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Published: July 14th 2007
Raffles
... and the road where the beach used to be. Our last stop!
Well I write this from home, which doesn't seem quite right, but anyway...
We planned to stop in Singapore on the way home as we thought it would be a contrast to Bangkok. Was it what?!!?? I couldn't imagine a bigger contrast! Everything so streamlined, spacious, shiny, clean... There were roadworks down the road from our hotel, and not only did they have a sign notifying of the blocked lane... and apologising for the inconvenience... but the sign had a large sad (apologetic) face on it!
On the first day we went for a walk to the harbour past the legendary Raffles Hotel, but soon found ourselves lost in huge, interconnected shopping centres where once the harbour was. It was hard to fathom. It was supposedly sale time in Singapore, but we found no bargains. In fact we found shopping quite overwhelming.
We went to the Singapore Zoo in the afternoon, and loved it! It is quite amazing, it does not feel like a zoo. The enclosure walls are minimal, often nothing more than a fish-filled moat/stream. The baboons range overhead over quite an extensive area. Apparently a few rods hammered into the tree
Shopping Centre
The light well of a centre at the Marina trunks are all that is needed to stop them descending and escaping. The Hymandryas Baboons were thoroughly entertaining, and we watched them for way too long (we only had 3.5 hours)!
We spent our second day at Sentosa Island. What an extraordinary place that is! It is part resort, part theme park, part construction site ... We enjoyed heaps of freebie activities like swimming in the artificial lagoon, riding the island buses, and exploring the Merlion walk. The girls enjoyed the luge, but were rather disappointed with the quality of the '4D' movie. We also visited the Fort museum. I didn't know quite what to expect at the Fort, but I think it's fair to say we didn't expect it to be terribly exciting or interesting. We were wrong! I had little idea what Singapore went through in the war. It was an eye-opener. How lucky we were in Australia!
We spent our last day exploring Little India, attempting to find a bargain in Orchard Road, and at the Botanic Gardens. Little India reminded us a little of Bangkok. We spent some time in one of the shopping malls in Orchard Road but soon became bored again. The
Singapore Zoo
at the entrance highlight of the day was the garden. Absolutely beautiful. If you like orchids at all, then you'll LOVE this place. I took way too many photos, so I've included just a few here! We were sad to leave.
If you have any questions about anything we saw over these 8 weeks, please email me.
It's been fun!
Esther.
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Shona C.
non-member comment
Thanks for sharing the memories
Dear Andrews Family, Thank you for sharing all your travel highlights, memories and photographs ... it gave me a chance to imagine and remember.