Singapore

9 November 2013: London - Singapore

Flying the Airbus 380

Our journey started with a taxi to Heathrow Airport before dawn. Having checked in online, Arthur already knew what sort of plane we'd be travelling in - an Airbus 380. 

An Airbus 380 (though not the actual one we travelled on)

Fantastic planes, he said, having been on one before on one of his numerous business trips. He's also travelled with Singapore Airlines often before, and likes their entertainment system. There was certainly enough to keep us occupied on the thirteen and a half hour flight - 780 movies on demand, TV shows, audio and games. 

Looking at one of these planes parked on the tarmac, it seems quite miraculous that it ever gets off the ground at all, as it's even bigger than a Jumbo. I wondered what the Wright Brothers would have made of one of those things.

As well as a meal that counted as lunch, they served breakfast towards the end of the flight, which to us was bedtime!

Arriving in Singapore

Feeling quite shattered, we climbed into another taxi to take us to the Swissotel Clarke Quay. 

Swissotel, Clarke Quay

We noticed that the driver's GPS, when not giving directions, was flashing up reminders to the driver about how to drive well, such as "a good driver is prepared to give way, even when he does not have the right of way".

We arrived at the hotel at 8.30am Singapore time, well after bedtime UK time, only to find our room wasn't ready, and wouldn't be for another two hours! So, absolutely shattered, wearing too many clothes (It is always around 25 degrees and very humid in Singapore, so the amount of clothing required for November in the UK is way too much!) and lugging our hand luggage, we wandered around like a couple of zombies. 

None of the restaurants or bars were open at that time of the morning, so we went back to the hotel and made use of the free drink voucher they'd given us, had a coffee (which seemed to take them forever to make) and then hung around until we could get into the room.

Then we just crashed out for several hours.

When we woke up, still feeling groggy although our unadjusted internal clocks should have been thinking about getting up, we went and found the hotel pool, with the intention of having a drink at the bar. We were persuaded by the bartender to have some rather expensive satay sticks as well. 

There was a wedding going on in the hotel so we were watching that and trying to work out which of the men in suits was the groom, and whether they were gathering for the main ceremony or the reception.

Clarke Quay

Clarke Quay from the Swissotel

Then we went for a wander round Clarke Quay, which is the area around the Singapore River which has been developed into a shopping mall with bars and restaurants. We had a drink in the Irish Pub (I have yet to visit a city that doesn't have an Irish Pub), watching children playing in the floodlit fountains.

After that, a South American meal in a a restaurant called Café Iguana, near the hotel. 

When we had finished eating we found a booth by the side of the river that sold drinks. We bought a couple of glasses of white wine and sipped them at a table beside the river, watching all the boats going by - until we were ousted by the bride and groom from the hotel wedding, who wanted that exact spot for their photographs. Luckily we'd finished our drinks and were about to leave anyway, so we congratulated the couple and went back to bed.

Day 2: 10 November: Singapore

Big Breakfast

Breakfast in the hotel - we opted for an American breakfast which was absolutely huge. It consisted of a large glass of fruit juice, a fruit platter (strawberry, orange, two types of melon and an exotic variety of fruit I didn't recognise), egg, bacon, hash browns, fried tomato, croissants, muffins and coffee (which didn't arrive until we'd almost finished eating - it seems the hotel had some sort of problem making coffee quickly). Absolutely stuffed and couldn't eat it all.

Exploring the banks of the Singapore River

After breakfast, we went for a long walk along the banks of the Singapore River as far as where the iconic Merlion is.

The Merlion

Along the way we saw some dragon boat racing - there was some kind of event going on with teams from all over the world, although the races we saw all seemed to be between teams from various Singapore civil service departments. That was fun to watch.

Dragon Boats racing

There were shelters, rather like bus shelters, fitted with fans which start going when they detect movement beneath them - a welcome respite from the heat and humidity.

