Singapore

Because we arrived too early to check into our hotel, we had to leave our luggage in reception and sit around the pool until our room was ready. We were glad we had put our swimming gear on the top of our cases! The rest of our first day is a bit of a blur. It was very hot compared to home, and we had no idea whether to eat or sleep and tried some of both, together with wandering around Clarke Quay which really only comes to life at night. We did a mange a one hour boat trip which was fascinating though, again, probably better done at night.

Pictures of our hotel and Clarke Quay

Only having three nights in Singapore we decided the best way to see the city was on a sight seeing bus. Very easy when you have no idea what day it is! It did take us to China Town where we spent a very amusing three hours or so shopping for rubbish (sorry family), eating noodles, checking out the price of cameras (only £30 or so less than John Lewis), and finding some strange raw materials in the food market. 

We had prebooked a Singapore Food Trail http://singaporefoodtrail.com  for Wednesday evening (I think it was Wednesday).  Two locals took us and one other Brit, Jamie, who had just arrived in Singapore to work for two years, around various very local eateries so we could sample different types of food. It was great and we would really recommend it. We didn't take any photos - it seemed a bit naf at the time....!

The following morning we visited the botanical gardens and then in the afternoon went for tea at Raffles.

This was lovely. Beautiful dumplings, cakes, sandwiches and much more - including a glass of champagne. After that we met a former colleague of Graham's who has been living in Singapore for seven years. At his suggestion we went up to the Long Room at Raffles and drank Singapore Slings, for which I have acquired a taste! The bar bill came to more than the tea! We went on to walk a lot of the F1 circuit - because we could - and then the boys ended up drinking green beer (healthy, apparently) on Boat Quay. Again, no photos. All in all, a very nice day.

On our last day we had to check out of the hotel by 11am but we're not flying until 9.15 pm so we had quite a lot of time to fill. Having checked out and left bags in reception, again, we walked to Fort Canning Park and on to the National Museum where there was a special exhibition about 'Total Defence'. This is a government strategy to ensure Singapore's people can defend themselves against - everything! Invasion, the Haze (smog), economic turmoil, disruption of supply lines etc etc. Men all do two years National Service and are then reservists for some time. Women can opt to do National Service if they want to, though there seemed to be a feeling that women 'did their bit' by supporting and homemaking for the men.

A very strange country where most people seem to be happy to accept the governments dictates without questio on the basis that 'it works'. The worrying thing is that it seems to.....