2013 - OCEANIA - SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE

This is a change over port where lots get off & new bodies get on, hence I am here for 3 days.

I have been here before & feel comfortable going anywhere without tour guides so I get a 3 day bus & tube pass for about 18 dollars. First day & I go to the bus station & take the first bus I see.
It's heading to Faber park which is the end of the cable car ride to Sentosha island, which I did in 2011 so no need for that again

Nice views for up here & a great little bistro. Looks like rain. Not a day for walking.

So it's a bus ride back to the terminus & any bus from there. This one is going almost to the East coast.

Goes though Chinatown where they are still celebrating New Year, which seems to go on for ever.

I get right to the end of the island & head back. Residential & could be anywhere. Rained most of the way.

Past the famous Raffles hotel, where the more famous Singapore Sling was invented

Next day I take another bus heading inland.

Singapore is mostly concrete but in the center there is a little patch of jungle & the highest point on the island ( yes - yet another island ) called ......

A nice spot with a good trail, if very steep & exhausting. No views as it is like a jungle. Might be monkeys & signs say how to react if meeting them ( do not look them in the eye ) but not even a glimpse - too bad.

I had a chat with the guy in the photo & his wife while we were catching our breath. They are from outside Shanghai in a place I will be visiting in a couple of weeks - Souzhou. I got invited to their place & It would have been great to do that but the logistics would be too difficult.

The underground is very nice & you could eat food off the floor it's so clean. Notice the doors leading to the doors on the train. Very safe.

Not sure what this is all about... a promotion for some bag!

Some lovely looking buildings downtown.. this is a police station if memory serves..

& Clarke Quay.

Great bits of art...

& the view across the harbour to the fancy hotel I will be on top of in a bit. Sandy will be staying there come September.

The fountain is coming out of a Lions mouth. Lots of lions around as it's Singapore's emblem.

More statutory - Rodins Thinker. I thought it was in London but apparently not or there are several maybe. There is a Rodin piece outside the Houses of Parliament in London of the Burghers of Calais.

these kids were taking a survey of some sort...

I don't think these are street people lying down. More likely office workers on break. The round contraptions are fans that start up when you walk under them. Nice & cool on a hot day.

inside the hotel..

On the roof....

& the pool from the top of the hotel.

They wouldn't let me in the bar as I was not dressed for it.

Saved myself a buck or 30.

The fans I mentioned earlier are right in the middle below the big buildings.

A vertigo inducing view out to sea...Incredible amount of shipping in Singapore. Most I have seen anywhere. This is just a fraction...

& that's it for Singapore. Say goodbye to lots of people & hello to some more.

I like Singapore & there is lots more still to see. It is reputed to be a bit staid but it looks good to me. A bit antiseptic & clean for SE Asia but I am ok with that too. Public transport is an easy way to get around so no need for the expensive ships excursions. My 3 days cost 18 dollars. 1 excursion could easy be 200 or more for a day.

doubt this store would get much business in the UK

Ko Samui, Thailand next up. You guessed it, another island.