We got fairly close to a rather odd building which was three towers with a structure across the top which looked like a large ship. There were palm trees growing on it. It's possible, I believe, to go up there to a park/viewing point and infinity pool, but sadly we didn't have time to do that.

Unusual buildings in Singapore

We saw a museum which was built to resemble a white flower and was surrounded by a large goldfish pond full of waterlilies, many of which were in flower.

A nearby shopping centre had a canal running through it, complete with a gondola.

Boat rides inside the shopping centre

We crossed the Double Helix Bridge and started wandering back through an area that has been re-claimed from the sea since the 1970s.

The breakfast we had was so large that we didn't need lunch, but we were ready for a cold drink by then, so we went into the very grand Fullerton Hotel, which is in the old Post Office building. Really? I thought. It looks rather grand for a post office - are you sure? However, it does pay tribute to its history as a post office by having a pillar box in the bar.

The pillar box in the bar

Asian Culture Museum

A couple of cold beers later we went across to the Asian Culture Museum which was close by. They had an exhibit of Asian religions and we took a tour with a very informative lady called Sandra. 

I learned during the tour that the bulges or flames on top of the heads of statues of Buddhas represent enlightenment; 

that only 2% of people who took the exams to join the Chinese Literati, a type of civil service actually passed; 

in Chinese art, bamboo represents bending but not breaking, and jade is symbolic because the more it is rubbed, the brighter it becomes, so it represents being made more precious and beautiful the more it is handled. Similar to a pearl, I thought, something of beauty coming from irritation and friction.

The Islamic art was fascinating. They are not allowed to draw images of people so their art consists of patterns and calligraphy. One picture looked like a galaxy, but on close inspection it was a mandala of verses from the Koran written in fine, tiny script. There were scrolls of prayers in which the letters were made up of tiny writing - so the whole of the Koran was reproduced. 

We were there longer than Raffles...

Arthur was adamant that Sir Stamford Raffles, who founded the modern city of Singapore (Lion City), was only there for a day, so we had already spent more time there than he did! Although when we looked this up it turned out he stayed for a week. Still, if you take my previous two visits to Singapore into account, I've still spent more time there than Raffles did.

Ate in an Italian restaurant and had another glass of wine at the same booth as last night, and were not evicted from our table this time. It was a lovely location, right by the riverside, where you could watch the boats pass by while sipping a chilled white wine.

Riverboats by night

Day 3 11 November: Singapore

Today we went out for breakfast, to a place we saw while looking for a place to eat last night, called Boomerang. The breakfasts were not as massive as the ones in the hotel but after a fruit filled French toast I was still pretty full so lunch wasn't really required today either.

Having explored most of the area around the hotel it was time to get to grips with the transport system. Although, if you can navigate the Tube in London, the MRT is not that complicated. We bought a six journey ticket which was all we needed for our visit.

Botanical Gardens

We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens, which were full of beautiful tropical plants, and even a few animals. Arthur said he saw a lizard, but I missed it. I did see pigeons and black swans, and tortoises. One of the lakes had dozens of them, swimming about in a leisurely fashion.

The swimming tortoises

For a small extra fee, you could visit their orchid garden where they had orchids named for various world leaders and famous people who had visited the gardens over the years. These included Margaret Thatcher, The Queen, Princess Diana and Nelson Mandela.

An orchid

The Margaret Thatcher orchid

It was a very hot and humid day, so after touring the gardens we stopped to buy a bottle of water before walking over to Orchard Road, Singapore's Oxford Street, which wasn't too far away, so Arthur could buy himself a new belt. We hoped to find somewhere to have a long cold drink and a sit down. We achieved the first objective, but couldn't find anywhere to get a drink and sit and drink it, so we went back to the hotel and had a beer there.

Meeting our Singapore friends

One of Arthur's erstwhile colleagues from the Singapore office, Julie Ng, had arranged a get together of people Arthur knew at a seafood restaurant not far from the hotel, and had suggested we meet her at Harry's Bar, which is a famous watering hole again not far from where we were staying. 

