Singapore

Tuesday, 4th March – Singapore

SO SORRY FOLKS, WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE WITH THE SHIP'S INTERNET CONNECTION AND JUST CANNOT DOWNLOAD PHOTOS. WE WILL SEND THEM AS SOON AS THE CONNECTION IS BETTER.

This morning we arrived in Singapore (container port) to start a hectic three days of visits to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. The weather was raining yet again, but we joined our tour for a trip up to Mount Faber for views over a misty and overcast city. From here we visited both the Indian and China Town markets, both interesting in their own way. At lunchtime we visited the Malay Heritage Centre learning about the Malay culture in Singapore, followed by a traditional Malay lunch.

The highlight of the day was a “must do” trip to the Raffles Hotel where after a look round the hotel we adjourned to the Long Bar for a Singapore Sling (very nice) and peanuts. After this we journeyed to the Botanical Gardens where we saw some of the most beautiful hybrid orchids, some only found in Singapore. This brightened up our day that had started so miserably. (However, Geoffrey did his best to lose Doreen – we had one minute to get back to the coach, he went one way and left Doreen stranded in the middle of the orchid garden). After help from our courier Doreen was eventually found and we joined the coach ten minutes late.

Although we had a pleasant trip round Singapore we feel we just did not see it at its best. On our return trip we must take Pat or Valetia to show us the true Singapore.