Hotel81 - Palace Singapore

... of Chinatown & close to the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit - Subway) station. Once we were settled in we headed out for a late lunch. We found a shopping center with a food court but it was all Chinese food. It all looked like yucky stuff and we have had our fill of Chinese food & we know we are going out for another feed of it on Sunday night. We saw McDonalds across the street & decided to head for there. That is how much we did not want Chinese food ...

... and Shyam and her, & Raghav her brother. They have been back there only since September and Shyam has decided to take a sabbatical from his work to further develop his training and knowledge with a MBA. They were really welcoming with a lovely cup of tea waiting and kindly offered to help us out when we return to Singapore and Malaysia at the end of January next year.

Another downpour accompanied us back to the airport where we took the 20.30 Singapore Airlines flight to Bangkok.

As the marvels of Changi airport include working free internet access (Eleftherios Venizelos, eat your heart out) might as well as an update while we wait for the next leg to Christchurch. It is nice to be so familiar with a place when you arrive stupefied after a long and cramped flight, although the lovely Singapore Airlines do their best to make it as comfortable as possible. No luck on a bump and an upgrade this time, oh ...

... the esplanade again (where Kevin kept taking random pics of cool cars) and finally found some frozen yogurt. We then continued on for a steak dinner which was what Chelsey wanted for her birthday dinner. This of course was followed by "Secret Recipe" where she got a huge slice of chocolate indulgence cake and was sick after. Not sick enough though to prevent her from eating a bag of candies that she had purchased just before dinner to ...

... stretch so I could sleep. We made it that was the main thing.

When we arrived the Dog went balistic, we know we are loved. Then of cause the grandchildren and the rest of the family arrive. It is great to be home after what was a trip of a lifetime.

I will say goodbye to now, hope to entertain you all with our exploits on our next trip, maybe next year.

Have fun and keep smiling.
Pam

... a Hawker centre. It was lovely although the experience was spoiled by the "live band" that consisted of a sleazy man on keyboards giving Emily a PA (Perv Alert - see previous note) and a woman who was flat and had the voice of a chipmunk and effectively murdered every song she sang.

The day today started rather poorly as our arranged Cardiology ward round wasn't as expected. The doctor that we were supposed to meet barely spoke to us and it was up to ...

... idea of culture then God knows what they make of Rembrandt and Beethoven.

Anyway, 2 days later we headed to the much more sedate Kamala beach. Much more our cup of tea back to books and beaches. Though for half the time it rained so we were confined indoors, though we did make a break for it one day into Patong (the main town and sex/sleaze centre of Phuket). Firstly we went and had a wander around the mall which to my disgust had a gooner club shop ...

... pretty much a shopping hub for those who liked to indulge in Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Armani. I also thought Singapore was a convenient location for planes to land and refuel, where passengers could catch connecting flights elsewhere. What I didn’t realise was that Singapore is one of the most multi-cultural places I’ve ever been, with Buddhist and Hindu and Muslim temples, Mosques and Churches all within a stone’s throw of each other. From Muslim women wearing Hijabs ...

... and G4 . After we checked in, we went to G4 hostel, there are only guy staff there, don't know why! We asked them to show me the rooms, then they apologized us because most of the guests have already checked in but we understand, it's late around 2.30 pm. But one of their staff showed us 4-bed dorm, unbelievable the room is tight but so cute as the hostel staff! Moreover this hostel just got the top rate reward from hostelworld as Lub d ...