31st August - Singapore

I woke up at 7.30 this morning to a very rainy morning. Where we could see nothing but the skyscrapers and lights of Singapore when we looked out of our 26th storey window last night, today there was just a big, fat cloud sat on it all and we could barely see to the next building.

We took a walk to the famous Raffles hotel and enjoyed a wander round looking at how the other half live. We could barely even have afforded a tea-towel in the gift shop should we have wanted one! A whole section of the hotel is dedicated to posh shops, something which seems to be pretty typical of big cities this side of Asia. Even the historical monuments on the map seem to have a big 'S' next to them to show that they have been turned into malls.

The museum at Raffles was great. They've collected together lots of different artefacts, letters and memorabilia from its inception and it was all just so wonderfully old-fashioned. I especially liked the newspaper articles depicting the adventures they'd had with animals in the hotel: the 15ft python that was found under a discarded coat,  the last tiger of Singapore that was shot in the lobby and the wild boar that the dorrman wrestled to prevent it coming in!

We did pass a lovely little cafe giving away Oolong tea and incredible little pineapple cakes so we took advantage of that. Barely anyone who came in walked away without at least 3 boxes ('That's $75 dollars please Madam') but we felt like we'd done our bit by bringing in the punters just by sitting there. I seriously could have been tempted by a box of 10 but thought my waistline would not appreciate since we would have to scoff them all before getting on our flight to Oz tomorrow.

On our way to find some greenery to walk around, we stumbled across an exhibition and asked to have a look. The info from Singapore 'What's on" website trumpets:  'Sound artist Joel Ong creates a kinetic sculpture that draws its inspiration from both the visual and sonic aesthetics of the locomotive engine. The project builds on the historical, social and cultural significance of the engine, particularly on its acoustic refrain within a lineage of iconic soundmarks that are reminiscent of the age of modernism.' What our uneducated, unartistic selves experienced were 'a few Roomba vacuum cleaners with radio mics and speakers bolted to them which made a dreadful whiney noise'. (Matt)

We paid a visit to Fort Canning Park and played on the cool four-person swing for a while before taking in some of the more historical artifacts, including a lighthouse that used to be on the edge of Singapore before they reclaimed more land, the actual fort and the outside of the 'Battle Box'. It's a lush and green park so we enjoyed just walking around, looking at a few interesting trees (including a bulbous one and a spiky one) and chuntering about some of the crappy sculptures that were there. One of them looked like a bit of a kids climbing frame had come loose and jammed in the ground.

We popped into a bookshop cafe in the search for lunch but they didn't do anything substantial. It would have been a nice place to hang out but we were too hungry. They did invite us back for a book opening that evening. We were told that we wouldn't know the book but that there would be food! How did they read us so well? I think they were a little worried that no-one would turn up but we'd be more than happy to help. They also recommended going to the food court at the nearby university, which turned out to be a good call.
After lunch, accompany by a side-order of feeling a bit old and poor (Seriously?! A shop selling Prada and Paul Smith in the Student's Union!), we enjoyed a decent cup of tea at a newly-opened student-run cafe/bar. It was trying to be something that it wasn't - for instance, they led us to a 'table for two' like a proper restaurant but then insisted we paid first because it was 'self-service' - but they had squidgy sofas.

Since we just missed the deadline for the dress-code yesterday, we made a concerted effort to get to Marina Bay Sands before 6pm so we could snag a pass to Ku De Ta rooftop bar and avoid paying $20. Not as though the dress code is fair! How can they say they we can't wear shorts and vest-tops when their uniform seems to be such a miniscule and revealing dress?! How dare they find Matt's knees and my bingo wings offensive in the evenings!

I really wanted to go into their awesome infinity swimming pool but it was obviously for hotel guests only. It goes right to the edge of the building so you can have a swim and then get your breath back while you peer 57 floors down to the bay below.

Thanks to our pretense that we were actually going to buy a drink at the fancy bar, we did get a good look at the city from great heights and marvel at how neatly planned and grand it all is. Unfortunately it was still too foggy to get any decent pictures. Even more unfortunately, Matt started feeling really crappy and burning up with a fever so we left to take him back to bed for paracetamol and a sleep.

It was an extra shame because we were both quite looking forward to the 'Night Festival', where there were all sorts of things going on around the city.  Oh, and of course the fact that we're meant to fly to Australia tomorrow. They wont even let anyone in with a box of chocolates so I really can't see us getting through quarantine with a fluey man.

While Matt rested, I spent the rest of the evening writing this, looking at the gaps in the blog and beating myself up about how many there are and how much I've missed. At least it means that they might be a little more brief than this - which is good for anyone reading them but not so great when it comes to making them entertaining or remembering them in the future. Grrrr, must try harder.