As we sat there watching out for Julie, who was coming along after work, who should walk around the corner but Richard Hill and Ann, who we'd not seen since Richard retired. We had no idea they were in town, so that was a pleasant surprise. They had lived in Singapore for a while but now live in Gibraltar. They had been to Melbourne for the horse racing and were on their way to the UK, so we literally met in the middle.

At the meal we also caught up with Akhter and Michele, Danny Ong and Mohd Shahid. Julie ordered a set menu for us, so there was no need to decide what to eat. 

I'd been a little concerned that I'd order something and then be expected to pick out which fish I wanted to eat from a tank, as there were a lot of restaurants we passed which had tanks of doomed fish, but that didn't happen with the set menu.

There was plenty of food, dishes to share, including drunken prawns, scallops, chicken satay, duck noodles, prawns in breadcrumbs, Chinese cabbage, beef, and rice; dessert was a mango favoured soup. The restaurant didn't seem to serve wine or alcohol of any kind, but kept us continually topped up with Chinese tea - a lot healthier!

My internal clock was still thinking that bedtime was really time to get up so I didn't sleep well at all. In fact, I was certain I'd tossed and turned all night until Arthur asked me next morning if I'd heard the thunder and lightning in the night - and I hadn't. 

Day 4: 12 November: Singapore

Today we went to another shopping mall because Arthur needed some part for his camera. In Singapore, there are whole malls, five or six stories high, that sell nothing but computer and camera stuff, and we went to one of those. Yet, in the middle of it was a shop selling children's beds, and I wondered how much passing trade they would actually get in that location.

Singapore Harbour and Sentosa Island

After that Arthur wanted to go look at the harbour, but walking out of Harbourfront MRT Station there is not much to see in terms of the harbour. There was a shopping mall and a cruise terminal and that was about it. 

We ended up waking across a walkway to Sentosa Island. I've been there a couple of times before and remembered it as quite a pleasant place, and probably it still is, but all you get to see when you've crossed the walkway and have a limited amount of time is a huge development which seems to be trying to mimic Disneyland with lots of expensive attractions and hotels. 

The beaches and the fountains I remembered may still be there, but we didn't see them. I would have liked to explore a bit further afield but it was pouring with rain.

We had been persuaded by the ticket office to visit the Aquarium, which sells itself as the biggest Aquarium in the world. Arthur couldn't believe there isn't a bigger one in Florida or somewhere. So we made our way there and had a fish and chip lunch before going in.

The Sentosa Aquarium experience begins with a film show about a shipwreck in which you are meant to experience what it was like to be caught in a storm, but since the seats didn't move all they could do was use strobe lights and spray a bit of water. 

It told the story of a merchant who set sail despite warnings from his astrologer that the journey wouldn't go well. The astrologer was right, and the ship sank. The film shows the ship sinking from the perspective of people on board, ending up at the bottom of the sea at which point you walk out into the Aquarium itself.

Whether it was the largest in the world or not, it was still quite large, though when you've seen one aquarium you've kind of seen them all - they all have sharks and tanks of colourful tropical fish and seahorses and so on, and this one didn't disappoint. 

Tropical fish, Sentosa Aquarium

It had the extra attraction of some wild dolphins which regularly drop by for a visit and can be seen closely through the glass.

There was also an interesting exhibit about the history of maritime Singapore, what they used to trade and who with, and about the pirates. One of their most famous pirates was a woman.

Incongruous Christmas

I wasn't sure, before I got here, whether Christmas would be widely celebrated in Singapore, but it is, and in quite a big way. Although it was only November, there were decorations up everywhere and Christmas music being played in all the shops. 

It didn't seem quite right, when it is thirty degrees, to be seeing all this Christmas related stuff. Shops playing White Christmas and selling cards with snowy winter scenes in a place that never, ever sees snow.

