I’m having a normal sort of a Sunday – a long walk in the park this morning, nice coffee in a café and then stuck inside this afternoon as it’s raining! The park was a little like Battersea Park but with sand. Am stopping over in Singapore again – two nights, all to do with flight schedules before heading off to the Southern hemisphere. I decided to stay in a different part of Singapore to the city that is more usual. I am staying in Changi Village and as the name implies, it’s quite near Changi Airport. It’s a funny little place. To get here we had to skirt the suburbs around the airport – all looking immaculate as usual – it’s a bit like a film set or Disneyland as it’s so manicured and perfect. The hotel is a bit of a disappointment – on the web it looked quite bijou and boutiquey, but it’s all a bit corporate. But it is close to the coastal park where I took my walk today. The park is lovely – a beach and gardens facing north west over the Straights of Jahore into Malaysia. A typical family place, tents all along to protect from the sun, public barbecues, kids playing in the sea and on the white sand. Bikes for hire and people fishing all the way along. Spoiled only by the loud rumbles as jumbo jets took off from the airport – it appears to be right at the end of the runway. There was also a rather bizarre ceremony going on which I assume was a mass baptism. A group of about twenty young people, all with loose white robes over their clothes were being blessed in a circle as they were submerged in the sea. Perhaps they were the Singapore sect of the moonies…..
But then the rain hit so I am back cowering in my room with a typical big Singaporean thunderstorm going on….
Singapore remains as expensive as ever. Just near the hotel are a some food stalls, bars and an odd mix of shops, a bit like a row of shops in any British suburb, but obviously tidier, cleaner, no graffiti and none of those awful steel shutters… There is the ubiquitous 7/11, fishing tackle and hardware shops, clothes shops, seaside bucket and spade shops and a few café bars. A small glass of wine in one last night was £7.50. It’s good I’m only here a short time!
But then the rain hit so I am back cowering in my room with a typical big Singaporean thunderstorm going on….
Singapore remains as expensive as ever. Just near the hotel are a some food stalls, bars and an odd mix of shops, a bit like a row of shops in any British suburb, but obviously tidier, cleaner, no graffiti and none of those awful steel shutters… There is the ubiquitous 7/11, fishing tackle and hardware shops, clothes shops, seaside bucket and spade shops and a few café bars. A small glass of wine in one last night was £7.50. It’s good I’m only here a short time!
