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As usual Laurie has focussed mainly on food. However we also did a lot of walking, seeing the back streets as well as the tourist bits. 

Singapore is an amazingly clean place. Not a piece of litter in sight. And plenty of street cleaners. Despite all the modern traffic the workmen still ride round in dilapidated open back trucks and the street cleaners use bike carts. The traffic flows smoothly and gives way to pedestrians. 

We had a fascinating river cruise round Singapore. The juxtaposition of the old original buildings in all their colourful beauty and the towering skyscrapers of our modern world. The world of commerce and material needs. And yet the same theme was there in the past - the taller the building the wealthier you were. 

Yet amongst the population there seems to be a respect of people and ecology.

80% of people live in public housing which they buy not rent. Once married, the employer pays 70% into a fund that you use to buy your house. A minimum rate of pay $1200 encouraged. All of this we found out on our shuttle bus drive to the airport. 

We also believe that our driver was surprised to learn that we had eaten in the local food market, which, according to him, was one of the best places for good cheap food. 

Nothing Raffles Us!

Just in the nick of time we did it! We went to Raffles Hotel. 

Here is Brigid actually sitting at the courtyard bar. 

And here is the famous gin sling. 

And, of course, lunch. 

Another part of the hotel. 

And the lunchtime menu. 

Now we are sitting back in the hotel waiting for our taxi to take us to the airport. Next leg takes us on to New Zealand. Yet another time travel flight - another 5 hours to be lost somewhere! 

A last look at the hotel. 

Hope to be back tomorrow - or will it still be today? 

It's official, we're tourists

Well, today we were sensible and had breakfast at the right time! We navigated ourselves around hundreds of other guests, discovered where all the cereals and hash browns were hidden and topped up our hunger tanks. I also did what I should have done before and found out about the trains and buses. Quite simple really, could have done with that information yesterday! 

If I had have looked it all up yesterday, this is how the blog would have read: We went by shuttle bus (free) to the Novina shopping centre nearby. Then we jumped on the train... Get the picture? It only cost something like 80p to get us all the way to Orchard Road! My only defence is that yesterday we were tired and hungry and hindsight with me is a wonderful gift! 

Here we are then on the famous Orchard Road. 

Next? Well, what do all good tourists do? Jump onto a guide bus! I know we wouldn't normally do this but it was one of the perks included in our stopover deal and it was free! 

Then we did what all good tourists do, took a selfie! 

Our route took us past Raffles hotel, and, no, we didn't stop for the famous gin sling, after all, we were headed for better things! 

 

Next, through China Town.

Until we reached our next treat - a river bus! And, that was free as well! 

We had a 40 minute trip on the boat and saw many wonderful sights. 

Don't worry, that's not our boat, just one of the many. 

We are also on film. 

We've also got plenty of stills taken by the boat's captain but they are on a real camera which I can't transfer yet onto the blog. He would pick on unsuspecting tourists and take photos against various backdrops. So, be warned, some masterpieces in store for you all! 

By the end of the trip it was lunchtime. But, where to go? There were plenty of places along the river but, all very expensive. So, we walked back into China Town and discovered 

MacPherson BBQ Seafood. Once again, packed with locals all spilling out onto the pavement. With much sign language and misunderstanding (on my part) we ordered lemon chicken with rice, beer and cold water. 

And all for £15. On the riverside, dishes like this started at £15 each before adding in beers and water. 

Hang on, what's going on now? 

Not to worry, it's 2pm. And it seems that every day at 2pm it rains. And boy, did it rain. But only for half an hour or so, nothing to worry about. The tables were moved closer to the shopfront and all was well. The cafe staff didn't realise that we weren't real tourists and didn't want to move inside - it was really quite refreshing feeling the coolness from the rain. 

I'm sorry to say that after that excellent meal we decided to jump on the train again, head back to the hotel for another afternoon zzzz. 

Hot and humid

In my last proper bit of the blog I said that we didn't really know what day it was. Well, this morning, which felt more like last night, we set off to explore our brave new world. 

We went by shuttle bus (free) to the Novina shopping centre nearby. Then we decided to walk to Little India. Well, as the title suggests, it was hot and humid! Halfway between Novina and Little India, we realised that by now we hadn't eaten for almost 8 hours - breakfast has been at 4 o'clock on the plane! 

