Oct 22: Oz (5 - 10) Home to Singapore

Tuesday 4 October

We had decided to take the train down to London for our departure from Heathrow to Singapore. Bought the tickets then found out that a rail strike had been scheduled for the Wednesday so we changed the tickets and booked another night at the hotel.

Train journey was fine - not too crowded.

Walk from Euston to Russell Square past where I lived when working in London. Then tube to Hounslow West and walk to the hotel. 

We did our steps - and a workout with the cases!

So near to the airport that the planes are directly overhead!

Wednesday 5 October

Start of our adventure - first stop Singapore then a zigzag around Australia! 

Firstly a train trip down to London and an overnight ready to leave from Heathrow tomorrow. 

Now our second night 😁

Breakfast was Indian street food at a lovely little café - with a nice cup of chai 😋

As we had a full day and the underground was still running we had a trip into London to Covent Garden for a mooch round. 

We went to the Harry Potter photography exhibition which was really interesting.

Then we had a Butterbeer and a Deathly Hallows brownie.

.. and a ride on a broomstick.. 😂

Bit of plane spotting as we walked back to the hotel 

Then a quiet evening ready for our 13 hour plane journey tomorrow.

Travel: 220m

Thursday 6 October

London to Singapore (13 hrs 5m)

Lots of planes coming and going all the time. 

Our plane. 

Our route...

Long flight!  

Travel: 220m + 6,750 = 6,970m

Friday 7 October

Singapore

Arrived about 8am local time though our bodies thought it was midnight. 

Taxi to the hotel then we had to wait until midday to get a room made up so we had been over 24 hours without sleep by then.

Humidity was so high that as soon as we got out of the taxi our glasses steamed up - very funny!.. 😂

The rain hammered down in a heavy shower. View from our window on the 12th floor.

Shower and power nap then off to have a look round the preparations for Divali in Little India which was just around the corner.

Lots of flowers and decorations - we were told that they start preparations about a month beforehand - it falls around 25 October this year so they were very organised!

Nice to see all the sewing machines being used in front of the shops - mostly by men.

Found a street with our family name!

Stop for some street food - paneer kofta and a yummy saffron lassi for me and mutton kebab and beer for Mike 😋 Lovely but a bit spicy for me - still ate it though..🤣

They were doing motorcycle deliveries from the restaurant and one of the drivers had a tiny little umbrella on his handle bars - to protect the sat nav or phone from both rain and sun! Cute!

Then back to the hotel (with only a slight wrong turn as I forgot to set the map-my-walk!) and an early (-ish) night. 

Saturday 8 October

Singapore

Lovely buffet breakfast so we thought we'd try two local things. Not sure what these were but we thought they were savoury and added garlic oil - turns out they were sweet. But neither of us liked the texture of them with or without the extras lol. We apologised to the waitress for wasting food but she thought it was funny and seemed pleased that we'd tried a local delicacy - and she said it was an acquired taste!  So we didn't feel so bad.

City tour - the Sultan mosque at Kampong Glam.

The Merlion - symbol of Singapore - and landmarks round the bay.

Thian Hock Keng Chinese temple.

Several artists painting in the temple - this man's watercolour was beautiful!

So many orchids in the Orchid Park!

There are still lots of stands etc which were built for the Singapore Grand Prix which was held just a few days ago on 2 October. They are in the process of being dismantled - and the locals want their roads back!!.. 😁

A quick snooze then back out by taxi to the Merlion to walk round the bay. Beautiful light.

Still very warm though at over 27⁰ and over 80% humidity.

Great live music as we walked round the Bay.

.. and a fabulous light show on the water.

 

Then over (finally after circling the Marina Bay mall! 🙄) to the Supertrees at Garden by the Bay.

We now need to go back in daylight to see all the bits that we missed. 

What a fab day! 

Sunday 9 October

Singapore

Decided to try a Singaporean fry-up for breakfast but mistakenly covered it in chilli sauce. Oops 🙄

Todays baked beans contained peas. There were kidney beans in them yesterday. Still tasted good though 😁

Can you have bread and butter pudding for breakfast?

It seems that as long as there is chocolate sauce then yes you can! 😋

A shaky picture taken on the MRT (tram) which tickled me - it says no durian fruit allowed. Thought they only smelled awful when cut open but they must smell too bad to be even carried in enclosed places! 🤣

Visit to the Buddha tooth relic museum. 

Went past Orchard Road on one of our taxi rides and the Christmas lights were going up. Even our taxi driver seemed surprised that they were so early!

Afternoon tea at Raffles.

Then a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar. 

The Long bar was originally created for men so they could watch the women walk past 🙄

People still throw their peanut shells on the floor.

And the air cooling system imitated the fans originally waved by the punkah wallahs. Colonialism now turned tourist attraction.

Long queue to get in as we left!

Saw this sign outside an art shop in Raffles. Makes you wonder what happened to necessitate it!

Then off to the Cé La Vi bar on the 57th floor of the Marina Bay Sand Hotel to benchmark the Singapore Slings there. 

All panoramic high pics taken by Mike..😁

Luca and Nico found their (and Lola's) surprises in the orange box and Luca sent a little video saying that all was well in the house 💕

Another great day. Singapore is beautiful.

Monday 10 October

Woken in the early hours by thunder then watched a great lightening storm. But no rain.

Walked around Little India - thought the humidity might have dropped a bit but it hadn't so we didn't stay out for long. 

This was the street restaurant we ate in the other day.

Had a late check out so we showered, packed and then went to the airport. Lots to see and do.

Thought it would be cool but we ended up in the Shisheido tropical rain forest at The Jewel looking at the Rain Vortex water feature.

It looked great when it got dark.

The whole airport was like a huge version of the Trafford centre on manic steroids - set in a rain forest and waterfall. So many shops!! But nice to see the people coming in not to travel but just to use the shops and various amenities - maze, simulators, trails etc. 

All spotlessly cleaned - helped by the little robot roomba guy who wandered about on his own just cleaning 😁

Flight delayed by an hour so not too bad.

Singapore to Adelaide

Travel:  6,790m + 3,360 = 10,330m