The Singapore Times Exclusive: THE ABDUCTION OF RORY DYLAN STEPHEN: ALL ABOARD THE EASTERN & ORIENTAL EXPRESS!
Bags all packed and taken to the luggage desk of our hotel Singapore Shangri-La we head down for a light breakfast and for me a small bowl of jasmine tea. Bobby Jr. mutters, “Eat light. Nothing but the best on the Eastern & Oriental Express (E&OE)!”
We grab a limo to the Woodlands Train Station in Singapore and are processed out of Singapore and into Malaysia. Easy for me with Bobby Jr. presenting forged rabies certificates bearing my alias, Cuddlecakes. Bobby Jr. seems endlessly having thumbprints taken, eyes scanned and passport presented.
Finally on the platform we are guided to our coach and our State Cabin. Our private butler Keith queries if he may unpack our luggage and hang up clothes. Our State Cabin is the second largest category of cabins. It is tiny by hotel room standards. But it’s lush and ornate. Beautiful cherrywood panelling, Thai silks and Malaysian embroidery. A large sofa faces two large windows giving us a panoramic view. A large armchair is by the sofa and there is a small table ledge under the window. Each night our butler converts the furniture into two beds. A bottle of Veuve Clicquot in an ice bucket is on the table as well as a pitcher of fresh Durian juice and a bottle of vodka with plenty of ice cubes in a silver bucket. Two silverplated dog bowls are on the floor near the window and two bottles of Evian water are on a side table. Our butler fills my water bowl with Evian.
Madame Fong and Sir Reginald Nicomshire have Presidential Cabins.
Our butler unpacks and hangs clothes and Bobby Jr. walks me down to the end of the train to an observation car which includes a bar. The hallways are very narrow and once the train is moving you sort of bounce from wall to wall. One wall has the entrances to all the berths.
We arrive at the observation car and the train starts to roll on. Bobby Jr. sits on the bench on the outside part of the observation car and enjoys a glass of Veuve Clicquot in a crystal flute to accompany his view. I hop up on the bench by Bobby Jr. and enjoy the warm breeze watching the Malaysian countryside drift by. Big time jungle out there. I do note an armed security guard is discretely sitting in a corner of the observation car.
I look forward to afternoon tea to be served either in your cabin, the dining car or in the observation car. We are having ours in our cabin. Bobby Jr. will informing me of my mission!
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