Aliwal Park Hotel Singapore

... recently invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their own version of the Armadillo in Glasgow or the Opera House in Sydney – the Esplanade Theatres on the Quay project.

The heritage of Sir Stamford Raffles, who founded Singapore in 1819, is everywhere in names of buildings – Raffles Hotel being the famous one, but also street names etc. I didn’t realise that his first name was Stamford so it was nice to see such a familiar name around and about! It was ...

... experience of my recollection and one of the best meals of the trip.


The rain came down hard, but it took the staff about 2 minutes to take care of that inconvenience by rolling out the awning to keep us dry. We waited out the rain at the bar for about an hour and then made our way back to their place.


Click here for our complete set of Singapore photo highlights on Shutterfly

... kilometres we must have walked, so back to the hotel for a clean up and rest, then off to Chinatown where the whole place was lit up for the mid Autumn festival. Lots of street stalls, markets, food and music.

The next morning the Straits Times announced that the population of Singapore was just under 5 million with 3,733,900 residents and non residents 1,253,700, and there are now more females than males here. What amazed me was the statement that broadband ...

... 8217;t know any better). However, much of Singapore outside the swanky bits is made up of this type of housing. Here and there are the residues of earlier housing such as more shophouses, but most has been removed in the relentless drive to be modern.

Little India goes against this trend and is clearly a ‘local place for local people’. Lots of shops selling a huge range of fresh vegetables are interspersed between cafes, sari, jewellery and music shops ...

... it. Especially if it's for "infection control" (we're still allowed to wear white coats and bacteria-ridden ties though so there's a bit of inconsistency there...)

Also, we have noticed slight prejudice from slightly more ignorant citizens. I've noticed when we would board a train or a lift, some people would cover their mouths with their hands to make a make shift mask that again would be utterly pointless but made us feel like harbingers of infectious swine flu doom. I ...

... br>
On our first night in Singapore we met up with one of Paul’s co-workers, Brian, who lives in Singapore. He was very kind and took us to a great Japanese restaurant in one of the malls here. Oh, and about the malls . .there are a TON of them. They’re everywhere and about 4-7 stories each. Orchard Road, the main shopping strip, is lined with mall after mall. In a quarter mile there were 2 different 2 story Louis Vuitton ...

... While the height to the peak took only about a half hour, we had an interesting time getting back down as we took a wrong turn at one of the trails and consequently, ended up hiking around in circles which was not so fun...

Spent the afternoon inside the Asian Civilisations Museum and surrounding area, and wandering the streets of Chinatown shopping for souvenirs and sampling some food for a light dinner...

... which I had forgotten to get ahead of time), but for some reason I was unable to connect at the airport. I was already annoyed from waiting in such a long customs line and now the internet didn't work... I was tired as it was nearing midnight already. I had the address already, so I figured that would be enough to get me where I needed to go. I would just give that address to a taxi and I would be fine. I tried to wait in line for the taxi, but I guess I needed some pass or something ...