kiwibird: Walking around Singapore

My last blog from this trip. I am currently sitting in the airport lounge at Changi, drinking a pretty awful cup of coffee. Ugh.

The taxi ride was super fast, totally scary as we exceeded speed limits all the way, and tailgated any vehicle that was travelling at the required speed. The trip took only 15 minutes! But the good news was that no handbags were left in the taxi. Walter wrote the taxi registration number down, just in case.

We enjoyed a lovely few days here, walking everywhere. It must be the new smart watches that are encouraging us to walk, as they count our footsteps, and lets us know how well we are doing! However we do like to walk here, as there is so much to see, so many changes and plenty to reminisce about, having lived here in 1972.

Soon it will be Chinese New Year, so the streets, and buildings, were decorated in preparation for the celebrations. Plenty of relevant merchandise for sale also.

We checked our fortunes for the coming year, mine were financially positive but Walter's not so, so we are well matched, in that we cancel out each other's fortunes.

One of the temples by Bugis Street, very busy in the lead up to the Chinese New Year.

Zam Zams. Our favourite Indian restaurant, now extended, as they have taken over another shop downstairs and have three rooms upstairs. The restaurant is very popular with students, tourists and families, but probably not so for the local Muslim population, who probably now go next door which advertises traditional Muslim food.

When we lived here, it was always a race to get to Zam Zams before dusk during the fasting period before Ramadam, otherwise it was impossible to get a seat. They were the days when one washed their hands and ate with the left hand. Now it is all forks and spoons.

However the food is still excellent, hence their popularity.

The beautiful mosque opposite Zam Zams.

I am a little lost, with the photograph below. Definitely original buildings.

We visited the National Museum of Singapore, build as a museum in the late 1800s. A magnificant building and a very interesting and informative display inside. The history and building of a nation were honestly told, with plenty of artifacts and visual displays. Fascinating.

My nephew Ken and his wife, Jane, took us to dinner at a restaurant on the edge of the river, at Riverside Point. It was lovely to catch up with Ken, and meet Jane. It has been a very long time since we saw Ken last, so there was plenty to talk about. Delicious food too.

Riverside Point. A vibrant place to be at night, full of bars and restaurants. So different to 1972, when it was a busy merchant trading area, with barges unloading merchandise into the warehouses.

Raffles Hotel, with the huge shopping centre showing slightly on the left. We ate Christmas dinner here in 1972, when it was affordable. Our taxi took us to the front door. We also went there for quite a few dinners in the courtyard. Great atmosphere, without the exhorbitant costs. A beautiful hotel still.

We were walking on the opposite side of Beach Road, and the view from the hotel was now buildings, hundreds of them. There were one or two buildings opposite Raffles Hotel, in 1972, but I think the government was starting to reclaim land the .

The skyline on the other side of the bay, Marina Bay hotel and shopping centre, where once there was sea, and boats. Pretty impressive really.

The owers holding the 'ship' up are extremely high. We have been up to the top, a great view, not that I really enjoyed the experience. I certainly would not like to live in an apartment near the top. They all have open balconies. I shudder.

Nor would I like a hotel room here either, even if I had the money. The passageways leading to the rooms are all open. Impressive views, if one likes that sort of experience.