Giant snowman for Christmas - even though it NEVER snows here

In the evening we went out for a meal with Richard and Ann. They took us to Mario's, one of their favourites from when they lived in Singapore. The owner remembered them, and recommended a platter of Italian starters and that evening's special, which was sole, so we all went along with that. 

Richard chose a very nice red wine. After the meal, we went to a bar, another of Richard's old haunts where he knew the owner. I had a butterscotch schnapps which was extremely delicious. 

All in all, a very nice night out catching up with old friends.

Day 5: 13 November: Singapore

Visit to a Buddhist temple

Richard and Ann had recommended the Buddha's Tooth Relic Temple as a place to visit, so that is what we did today. 

It is a working temple with a museum attached; when we were there there was a Buddhist ceremony going on and it was possible to observe from the mezzanine floor of the museum. I found it quite compelling to watch. The hall was brightly lit and very colourful, unlike the dimness of most churches in the UK. There were monks in yellow or red or brown robes who seemed to be officiating; people coming up to the altar in pairs and dropping something into a box in the front, and bringing up offerings of fruit on trays. There was incense being swung and lots of chanting, which could be heard as we went around the museum.

The museum was about the life of Buddha, and we were struck by the similarities to Christianity. Buddha, like Jesus, was born under unusual and unnatural circumstances. Not a virgin birth, but Buddha's mother had been married for years and unable to have children, and was eventually impregnated with Buddha by an elephant's trunk, according to the exhibit.

It was prophesied at the time that the child would either be a great king or a religious leader. Buddha's father, who was a king, wanted him to be a king, and so kept him in luxury and away from the world. Nevertheless, Buddha renounced it all anyway, although not before marrying and fathering a son, and so the throne was safe, it merely skipped a generation.

Buddha followed a life of austerity not unlike the Catholic saints - hardly eating or sleeping - but after a few years decided that wasn't the path to enlightenment, and eventually achieved it by meditating under a tree. Then he preached and taught and had disciples.

According to the museum, there is to be another Buddha of equal significance to the original, his disciple Matreia, who is the fat jolly one who's statue you often see. Matreia is currently undergoing incarnations until he is ready to take on the role. There is a theory that he is alive at the moment and living in London. Arthur said he's probably living in Brick Lane. 

I suggested that he could be the next Buddha himself but just doesn't realise it yet! (If this changes, and they start saying the next Buddha lives in Somerset now, we'll know it's him!)

We moved on to the relic room. Arthur commented that there seemed to be such a lot of gold in there that in any other country there would be armed guards, but here the only guard was a grumpy old man who ordered people to take their shoes off and made a man delete a picture he'd taken on his phone.

There were a number of relics, which were supposedly Buddha's body parts. As well as the tooth that gave the temple its name, there were others labelled as his eyes, hair, tongue and even intestines. They just looked like small glass beads of various colours in elaborate jars. Again a parallel with Christianity, where some people worship supposed body parts of saints.

We went up onto the roof garden where a woman was turning a prayer wheel in the centre. Very tranquil up there.

Time then for a caramel frappacino before paying a quick visit to the Broadridge office to see those of Arthur's old colleagues who hadn't been able to get to the meal on Monday evening: Tim, Alan, Paul, Wen Qiang and Jeremy.

On the way back we stopped at Penny Black's Victorian Bar for a beer and chilled out watching the boats go up and down the river. We were also watching some young people with a camera who were trying but failing to film interviews with passers by. Then we had a friendly argument about whether the waitress's t-shirt was red or orange. Arthur insisted it was orange but I'm sure it was red. Whether things were orange or red became a running joke through the rest of the trip.

A Singapore river boat

In the evening we went to visit Tim and Faz. This is the couple whose wedding we attended in Morocco a few years back. Arthur knows Tim quite well, I met him for the first time at his wedding, so I felt I got to know him and his wife much better this evening, sitting and chatting and drinking and eating nibbles. 

Another pleasant evening catching up with friends.