Last day in Singapore

Our last day comes all too quickly. We jump on the big red bus and head to the Botanical Gardens. Absolutely beautiful, lots of shade, rainforest and water. Singapore does water well, rivers, ponds, waterfalls everywhere with plants and fish all about.

We make it to the orchid house which is a treat and the buildings look very much like the Serangoon Road ( for ABC watchers ) buildings.

Back on the bus and into the centre again for lunch and a quick trip out to Little India so Ross can find his mate from last time to buy some Indian cotton shirts for Toni and a couple of pashminas. Little India is such a colour bomb - hustle, bustle, noise and traffic. It's great.

Mission accomplished, we are back on the bus - we sit on the top in the shaded part when disaster strikes - a gust of wind and away goes Ross beloved Qantas cap. Oops. Anyway we head back around the city going past many cultural places, buildings and quarters. Too hot by now to get off, so we head home for a nana nap.

About 7 we head down to the river - amazing restaurants, cafes, old and new buildings, lights and lasers everywhere. Robertson and Clarke Quay; tourist and local central. There is a walk about 6 k along the river and there are people and families out and about everywhere.

We jump on our river cruise - quite small boats that head down the river to the marina and back - about 40 minutes. We would recommend it to anyone visiting Singapore.

Back along the river and into a food hall and we find a shop with seafood laksa style of thing on a pot like a fondue so the seafood cooks as you eat - hot both in temp and spice. They even supply a box of tissues and its not just the tourists using them. Ross finally finds his Singapore noodles. Yum, yum and yum.

Lucky we have a long walk home along the river to wear some of it off. After a great day into bed.

Alive again and enjoying Singapore

We decide to go the Hop on Hop off bus - first time through we thought they were too touristy but after our Dublin experience with them, we go for it - they are great - 3 routes about an hour each - sit in air conditioning or up top on a double decker bus with plug in commentary - you get to see stuff you would never know or get to in such a short stay. There are quite a few singles on board as we jump on and off and I can't help but think it's a safe way for them to get around the city without getting into too much trouble.

Two of the routes go past our motel so we're on the way - 1 day pass and a river cruise gets us an extension to two days and add a zoo ticket and everything is negotiable. We head to the zoo first up and the HoHo bus gets us to the city centre for the zoo bus - hot and humid and heaps of preschoolers out there. Even the locals are hot and sweaty. The zoo is great with monkeys free ranging in several areas and if you look up you are likely to see orangutans above you  on a ropes course. The otters are noisy,they sound like cats and its nearly feeding time and the penguins up close and being fed. We stop for the elephant show and it's great. We were a bit zoo wary but it seems good and the keepers seem to have genuine feelings for the animals. Good to see.

Back through the city, the architecture is amazing; old colonial on one corner and ultra modern on the next. A crazy combination that seems to work. Lots of building going on.

Singapore Sojourn

Back in Singapore on our way home. We know the airport this time and after a lengthy wait in customs we are on our way. Our hotel is Furama Riverfront though it's not on the river, just near. It's quite lovely, over the top marble entryway and fabulous gardens of course. The rooms are big which is a surprise as it's advertised as a mid-range motel. One of the aircrews use it but not sure which one, can't identify the uniforms. Anyhow our original accommodation fell through so this was a quick pick. Ross asks for an upgrade the cheeky bugger and gets one. The view from our window at night is great.

We are jet lagged well and truly this time and the lady banging on our door the next morning to fill up the tea bag tray is given a rude shock by a half naked, half asleep Ross, poor woman. Funny she hasn't come by again. We finally get our act together and out for a walk. It's 32 and feels like 42 and the humidity is crippling - don't know whether it's jet lag, 3 months in the cold or that it's just hot n humid and we are just delicate butterflies. Ross reckons it feels hard to breathe.

We are near a huge housing complex in the Chinatown area where everyone comes down to the food markets to eat each night and so for the first two days it's Chinese overload - noodles, rice, dumplings,  a variety of dubious meats and a few vegetables, a variety of dishes that we aren't real sure of and very few people here have much English so they can't explain. Tastes good though.

Our days morph into - get up, get out, home by 3 (it rains then anyway) sleepy time and cool off time, then back out about 7 to forage for tea and then home early and bed. Still feeling pretty ordinary - jet lag and heat don't go well together.

About day three things are looking good - we are adapting  and we have a subway for lunch with lots of salad and feel better - western junk food to the rescue. Plenty of fruit but not a lot of vegetables or salads around in the markets. But cheap as chips - our evening meals are about $6 Singapore for both of us and then Ross gets a beer for about the same price.

London Farewell

We are finally here, our last day in London and there is so much still to see and do. We've decided to enjoy and not push too much, so we are off to Harrods quick smart - just as we remember - all very posh, great variety and all at a price. The Food Hall is great with plenty of weird and wonderful as well as expensive. 6 oysters for $36 or if cooked in any way $48. Again we cannot see the value - sure they are probably great but so are the dozen we get from Brunswick for $14 - and yet there are people sitting up to a dozen or more and some having roast chicken dinners for exorbitant prices - filled baguettes are well priced and there are queues for those. I don't know how they make money - over a billion last year.

Back on the frog n toad or the underground and off on another "London Walk" we have done about 10 of these walks out of a London Walking Guide - History and Mystery - and love them, they start at underground stations and give instructions on where to walk and then what to see and do, background history and mystery. They average a couple of hours walking  and are anywhere from 2-5k. A great way to get around a city and see some out of the way stuff as well as the usual touristy places from a different perspective.

So it's  Barbican to Charterhouse Square with some grisly history and lunch on the steps of an old house overlooking a locked park. On to the Smithfield Meatmarkets, closing down at this time of day, but they still smell of meat and the butchers are cleaning down the huge stalls and halls. St Bartholomews Church and crypt is a brilliant little side trip leading to the Watch House at Iron Gates - set up to thwart the body snatchers of the day.

Across the road to the old gin palace, The Viaduct Tavern, very old world. They have 20 different gins but we won't get far if Toni starts early. So on we go to the Old Bailey and then further to St Brides - tiered wedding cakes were inspired by this church which is squashed in between buildings and the bustle of the city. it has a graveyard with seats and a coffee vendor as well as old shady tress, all in a pocket handkerchief area.

We decide to tack on another walk that is based in the area and formed around Temple Bar  and Fleet Street. Amazing, the Temple area is where solicitors, barristers  and QC's have their chambers. Beautiful gardens, cafes, quiet areas and courtyards. Constructed by Christopher Wren, it is very stately and the Temple Church is readily identified from The Da Vinci Code movie. The Churchyard is quiet and a bit creepy - supposedly haunted.

Out of Temple is Fleet Street and we decide on a quick coffee - The Press Club Cafe - great coffee! Just after our cafe is the original Twining Store - it's about 2 metres wide and full of tea obviously but also has coffee because - Twining s originally dealt in coffee. Who'd have thunk it?

Along toward Oranges and Lemons - St Clements, is the Royal Courts of Justice - very Gothic. Just a few metres along is the area Sweeney Todd is said to have lived and worked in - and the Hen and Chicken Court nearby where he "worked" is decidedly creepy.

We wander home along the Victoria Embankment and Waterloo Bridge.

Out for tea at The 3 Stags we have a great night with brilliant food and a waiter from Innisfail, Queensland. A couple of pints with said food - smoked duck, crab and lobster risotto, a steak and an Eton Mess and we wend our way back to our favourite cafe Scoota Bar and after a great coffee we head wearily back towards home. On the way we spotted an urban fox, as bold as brass trotting across the road and into a garden. A surprise ending to our fabulous London sojourn.