Singapore

Singapore was great although I would have been happy with just a week. I had a wander off the beaten track and was surprised to findout that it is not as clean as most people would have you believe! Little India and China town are pretty dirty down to the rubbish piled up in the streets, but still more than worth a visit thanks to the great restaurants, delicious smells, and interesting and varied insects/animals/fruits for sale in the shops. There is almost as much of a contrast in the buildings as there is in Kuala Lumpur with massive modern sky scrapers and nearby run down old shops etc. Very atmospheric. The MRT (underground railsystem) was excellent: cheap, clean and efficient. It was also easy to navigate since there were only two lines. Buses were also frequent and cheap but these needed a bit more navigating.

The temperature and humidity were as extreme as I had expected but I think by the end of the two weeks I was starting to acclimatise. I realised this when I noticed that the air conditioning in the shopping malls stopped becoming the instant relief from the heat and actually started to feel cold!

Shops! Now there is another subject! I know of nowhere else where there are so many shops! They are exceeded only by the massive number of eating places! Every road has a shopping centre/food court and of course the food is great. This is where having the local's knowledge really came in useful. Some of the best food turned out to be from the cheapest places. OK you might not have had the luxury of the air con but S$6 for a chinese meal (vast choice too) you can't complain. The chinese food was excellent and despite walking for miles and miles around the place I lost no weight! :-)

I had a look round the shops for a digital camera hoping to snap up a bargain. Unfortunately I don't think the savings are as good as they used to be. I think you can get better prices by ordering via the internet. As a consequence I didn't buy a camera, but stuck with the old film version.

Did the obligatory visit to the Raffles Hotel for a singapore sling. Wasn't impressed with the peanut shells on the floor but WAS impressed with the cocktails! They were stronger than I expected and I guess sampling them before a meal was not the brightest thing I have done! Still, it meant that the evening went with a smile :-)

One of the weekends we went via cable car to Sentosa Island "Where your dreams come true". All I can say is some people have dull dreams! ;-) It was like a theme park but without the rides! The highlight was going to the top of the Merlion followed by the musical fountain and firework display in the early evening. Thinking about the cable car trip was probably the best part of the day!

The guide book recommended a trip nearby Pulau Ubin where the popular thing to do was to hire a bike and cycle round the island. Unfortunately there was nothing to see! Still it was a good laugh and we did find a great restaurant there so it wasn't a wasted trip.

On another day I walked to the East Coast park and along the coast. The views of the sea were spoiled a little by the huge number of tankers and large ships coming in and out of port. The beaches were not too clean with rubbish and broken glass dotted around but they got better the further along you went. In the afternoon I got a close up view of one of the many storms as the rain came in from the sea like a curtain closing off the view of the city. I sheltered from the rain for an hour or so but it didn't actually come inland. However as soon as I set off back, down it came and I got soaked! :-)

A trip to the zoo is recommended - conditions are pretty good for the animals and the zoo is nicely laid out. There were a couple of critters which could have been better notably the polar bear which kept swimming in circles and the elephants which were used to put on a show (it was quite entertaining though as the crowd were soaked through by one of the elephants spraying water from it's trunk :-)

To avoid another of the storms I spent an afternoon in the Science centre where, amongst other things, I watched a film in the Omni theatre. This was a cinema with a hemispherical screen meaning you are almost surrounded by the picture. This makes it feel all the more impressive.

I also managed to relax by spending a couple of days by one of the outdoor pools were I ended up frazzled by the sun despite wearing factor 20 SPF. In the second week I got measured up and had two cashmere suites hand made. Very smooth - maybe I should wear them for work!

I didn't manage to get in a football match or drink many beers but *did* discover the delites of an Iced Mocha with cream!! :-)

It was a great break and this time I wasn't wiped out by the jet lag when I arrived - which was a bonus.