Luckily we soon (well, a little later than sooner) came across a small eatery in the corner of a shopping mall. Here's Brigid getting some of her strength back with a chicken and rice dish. 

Not that that's what she ordered! We had asked for Laksa which looked good in the picture. However, Laksa is a spicy type of soup and just a little too spicy for a first meal out. Apparently though, not too spicy for me! 

After that we decided to head back to the Novina shopping centre, catch the shuttle bus and return to the hotel. But first, a nice cup of tea! 

Once back in our room, our body clocks shut down for a nice snooze for the afternoon. 

Later, as dusk descended on Singapore, we ventured out again onto the streets. (Sounds a bit like a horror story!) Sorry but we were hungry again! We had intended to go to a renowned chicken and rice restaurant but on the way we passed a food market packed with locals. 

We eventually decided to try a dish of prawn noodles, and boy, was it good! And only 10 dollars for the two of us - that's about £5 in English currency! 

Brigid had only prawns while I had prawns with pork. 

While we were eating, a local couple, mother and son, came and sat at the same table. Well, we thought they were local but she now lives in Hong Kong and he lives in Beijing. By the end of the evening we were old friends. We talked about their family, we talked about their work, we talked about where to go and what to see, we talked about Bradwell and, as quite often happens with us, we talked about religion. The mother, Priscilla, is a Christian and spoke about healing in her life. They shared their water with us and had wanted us to taste a local dish but, sadly, the stall had closed for the night. By that time, so had we! We set off back to the hotel to get yet more sleep. 

Here's the stall where we got the prawns and noodles. 

Just before we crashed out we had a quick look at the gardens next to the hotel. 

And on that note we crashed out for the night. 

Another problem

With all the time changes, I don't know when to take my tablets! Body clock time says "another 8 hours before the next." World clock says "feed me." I've worked out that on the way home I'll probably take 3 tablets in the space of 24 hours! But don't worry, I couldn't be that daft, now could I? 

Don't answer that! 

Anyway, Brigid's already answered for you with a "oh no?" 

Time travelling

One of the problems with flying halfway round the world is the time difference between home and the place where you arrive.

Here we are arriving at Heathrow at some unearthly hour.

And here is Brigid composing herself over a cup of tea. 

Now, I must give thanks here to Chris, our driver, who collected us from home at 4:30 am., and delivered us to the airport by 6:30 am. He certainly knew how to take the stress out of the journey. 

Unfortunately our view on the plane wasn't that good, but, as much of the flight was going to be either cloudy or in the dark, it didn't really matter. 

Here you can see everyone settling down for the flight, playing with their television screens and eagerly awaiting the first meal of the day. 

What wasn't realised by both of us was that the first meal would come relatively soon after takeoff and, with our tea and coffee in the airport, we had already had a light breakfast! Oh well, we just had to eat it, didn't we? Would have been rude not to! And it was being called lunch! After that, about midday, we had a light tea. And then, as we started overtaking the hours, or was it undertaking, it got dark outside and we all got ready to snuggle down for the night. But it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon! 

And then, at about 1 pm (body time) they started trying to wake us all up again for breakfast! 

But, I must say that the flight was a joy. We had hot towels, latest movies to watch, games to play, plenty to eat - I was in heaven! Also, we had some vouchers from the airline and Brigid was able to stock up on perfumes, so she was in heaven as well! Oh, did I say that within about 5 minutes I managed to crash my TV screen? I know - who else but me could do that!? They had to reset the system for me! 

After all that, well, a bit of an anticlimax really. We transferred to our hotel, arriving at 8 o'clock Singapore time (midnight body time) and we've been awake ever since! 

So, I'll stop this post here and start a new one for today - but it is today - perhaps I'll lay down for a short snooze just to sort out all this time travel! I really don't know how Dr. Who does it! 

Getting ready for a great adventure

I apologise to all blog followers that nothing has been posted since 2014! This is mainly due to not having enough data allowance on my pay as you go broadband. However, we did venture along the Ashby canal in 2015 and then down the Oxford, revisiting old haunts on the way.

Anyway, the past is past and we are now in 2016 - Happy New Year!

This year, our great adventure is that we are visiting friends in New Zealand and Australia and I hope to be using this blog to map our journey. After that we have six months on Polgara and, as long as I sort out the data allowance, I will try and keep track of that adventure as well.

See you soon!