Thursday, October 26, 2006
I'm going not going to enjoy myself - honest
Some bloke posing at Heathrow. Top Photo Clarke Quay Shopping and restaurants Singapore23-10-2006 Monday
Got to Heathrow in good time (thanks Lu) but T4 really busy, and had to wait 30 mins for Fast Track check-in to open. We had coffee and returned to check-in. The desk guy said “sorry, we can’t check you in on World Traveller Plus.”
“What?, why?”
“You’re upgraded to Club Class, I’m afraid”
RESULT! Glad I went smart and wore a tie!
Boarded on time and enjoyed the HUGE seat (converted to a bed later) and free champagne and wine and 3 course dinner and wine and chocolate and wine and big breakfast and w….tea.
The passenger next to me is making a fuss to a flight attendant about something but I’m too interested in my very large seat and all its facilities to take much notice. Then the attendant approaches me and explains about the fuss. The passenger says he cannot fly in a seat which is facing in the opposite direction to travel! Our seats though next to each other are facing in opposite directions, top to toe style if you will. Would I mind swapping with the gentleman? I say “no problem and we swap around. From here on I seem to have a slightly better service than my New Zealand passenger! I get a number of top ups to my champagne glass and he has none! Our take off is an hour late due to 3rd back up radio being faulty! The food is served shortly after take off and is on proper china plates and with normal dining knives, forks and spoons and linen napkins. The food itself is first class and hot and tasty. XXXXfood menuxxxx. I settle down to watch a film or two and make the most of my upgrade. I decide to use the bed facility after watching The Devil wears Prada. Press a button and hey presto! One bed as the seat and back move out and down. Blankets and pillows provided make one a little more comfortable and I manage to take a few hours sleep. Breakfast is served with a few hours flying time left to Singapore and again, it is pretty good considering it has been stored for around 12 hours by the time it is served. Plenty of tea or coffee is available too. We made up time during the flight and arrived 17.30 local time Singapore. (7hrs ahead UK time) The terminal is like a show home, absolutely immaculate, no rubbish or litter strewn around like Heathrow. Plants, shrubs, trees and orchids every where. Stopped at Information Desk for help finding location of shuttle bus and was helped by 2 very pleasant and knowledgeable ladies. The shuttle bus is a system of mini bus style vehicles which take 7 passengers directly to your destination. Provided the bus is full the price is reasonably cheap. SG$7.00 to be precise or just over £2.00. Remember the terminal is fully air-conditioned and a very pleasant temperature. I stepped outside the terminal to get in the mini bus and got wet in about 5 minutes! The temperature is around 26C but the humidity is around 90-95% currently. They are anticipating some thunderstorms which will reduce the humidity to 85-90%. Great, we’ll really notice the difference! On the shuttle bus is a lady and her daughter who have just been to Australia to visit her eldest daughter and are staying in Singapore for a week before returning home to UK. Must remember to try and talk to everyone I meet, unlike my normal self who tends to not! The shuttle cab SG$7.00 takes me to Robertsons Quay hotel through the streets of Singapore. It is so busy! A large part of the city seems to have a toll system for all vehicles. There are large gantry systems over the roads with cameras and what seem to be electronic reader systems. I learn later on that all cars are fitted with electronic boxes which the street systems read and make a debit to your account whenever you use the toll roads. Hmmmm, no doubt our current Government will try the same system on us in the future and cock it up completely as only they can. Robertson Quay Hotel is a little tired in its decoration and quite small but uniquely is circular! But it’s ok for my short stay. The bathroom is err… bijou. Take one step in and left is the shower, facing you the sink and right is the wc. There is no need to move, you can do all 3 operations from that one step into the room. I kid you not! The room is big enough for the double bed with just a little room to walk either side. There is a work area at the foot of the bed and a huge picture window which faces out to the west of Singapore and gives magnificent views of the sunset. Had quick shower and went out exploring the immediate area by the Singapore River, Robertson Quay and Clarke Quay, which is jam packed with restaurants and bars and shops and hotels. Took a few pictures, a couple of which are posted here.
Ate at a restaurant called……. Wait for it…………. Hooters! Leave that to your imaginations …. No they were NOT topless! Had another walk around and took a few more photos and ended up having couple of beers in the Beach bar outside my hotel. Now writing the blog entry and will post it tomorrow. Hotel has broadband internet for SG$5 per day. It’s now 1am 24 Oct so off to bed.
