It’s not all about the travelling

Hello there,

Just looking at my past blogs and realised I appear to be focused entirely on our adventures whilst on holidays out of Singapore. Whilst these are a  highlight, we have found many interesting places to explore in Singapore as well.

Just had our dear friends Janet and Iain from Northern NSW visiting us en route from the UK and was able to share with them some of the interesting places Singapore has to offer.

Our first stop was temple in the heart of the Business District, this temple is one of the earliest examples in Sing....it was a refuge for Chinese refugees as they made the often perilous journey across the seas to reach Singapore. Its mixture of Buddhist Tao and Confucian beliefs make it a worthy and interesting site.

    

We then enjoyed a fabulous steam boat meal in Chinatown, the first Kafil and I had partaken of in Sing. Mountains of prawns, calamari, beef, lamb, vegetables and noodles with a steaming pot of broth both chicken and chilli in the same pot. Needless to say we loved slurping and cooking our meal at the table, we will return.

We ventured to the Botanic Gardens, and the Orchid Garden, fabulous colours and variety of orchids in abundance. Unfortunately the heavens opened up and we sought shelter in a pagoda style .... until it was safe to make a dash for it to the lovely Halida restaurant. We had to return to get a better look at the vast lush gardens and after walking for several hours came home to discover it had been one of the most humid and hot days for ages (DOH)


Janet Iain and I went to the very interesting Chinese Heritage house which is a row of 3 shop houses which have recreations of how people lived at the turn of the century. The display featured electronic accounts as well as examples of the tiny rooms families lived in in these earliest of shared houses. No trip to Sing should be without a sample of the famous ice cream sandwich. This delightful concoction features a large slice of ice cream wit a folded piece of pandan, pink& green bread surrounding it. Iain was very brave he chose the malodorous Durian flavour. At $ 1.00 a pop, served by "uncles" with bicycles and frozen drums shaded by an umbrella a very Singaporean experience.

Arab Street was also on the agenda, a collection of businesses and houses, which surround the largest Mosque in Sing. This mosques is a central landmark and the area around it was were Muslims' from Indonesia and India, gathered on the way to to do the Hajj in Saudi in days gone by. The streets are alive with the colourful fabric and carpet shops, and the constant cry of come in have a look.Despite the modernisation of Singapore there are many enclaves of shop houses and kampongs which are a slice of history.

Little India, was also on the schedule who can resist a trip to Mustafa's 24 hour department store? The surrounding streets with hawkers selling strands of floral garlands for those going to the myriad temples in the area.

Meals at Hawker Centres also dominated, we visited the East Coast Park food court where we ate satays and....with the backdrop of the very busy shipping ......looming. So many ships queuing up to use the ports, a very vibrant transport hub indeed.

Kafil and I in recent times have visited Pulau Ubin, a lovely little island paradise just a short 10 minute "bum boat" ride away. Pulau Ubin has not been allowed to be developed so it is a lovely day out, as the island has a jungle feel dotted with original stilt houses. Riding bikes is the main way to get around, and we cycled (with some difficulty , uphill) for a couple of hours before finishing our adventure with a lovely fresh black pepper crab at the tasty but cheap cafe there.

Changi Village is also one of our favourite places, it is literally the end of the line, and is a seaside suburb whose pace is a little slower than that of the city areas. Kafil and I love to go to Tequila Blue, which serves $9.00 Margaritas and tasty Mexican food. its strange how we now enjoy Mexican Cuisine so much as in Oz it was never a favourite. the Owner a Brit named Terry makes us very welcome, and the Blues Music playing in the background adds to the ambience.

                

We do spend More time watching AFL on the TV than we ever used to, not sure if its "cos it connects us to home, or whether it just saves us thinking of something else to do. It is a very indulgent lifestyle here as we have no responsibilities no no dog, no family no garden no house to maintain, it really does make for a relaxing life.

We went to see the movie Mongol, as well it was a fantastic biopic of the early days of Genghis Khan. I am a little drawn to things Mongolian at the moment, perhaps we will get there some day.

We have been to a couple wine tastings and dinner events of recently, this makes us feel like we are still embracing favourite and much missed part of our former lives.

The most recent was a fabulous meeting of East meets West with a celebrated London Chef sparring with a acclaimed local chef.  The setting was the marvellous New Majestic Hotel a series of shop houses renovated to form an eclectic and arty boutique hotel.

The food was fantastic, a inspired menu mixing Asian delicacies, and food  of a more European bent.  The wines served were a mixture of French Champagne New Zealand white wines and Californian reds.

The night was very special and our table of 7 was fun and it was great to meet some new friends.

We also met up with friends Giles and Anita and finally met there gorgeous 7 month old son Darius.  A lovely afternoon of lunch and chat on  the river at Clarke Quay.

 

We then ventured over to Little India where the streets were bedecked in lights in celebration of Diwali or Deepavali or festival of lights.  Stepping into Little India is like being on the Sub continent teams of mostly men swarm the streets and fill the myriad of cafes eating aromatic curies and generally connecting to there peers.

 

Diwali drew crowds of onlookers to admire the lights and the traffic came to a standstill as the throng of people overspilled onto the busy roads.

Needless to say I am getting very excited as I leave for Melbourne in  4 days, I am looking forward to catching up with friends and family and enjoying some of the good things that life in Melbourne offers.