like I’m Carrie Bradsahw, frittering $40,000 away on shoes!
2.) Also gotta go with the hotel splurge. I rationalize it much better now that we have a child, as we need a nice, clean place with a lot of stuff for her to do….and cheap hotels do not usually fit this description. Of course, we do not NEED to stay on the executive floor of a nice hotel, but I figure, hell, if you’re going to splurge, why not SPLURGE?? However, if the price difference in rooms is outrageous, then I cannot justify it..we don’t want to blow our daughter’s college fund on hotels, after all! It’s hard to go back to regular rooms once you’ve gone executive, though– that’s the beauty of Asia, you can afford to!
If you had a good time in Singapore, then it was well worth the price. Plus, you’ve been working SO hard….
Truffles and sea salt (from around the world) and pork belly and champagne and racks of lamb and sea scallops…and – is it time for lunch yet?
[...] been waiting for this PhotoHunt for a few weeks! Just over a month ago we spent a long weekend in Singapore – a city I had long wanted to visit, but never seemed to manage to make it there (even though [...]