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Published: October 2nd 2010
Hello from Singapore… welcome to my blog and if you are new to it I hope you will enjoy keeping up with me…if you read blogs of my last travels then I hope you will not be bored and still keep up with me..
At last the long awaited departure day arrived and on Wednesday the lovely Ray kindly whisked me off to Heathrow. T 3 - has had some improvements I must say…good checkin and security but still rather cramped in the food area. Full marks to Singapore Air - they really are a super airline to fly with. I actually enjoyed the flight and didn’t really notice the time passing. I avoided looking at my watch and thought in chunks of time. So my time was spent reading the magazines, then a very nice meal, settled down to watch a docudrama about Van Gogh, then a favourite film Remains of the Day and by that time the cabin was darkened so I closed my eyes for a while…maybe I slept . Next I must have spent about an hour or so listening to music and enjoyed playing a word game and soon there was more food coming round and only a couple of hours to go. ( See Prill - its easy - just plan your time!!!) And soon we were arriving at Changi ,which must be one of the best airports in the world. Absolutely no hassle there, got some money out of an ATM and straight to a taxi…very orderly queuing and a nice chap telling you which taxi bay to go to. ( I must stop use “and then” all the time - any grammatical suggestions welcome, Lesley and Karen or any other teachers!!) When I was here 3 years ago I fell in love with Singapore on the way from the airport…magnificent very tall trees with huge canopies line the wide roads and banks and banks of beautiful shrubbery and flowers…it was even more lovely than I remembered.
I am staying with my French friend, Fabien and his fiancée, Sharon. We have been friends since he was a teenager and used to stay with us and practise his English…so he is rather like an honourary nephew to me. Since last time he has moved into a new apartment on the 15th floor with wall to ceiling windows and fantastic views across the Singapore skyline and a few metres from an MRT station. I had arrived late afternoon and my plan to beat jet lag is always try and adapt to the time zone I am in so out I went straight away and walked around past the National Museum - there are still some lovely old colonial buildings here among the skyscrapers, up through Canning Park where there is the oldest Christian church and found my way to the riverside … my plan to beat DVT too - get out and walk when I arrive somewhere. I had forgotten what its like to be in a hot country 34 deg- and haven’t quite got myself organised with a water bottle so it was a welcome relief at Clarke Quay where there are many restaurants and bars to sit in a lovely coffee shop with a glass of iced coffee and watch the darkness fall and all the lights along the riverside come on. Marilyn and Terry - you are going to LOVE it when you some. So next job was finding out how the MRT worked and how to buy tickets- easy - and the people are so friendly and helpful. Back to the apartment I went to meet Fabien - home from a long day at work - and a lovely big hug from him. We quickly made a plan as we were both starving and walked to a nearby Asian resto ( practising my Ozzie words here) Chimes - it is in a converted church building where there are also lots of little shops( Do you remember it Suz?). He always takes me to interesting places and does the ordering cos I haven’t got a clue… here we had a bucket of hot coals placed in a well in the centre of the table, and there were little strips of meat which we cooked , a lovely salad too and a special Korean rice cooked in a hot stone bowl at the table. By the time we got back to the apt I was ready for my bed and so that was my first day.
I must admit that even on the plane I was thinking “what am I doing - going away for 6 months- why don’t I just stay home?” But once I got here I could feel the excitement of it all and the reasons I set about doing this trip.
It has been monumental in the planning stages - not only the travelling but also getting my life and the house organised for all my lovely house swappers but that is all behind me now and I am going to reap the rewards now.
So Blog number 1 done… that’s enough of me blathering on…please send me messages back - its so easy via the blog.
Oh and Beeny and Flopsy are very happy here too….little buggers have been sitting around the infinity pool on the 9th floor gazing at the skyline… ooops sorry you folk who have had to go to work today!!!
Love and hugs to evryone xxxx
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lynne sinclair
non-member comment
soooo exciting
hello lynne love u one brave lady - your Michael would be that proud - he is travelling along with you in your heart and mind and keeping you safe and well and excited by it all lots love to you and take great care Lynnexxxx