Last Saturday evening.

Hand in hand, dressed in our elegant best, the Goonfather and I strolled into Marina Bay prepared to be treated to a $300 dinner onboard the Singapore Flyer, where we would be pampered with the world’s first full butler dining service in the sky.

The moment we arrived at the Bay, the succulent fragrance of fried chicken hit me.

My eyes took on a glazed expression.

I turned to the Goonfather and said, “Let’s go eat Popeyes, instead!”

What can I say? I’m a simple girl with simple wants.

Of course, we didn’t get to dine at Popeyes because our gracious hosts for the newly-launched Singapore Flyer Premium Sky Dining were expecting us at the VIP Lounge.

That’s where sky diners chill out while waiting to board the Flyer.

Boarding the Flyer is a pretty cool experience. The capsule doesn’t stop (it’s constantly in motion) so there’s only a small window of opportunity to board the capsule.

But the movement is slow enough to not require a diploma of stunt mastery.

My first time on the Singapore Flyer. I hardly felt any movement the entire hour I was up there.

But, like, once in a while, you look up from your dinner and the scenary has changed. I suppose it’s a bit like dining at the Top of the M (Meritus Mandarin’s revolving restaurant).

Of course, dining on the Singapore Flyer is something else altogether. Because you’re stationed in a little glass capsule, you feel all the more connected to the, um, elements.

That is, assuming you do look out the capsule once in a while.

Considering that it was a butler service three-course fine dining thingy, I was up on my feet a lot, photographing stuff.

Being in the media, you get a lot of perks like free dinners and free 10km mounting climbing races, but they come with a different kind of price.

While you’re experiencing the event firsthand, you’re at the same time trying to experience the event vicariously through yourself. That’s a bit oxymoronic but that’s how it is. You need to experience it with a third-person perspective in order to better report it to your readers/viewers.

So, ironically, you kind of lose the firsthand experience a little. You’re always experiencing it through a camera, whether you’re taking stills or videos.

Well, I did take many photos.

Like, of the menu.

Of our welcome drink (fresh summer berries in ginger ale).

Which was really delicious and I could do with more of, by the way.

Of the National Day Parade rehearsal below us.

Of the night city skyline.

Of the food.

The food was quite excellent; immeasurably worth giving up Popeyes for.

I had the pan-seared fillet of Chilean sea bass with X.O. sauce. Ah, it was a killer, juicy, tender and almost milky with the flavourful burst of fish oils.

The Goonfather chose the roasted duck confit, which arrived looking like a tortoise.

Well, my photos don’t do the food justice since it was dark and I’m using a cheap compact camera, but I’m not a food blogger so it’s okay.

I’m a camwhore blogger!

But a failed one at that, since I only have one photo of myself (and it wasn’t even a solo shot) on the Flyer, as opposed to about a hundred photos of food and scenery.

The highlight of our evening was actually the NDP rehearsal but we didn’t manage to catch much of it because the lure of fine dining and good conversation was too strong.

But we did all stand up to ooh and aah at the fireworks display.

Fireworks are always nice!

You see the three little paper boat things on the river? They’re actually floating in air rather than cruising on the water. Very cute. I like them!

I took a video of the fireworks. Watch till the end to see the heart-shaped fireworks! They’re pretty!

More views through my camera. Our fabulous expressways:

A model of the upcoming Marina Bay Integrated Resort, perched somewhere atop the Singapore Flyer:

More fireworks:

Most people seem to love these huge mushroom cloud fireworks, but I find them messy and uninspired. I prefer the intricately-patterned, colourful ones. Like the heart-shaped ones. Now I want to attend the NDP just to see it again!

Our hour passed by really quickly. The Singapore Flyer had gone two rotations and it was time for us to head back to the VIP lounge for dessert.

Us:

Our dessert (chocolate souffle):

It was all very nice. I enjoyed myself so much that I even drank two cups of tea after my dessert, even though I don’t usually like drinking tea. Nor coffee, for that matter.

In fact, everything was so good that I even finished up the cured salmon they served us for starters, even though I normally hate cured/smoked salmon.

This one was quite appetising because of the sauce. The menu calls it “citrus herb dressing” but I thought it tasted like Thai chilli sauce, which I love.

In any case, I think it’s a worthy experience to try out, especially if you have a girl you want to impress. The Singapore Flyer Premium Sky Dining comes at a cost of $299+++ per couple but there is now an introductory price of $199+++ until July 31, 2009.

One day advanced booking is required.

Each capsule hosts up to 10 people. You could do a group booking or couple booking and the tables would be arranged accordingly. Find out everything you want at the Singapore Flyer website.

Worth considering also is the Formula One package, which comes at a hefty price tag of $688 per person but gives you three days access to unparalleled views of the F1 race.

I probably can’t afford that, but I’m going back there for Popeyes next time!