24 Oct 1800hrs
Bad nights sleep as hotel has guests arriving at all times. Got up after about 2 hours sleep and wrote a little more on the blog. Plus some are just bloody noisy foreign drunks! Went out 10am and got wet in about 5 mins again. Temp still 26C, no thunderstorm and v. humid. visited the place Sir Stamford Raffles first landed on Singapore soil at Harbour Quay, then on to the old Parliament building, the Courts and Singapore Cricket Club. Walked on to the Esplanade Theatre and walk onto the Esplanade by the entrance to Singapore River. Today is Deepavalli and the Malaysians have a day off and meet up to party. The Esplanade is a riot of colour and a strange mix of traditional and modern dress so took some photos to illustrate my point. Had my photo taken with a bunch of girls, then walked from Esplanades Theatre to Marine Sq (shopping heaven for you girls, hell for the guys.) Stopped in Nike shop and bought a pair of cool beach sandals for more comfortable walking in these temperatures. Walked through Singapore International Convention Centre (only event was Timberland having a sale!) and on into Suntec City Mall, yes you guessed it another huge shopping area. Did have 2 interesting parts, one the Fountain of Wealth, put you’re hand in the water and it will bring you untold riches. Only seems to work for the developers of Suntec City! The other was a massive Koi carp pool which was supposed to be an oasis of calm and quiet for the weary shopper. I left quite quickly due to all the screaming kids who wanted to get in with fish and touch them! Crossed the road at this point and went into Raffles City, how perceptive of you, yes it IS a shopping Mall. Then across the road onto Beach Road and Raffles Hotel. Got refused entry because I am wearing shorts. Will go back later and refuse to go in coz they are all wearing silly doorman outfits! Finally as I was feeling knackered at this point, about 4pm, decided to brave MRT (mass rapid transport) system which everyone talks about. Bought preloaded travel card SG$15 which you wave over the reader at the entry stiles. Go through and into an immaculately clean Tube/Metro which is extremely efficient. You cannot get to the tracks or train as there are doors on the platform which are aligned with the train and which only open when the train has arrived and stopped at the platform. Oh and by the way the trains all start and stop smoothly unlike London Tube trains. However it cost me SG$7 for 2 stops! (about SG$2.75 to the £) But it was rush hour. The trains also run on time.
This evening walked to Chinatown, just a 15 minute walk from hotel. Smith Street is really the centre of the Chinatown where the street stalls which used to operate here have been modernised by the efficient Singaporean Govt. They are now licensed and operate as fixed stalls with running water, gas and electricity but still sell the good wholesome fresh food they used to. I had ‘big’ prawns and pork noodle soup which was v. hot as in the chilli variety, but nonetheless very tasty. Wandered around for a few hours taking in the sights and sounds and watched some old Chinese guys playing Chinese checkers in an area specially designed and built for them. Watched a live band playing and singing Chinese music, old, traditional type but played in a more modern style. Back to the hotel for a couple of beers and write this blog, only to find I still can’t add or upload to it. Woke up at 3.30am again, so uploaded the photos to Snapfish. I think I am suffering a little jetlag even though I have tried to sync my body with local time straight away. Or it could be that I am so excited to be here that I don’t want to miss anything.
25 Oct
Went to the Botanical Gardens which also incorporates the Orchid Botanical Gardens. Left the hotel and walked to Dhobie Ghaut MRT and on to Orchard Road. Orchard Road is best described as shoppers paradise irrespective of what you want to buy or how much you have to spend. The stores range from Bulgari, YSL, Prada etc to small Sgdollar shops and cheap electrical retailers. Also saw Tangs, a famous Singapore store but will visit it another time. When I eventually found the Botanical Gardens, (they are not on The Tanglin Road as my map showed) but on Harris Road past the British Consulate and the Australian High Commission and you can’t miss it. (I did!) You will need a day to see it all and do justice to what they have there, and to be able to see all the beautiful orchids. There is a separate garden dedicated to all the hundreds of varieties of orchids all beautifully displayed and in full bloom. They are running a program to clone hundreds of thousands of orchids of all types and to create new ones too. Guess what? Yes there is one called Princess Diana. Took a walk through what is signed as original virgin rainforest which is how almost all of Singapore was originally. My guess is it isn’t now, what or how it was just a hundred years ago, as I suspect they have somehow done a Forestry Management project to it to make it more acceptable for the public to walk through. What was quite amusing was whilst hacking my way through this verdant jungle in the oppressive heat and keeping a sharp eye out for the more menacing of its inhabitants, I was quite sure I could hear 20th century traffic noise. I think the concrete path and Victorian style lampposts gave me a clue I wasn‘t quite as isolated as I wanted to imagine I was. I turned a corner and to my left was an Iron gate and wire fencing and a main road running by. Unfortunately it started raining as I walked through ( it is a rain forest after all) so didn’t get to see any more of the gardens as I was by now running late to get back to go to the Singapore Zoo night safari at 5.45pm. Took a chance and jumped on a bus, 90 cents fare, about 34p hoping it was going to Orchard Road MRT and as if by magic (more luck than design) it was. ( Oh my God Orchard Road is a shoppers paradise or purgatory dependant on your point of view …… and gender) Braved the MRT again 90 cents only this time as out of peak time.
