A Singapore Fling!

The Singapore skyline from a great height

This building needs no introduction

Well dear blogger on the 29th of October it was King Norodom Sihanuock's 90th birthday and hence another 5 day public holiday in Cambodia so me and a couple of pals Chris and Jan decided to go explore another Asian country Singapore I had heard a lot about this country in particular how developed, clean and orderly it was and I have to say from that perspective it did not disappoint
But for me it was somewhat of a personal pilgrimage in a way as this was the place my father was captured during the war when Singapore fell to the Japanese  
We flew into the airport quite late at night but were efficiently processed and within an hour had been swiftly transported to our hotel no repetition of our Viet nam psychopathic taxi driver experience thank fully just swift efficient service and even in the dark the sky line looked impressive we passed Singapore's equivalent of the London Eye situated at the mouth of the harbour very impressive.
We stayed in "Little India" and it is just what it says on the can at a delightfully restored small colonial style hotel in the midst of bustling streets filled  every kind of Indian merchandise my favourites were the spices herbs fruit and exotic vegetables we spent a few hours I can tell you exploring its nooks and crannies and the food here was fantastic as both my travelling companions are vegetarians we found a couple of great restaurants only yards away from our hotel and sampled the local delights.

A corner of a Mosque in Little India

No visit to Singapore could be complete without a visit to Raffles so we spent a very pleasant evening there sipping on a Singapore sling [only one as they cost the equivalent of a small house!]

The 3 towers building the cross part is home to the highest swimming pool in the world

During the day we explored the city by open top bus with its mix of old and new buildings and did some shopping well even volunteers need new knickers!!
We also used the underground system very swift effecient and clean as you would expect Chris got told off for finishing a chocolate bar as no eating and drinking allowed on the trains how embarrassing!!!
We went on the Singapore flyer thats what the big wheel is called there the views were incredible and shared our pod with a group of Australian scouts then we visited the Botanical gardens which has the worlds largest collection of orchids they were unbelievable I could have stayed there all day below are some pictures of the Botanical Gardens and the orchids but they do not do justice to the sheer beauty of them

The entrance of the Orchid garden

Wow

We also had a great evening at the night safari which was a bit like Disney in the dark but nevertheless it was a privilege to see the animals including lions, tigers, elephants a beautiful Rhino and my favourites the flying squirrels most if not all have been rescued we were taken around in an electrically driven tram and asked to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the animals who were just going about their business


The highlight though for me was our visit to Changhi prison and museum which told the story of Singapore in WWII as I have mentioned it was a very emotional visit to be in the same place as my father when he was captured and to learn more about the horrors  of internment but also thankful that he survived as so many hundreds of thousands of people did not.

He was a prisoner of the Japanese for four years and was soon moved out of Singapore but we as a family no little of his story after that as he was so reluctant to talk about it one day though I hope his story will be told he was a wonderful man

Changi prison's reconstructed chapel where you can light a candle and leave a message about loved ones who passed through in 1942

A map of Singapore in 1942 in bronze set on the wall of the prison museum

As good as Singapore appeared on the surface with its social housing its affluence, broad well tended boulevards, good roads with all the traffic going in the same direction and in an orderly manner there were aspects of the society I found disturbing like the very and I mean very elderly people clearing tables in the big shopping malls who had to use their trolleys as walking aids  and our taxi driver who explained that people have to continue working because there are no state pensions and health care is so expensive as is the cost of living. He had retired but drove a taxi because their family's life savings were used up on saving the life of his granddaughter who was born 2 months premature.
So the impressive skyline and order comes at a high price and you know somehow it was kind of nice to touch down at PP airport where we were met by Rotan our Tuk Tuk driver who trundled us back to town through absolute chaos dust, rubbish plus the heat and humidity but it felt like home.
Lea Howie
Kath