Fragrance Hotel Sapphire - Singapore

... amp; Voila! There was the Raffles Hotel.

The Long Bar, in the Raffles Hotel is the place where the Sling was created in 1910. It is the only place in Singapore that you are allowed to throw your garbage on the floor. Each table has a bowl of peanuts in the shell & the tradition is to throw the shells on the floor. After hearing all the warnings & fines etc, for littering, it was hard to do. The Sling only cost us $27.00 ...

... the top. The view of the skyline is amazing. We needed a cat nap jet lag is awful, I felt ill. We left the hotel room at about 6pm to take a look around where we are staying. We are in the Little India district, which seems less westernized than other areas of the city with not as many tourists. Neither of us felt like dinner, we were back in the hotel room and asleep by 9pm. I could physically not stay awake any longer!

All the movies, books and TV shows that involve some kind of disasterous disease all look for "Patient Zero". It makes sense that they must find this person to see where they went to spread the disease, treat them, find others, yada, yada, yada. Not being in the real medical world, I have no idea if it is true but the premise seems good and sensible. I talked to a good many people in Doha that were foreign ...

... 8211; but without ANY consideration to who might be sleeping in the rooms off the hallway. I also realized at this point how thin the walls were. Even with earplugs they were loud. So at 2am, I did my best imitation of a grumpy old lady, poked my head out the door and asked them to keep it down! That helped… some!

The next day was more of the same: things not quite going to plan and still had a thumping headache. I went to do a river cruise but ...

... Singapore, who earned the title BFF after heading to duty free straight off the flight, grabbing four cans of Heineken and leading me to the smoking area.

The one fact I think everyone knows about Singapore is that they have banned chewing gum. This, of course, makes the place incredibly clean, but I soon discovered it set something of a precedent for the way of life in this city / county / country (I’m still not sure which it is but think ...

... up in two 7 hr flights. I don't forsee us having many visitors traveling over from the US!

We got into our room, here on Orchard Rd, at 2 am. Steve and I woke up at 6 am and headed down for the breakfast buffet. I don't normaly care for buffets but when traveling in Asia, it's the best b/c they cater to both Easterners and Westerners. My favorites this morning were jamon w/ pesto...strawberry/blueberry/peach danishes...baguette w/ nutella ...

Today I took a walk around China Town.



First to Thian Hock Keng, Singapore's oldest Hokkien building. It’s a lovely Chinese temple thick with the smell on incense.



Then on Sri Mariamman Temple, which is a Hindu temple. It was covered for restoration but still ...

... and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of ****ing fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the **** you are on Sunday night. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing ****ing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the ...

... the way the animals were separated from us humans - usually not by metal fences or unsightly slabs of concrete, but rather by shrubs and other plants, highlighting the idea of seeing an animal in its natural settings (though admittedly, huanacos and zebras are hardly native to Southeast Asia). Because of this, the animals seemed marginally "happier" than in other zoos, but of course, this is just my humble opinion...

After the zoo ...