Got picked up from the hotel at about 6pm, must take photos of hotel, and was whisked off to Night Safari cost SG$46 in the pouring rain. Raindrops here are v large and hurt! As is usual in Singapore everything is organised to the nth degree and the Night Safari is no exception………except for the weather because part of the show, post safari, is to watch some of the nocturnal furry and not so furry beasts perform and this was cancelled because of the rain. No doubt there was some artistic disagreements, or perhaps they have a clause in their contracts about not performing if the weather is inclement.
The safari itself was about 45 minutes long and we are driven in a train around the zoo area for the nocturnal animals. I have to express misgivings about what I saw. They animals are in open and landscaped areas similar to their natural habitats but which are very small. They are obviously given food prior to the safaris beginning But in such a way or place as they are in full view of us the paying customers. Another thing is that they are lit by bluish halogen style lighting from atop high lamp posts. It is not so obtrusive to the animals but is like a permanent dusk. So obviously the animal’s welfare is put first and not the paying public. One of the hyenas and a leopard were displaying those caged animal characteristics of walking back and forth repeatedly in a disturbing, to me anyway and I’m no expert, manner. Took photos but a bit disappointing. Will upload tomorrow. After the safari we are allowed to wander around a smaller part of the zoo where some of the animals who were to have been part of the performing show are kept. I wandered around with my umbrella and saw otters and leopards and not much else. Wandered back to the main area and we are then herded towards the souvenir shops or the outrageously expensive cafes. Picked up and returned to main coach station of the tour company and then minibused back to the hotel. Sat at the Beach bar at the hotel and had a few beers and talked to the bartenders. One came from Sri Lanka and the girl from Nepal. I would like to point out that my feet are killing me and I reckon I have walked more than 20 miles! Also the Nike beach sandals have chafed one of my feet and I will have to wear a sock with it! Went to bed about 12.30 am completely knackered again.
24 Oct 1800hrs
Bad nights sleep as hotel has guests arriving at all times. Got up after about 2 hours sleep and wrote a little more on the blog. Plus some are just bloody noisy foreign drunks! Went out 10am and got wet in about 5 mins again. Temp still 26C, no thunderstorm and v. humid. visited the place Sir Stamford Raffles first landed on Singapore soil at Harbour Quay, then on to the old Parliament building, the Courts and Singapore Cricket Club. Walked on to the Esplanade Theatre and walk onto the Esplanade by the entrance to Singapore River. Today is Deepavalli and the Malaysians have a day off and meet up to party. The Esplanade is a riot of colour and a strange mix of traditional and modern dress so took some photos to illustrate my point. Had my photo taken with a bunch of girls, then walked from Esplanades Theatre to Marine Sq (shopping heaven for you girls, hell for the guys.) Stopped in Nike shop and bought a pair of cool beach sandals for more comfortable walking in these temperatures. Walked through Singapore International Convention Centre (only event was Timberland having a sale!) and on into Suntec City Mall, yes you guessed it another huge shopping area. Did have 2 interesting parts, one the Fountain of Wealth, put you’re hand in the water and it will bring you untold riches. Only seems to work for the developers of Suntec City! The other was a massive Koi carp pool which was supposed to be an oasis of calm and quiet for the weary shopper. I left quite quickly due to all the screaming kids who wanted to get in with fish and touch them! Crossed the road at this point and went into Raffles City, how perceptive of you, yes it IS a shopping Mall. Then across the road onto Beach Road and Raffles Hotel. Got refused entry because I am wearing shorts. Will go back later and refuse to go in coz they are all wearing silly doorman outfits! Finally as I was feeling knackered at this point, about 4pm, decided to brave MRT (mass rapid transport) system which everyone talks about. Bought preloaded travel card SG$15 which you wave over the reader at the entry stiles. Go through and into an immaculately clean Tube/Metro which is extremely efficient. You cannot get to the tracks or train as there are doors on the platform which are aligned with the train and which only open when the train has arrived and stopped at the platform. Oh and by the way the trains all start and stop smoothly unlike London Tube trains. However it cost me SG$7 for 2 stops! (about SG$2.75 to the £) But it was rush hour. The trains also run on time.
