Horses for courses

Singapore never ceases to surprise us. It's a small island, but we keep discovering parts of it that we had no idea existed - little enclaves that charm and delight. We discovered one of these yesterday, when we went to have breakfast with some friends. Going out for Sunday breakfast is a tradition in Singapore, and I've written before about the many brunch offerings, but this was a bit different. We went to Picotin, (http://www.picotin.com.sg/index.html) a lovely French bistro complete with boules pitch in a part of Singapore that we had not been to before. As we often find with places that are new to us, it wasn't very far from our normal flight path, but has eluded us till now. Picotin is in "Horse City", which used to house the stables for the old racecourse and is now a sort of equestrian centre with extras - extras that include a yoga centre, spa, child care and pet care facilities, as well as Picotin. One of the best things about Picotin is that they welcome dogs, so Lola came too, and very much enjoyed her first taste of bacon.

While we were there, we had a look at the pet care centre - cleverly named K9 Kampus - and we were mightily impressed. No mere boarding kennel , K9 provides the opportunity for single dogs to become pack animals - in the lap of doggy luxury. The facilities include a swimming pool (I'm not making this up), exercise yard, obstacle course, obedience training, grooming and a cafe (this last one for the owners, I'm pretty sure!). We had Lola assessed (did I just move to the upper East side of Manhattan without realising it? I have had my puppy "assessed" for entry to a day care facility) while we were there, so she starts day care this week. If she is happy there, we will be able to board her from time to time, a prospect which filled me with dread until we discovered K9.

As luck would have it, one of our favourite wine shops was having a sale, just a few hundred yards from Picotin, and we were able to pick up a few of our favourites at a bargain price, so this truly was the perfect Sunday.