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Think you'll have guessed this blog is not Tonga....though we have just arrived here..blog later...so here's a taste of Singapore.
Flew from Bangkok straight to Singapore, with couple of hours in Malasia airport....enough tme to take a picture beside 'The Glenrothes' whiskey stand and try the Malasia speciality of kaya toast...toast with coconut jam...very nice. The other delights of Malasyia will just have to wait till the next trip!
At the very fancy, large, clean, organised, with orchid and butterfly garden,won second prize for best in the world.....only lost its title of first this year to Tiawan I think, Singapore airport, we were met by Khoo...a friend of my cousin Paul and now of course our good friend too. Khoo works at the airport...his job is to attend to first class passengers...dignitaries like the president of US and royalty like the sultan of Brunai. So of course he met us.....all in a days work.
Singapore was a complete contrast to all the countries we have been too. Its very very clean everywhere, extremely well organised public transport, busses and TVR or was it MTV?..overground ...some underground, tube system..all very efficient and clean. Khoo calls it a 'fine city'....you get fined for eating on public transport, fined for jay walking, fined for chewing gum! ( chewing gum is a banned substance in Singapore!)....and the place is better for it. There's this really smelly fruit...Durian.....tases really creamy and exotic...bit like marmite in that some love it some hate it...anyway....its banned from Public transport...in that you are not allowed to carry it even double wrapped in poly bags you can still smell it!. We tried it in once in Bangkok....and we can still smell Durian a mile away! It's also the 'fruit of choice' for the famous architect who designed the 'Singapore concert hall/Opera House'...a magnificent building up there with that other Opera shed in Australia. Some photos on the blog.
We had a great week in Singapore with Khoo, staying in his lovely appartment. It was so nice to be in a house and to relax there, and to be with someone who lives in the place. My cousin Paul also came out for a holiday to meet us and spend time with us here and in Bali. That was so good to see him...we really appreciated him coming all this way...just lovely to have family around half way through our amazing trip. Thank-you Paul. Paul also knows his way around Singapore as he's visited a few times.
In Singapore mostly we ate! Khoo was the perfect host and guide...taking us to all the best resturants...we ate chinese mostly..thats cos we all loved it, and Khoo's parents are Malaysian Chinese. The first morning we threw on our clothes and went across the road to a food hall for breakfast...a bit overwhelming...as here, like all other places we've been so far...breakfast is just one of the three meals a day where the same food is available so sweet and sour chicken or wontons, or fish curry rice is on the menu.....I think we managed a speciality pastry and some crispy wontons...however we soon made up on our other culinery exploits.. we had red chicken noodle...from this stall in china town which you wouldn't give tuppence for ..and it was the best around usually que'd out all the time, and Chen Doll...acually a Indonisian drink..but in this speciality dessert shop in China town they make it into a giant ice cream type mountain with sweet syrup and other yummy things...Pauls favorite. ( He actually just goes to Singapore for the Chen Doll)...ah yes and other foods BBQ Duck ( from the BBQ duck speciality resturant), Peking Duck...which is actually only the marinated fried crisy skin that you eat with rice!....and of course you then have the duck still fried or noodled or whatever! The best for us was Chilli and Butter Crab...Chilli crab is the signature dish of Singapore...I'd heard about this before we came and really wanted to try it....wow!...it was FAN-TAS-TIC ....we ate al fresco..as is the norm in a very busy wee resturant with friends of Khoo joining us ....these plates of food just kept appearing and we got stuck in with our fingers....ace....Can you tell I like my food?
We also did many but not all of the attractions....Singapore zoo...which is really like an animal sanctuary with the animals living in as near natural conditions as possible....so as you walk around there will be orangutangs swinging on ropes and tree canopies beside and above you. ...and we saw dugongs....sea cows...quite rare...love to see them in the wild ...they have them in the Red sea and in Andaman...but they were on holiday when we were there. There is also a 'night safari'....where you visit another zoo at night to see nocturnal animals, doing there nocturnal things.....bit dark to see you'd think?....Low lighting which doesn't seem to affect the animals...elephants, rhinos, ant eaters....
We had a lovely day in the botanic gardens and orchid house, wandered around 'down town'....along the river...which used to be a main 'dock' area with cargo boats coming and going, markets and slum dwellings along the banks, kids swimming in the river, rubbish and rats. Ten years ago they started cleaning up...now its pristine..fish in the river, and 3/4 tourist boats..and nothing else...its a bit too sterile now..and the water is so clean they are about to turn it in to a reservoir! Up market resturants along the bank now...change happens fast in Singapore. We heard live bands and watched fireworks as we sat outdoors in Starbucks couches at the riverside and sipped mochachinos.
Of course one of our highlights was our Singapore Sling in Raffles...just had to! Thanks Paul...who treated us......and in this very very tidy clean, no litter/graffitti and low crime city a tradition is to sip your Singapore Sling, shell your peanuts and throw the shells on the floor of the long bar....Khoo in particular just loved throwing the shells casually over his shoulder. I wonder if my Dad got inside Raffles..when he was here during the war?....he had his photo taken outside..but Raffles was for officers so I guess he probably didn't get past the doorman!
We also managed a boat trip of the harbour and bay area in a replica chineese junk ( and enjoyed a second Singapore Sling!)
So great times in Singapore...and then off to Bali.
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