This evening walked to Chinatown, just a 15 minute walk from hotel. Smith Street is really the centre of the Chinatown where the street stalls which used to operate here have been modernised by the efficient Singaporean Govt. They are now licensed and operate as fixed stalls with running water, gas and electricity but still sell the good wholesome fresh food they used to. I had ‘big’ prawns and pork noodle soup which was v. hot as in the chilli variety, but nonetheless very tasty. Wandered around for a few hours taking in the sights and sounds and watched some old Chinese guys playing Chinese checkers in an area specially designed and built for them. Watched a live band playing and singing Chinese music, old, traditional type but played in a more modern style. Back to the hotel for a couple of beers and write this blog, only to find I still can’t add or upload to it. Woke up at 3.30am again, so uploaded the photos to Snapfish. I think I am suffering a little jetlag even though I have tried to sync my body with local time straight away. Or it could be that I am so excited to be here that I don’t want to miss anything.
25 Oct
Went to the Botanical Gardens which also incorporates the Orchid Botanical Gardens. Left the hotel and walked to Dhobie Ghaut MRT and on to Orchard Road. Orchard Road is best described as shoppers paradise irrespective of what you want to buy or how much you have to spend. The stores range from Bulgari, YSL, Prada etc to small Sgdollar shops and cheap electrical retailers. Also saw Tangs, a famous Singapore store but will visit it another time. When I eventually found the Botanical Gardens, (they are not on The Tanglin Road as my map showed) but on Harris Road past the British Consulate and the Australian High Commission and you can’t miss it. (I did!) You will need a day to see it all and do justice to what they have there, and to be able to see all the beautiful orchids. There is a separate garden dedicated to all the hundreds of varieties of orchids all beautifully displayed and in full bloom. They are running a program to clone hundreds of thousands of orchids of all types and to create new ones too. Guess what? Yes there is one called Princess Diana. Took a walk through what is signed as original virgin rainforest which is how almost all of Singapore was originally. My guess is it isn’t now, what or how it was just a hundred years ago, as I suspect they have somehow done a Forestry Management project to it to make it more acceptable for the public to walk through. What was quite amusing was whilst hacking my way through this verdant jungle in the oppressive heat and keeping a sharp eye out for the more menacing of its inhabitants, I was quite sure I could hear 20th century traffic noise. I think the concrete path and Victorian style lampposts gave me a clue I wasn‘t quite as isolated as I wanted to imagine I was. I turned a corner and to my left was an Iron gate and wire fencing and a main road running by. Unfortunately it started raining as I walked through ( it is a rain forest after all) so didn’t get to see any more of the gardens as I was by now running late to get back to go to the Singapore Zoo night safari at 5.45pm. Took a chance and jumped on a bus, 90 cents fare, about 34p hoping it was going to Orchard Road MRT and as if by magic (more luck than design) it was. ( Oh my God Orchard Road is a shoppers paradise or purgatory dependant on your point of view …… and gender) Braved the MRT again 90 cents only this time as out of peak time.
Got picked up from the hotel at about 6pm, must take photos of hotel, and was whisked off to Night Safari cost SG$46 in the pouring rain. Raindrops here are v large and hurt! As is usual in Singapore everything is organised to the nth degree and the Night Safari is no exception………except for the weather because part of the show, post safari, is to watch some of the nocturnal furry and not so furry beasts perform and this was cancelled because of the rain. No doubt there was some artistic disagreements, or perhaps they have a clause in their contracts about not performing if the weather is inclement.
The safari itself was about 45 minutes long and we are driven in a train around the zoo area for the nocturnal animals. I have to express misgivings about what I saw. They animals are in open and landscaped areas similar to their natural habitats but which are very small. They are obviously given food prior to the safaris beginning But in such a way or place as they are in full view of us the paying customers. Another thing is that they are lit by bluish halogen style lighting from atop high lamp posts. It is not so obtrusive to the animals but is like a permanent dusk. So obviously the animal’s welfare is put first and not the paying public. One of the hyenas and a leopard were displaying those caged animal characteristics of walking back and forth repeatedly in a disturbing, to me anyway and I’m no expert, manner. Took photos but a bit disappointing. Will upload tomorrow. After the safari we are allowed to wander around a smaller part of the zoo where some of the animals who were to have been part of the performing show are kept. I wandered around with my umbrella and saw otters and leopards and not much else. Wandered back to the main area and we are then herded towards the souvenir shops or the outrageously expensive cafes. Picked up and returned to main coach station of the tour company and then minibused back to the hotel. Sat at the Beach bar at the hotel and had a few beers and talked to the bartenders. One came from Sri Lanka and the girl from Nepal. I would like to point out that my feet are killing me and I reckon I have walked more than 20 miles! Also the Nike beach sandals have chafed one of my feet and I will have to wear a sock with it! Went to bed about 12.30 am completely knackered again.
