Eight hours on a smooth flight while catching up on some recent American films and unlimited gin and tonics made the flight to Singapore literally fly by. We were met by one of my mom's cousins, Colette, and her husband Jeff. They live in Singapore for Jeff's work, which has also had them living in Italy for awhile in addition to extensive traveling they have done themselves so they were able to appreciate picking up weary travelers at 10pm and taking us in for two nights. We were very grateful for some family and their hospitality. Jeff took the day off and showed us around Singapore including the vibrant Chinese and Indian areas of town with impressive Buddhist and Hindu temples. We also visited the old colonial side of the city state at the Raffles hotel, which conjures up all the typical images of wealthy British in a tropical colony with white linen outfits and tan hats riding around in rickshaws pulled by the locals. We enjoyed the famous Singapore Sling drink invented there and based on gin among other ingredients offering a refreshing break from the heat although we had been graced by an early morning storm that poured on the rain cooling down the mainly concrete laden city centre. We finished off the day with a visit to the ultra modern Singapore at the Marina Bay Sands hotel and glitzy shopping complex. The main draw is the massive sword structure that appears to have just been gently laid atop the three towers of the hotel, which offers a rooftop pool and spectacular views of nearly the entire country. We also enjoyed the wonderful views of downtown Singapore at night from Jeff and Colette's high rise condo. As we only had 10 days until we fly out of Bangkok taking trains and buses along the 1,200 mile journey, and as Singapore's main past time is shopping with most everything at exorbitant prices we awoke early the next morning to drive to the train station at the border of Malaysia, which is only separated by a small channel of water, yet a world away.