Even breathing makes you break a sweat.
My hotel was in the Little India district this time. A distinctly different version of India than the real one. The smell of curry and such all the same, but look down the back alleys. Spotless. Nice curry houses too.
That is Singapore all over really, a clean freak's warm paradise. David likes it.
Lots of old shop houses remain in Little India, in much of Singapore they were flattened for much newer designs.
Mustafa is a 24 hour shop, well, a big market really selling everything from plastic buckets to fancy watches, giant area it covers too, several blocks...
This is the new Marina Bay Sands hotel casino and apartments. It has a park on top with an infinity pool and today it is closed, well for next 3 days...so now I have to come back if I want to see it.... Damn....
These pics don't really show you how gi-normus it all is...
Another cloudy day but no rain. Boy is it humid though!
Next door is the Art Science Museum.
Better view of the sky park....And the giant mall below. Like Singapore needs more Cartier shops....
Can you see people on the observation end extreme left. Tiny dots. The observation deck was open, but the park part closed. Cloudy day anyway would be better in sun.
This is the new Marina Bay walk way.... The gardens are not completed yet and I really want to see them, I will have to return, damn it.
Over in Clarke Quay here's a statue giving testament to the Brits bringing trade..
Mr Raffles himself - who probably never imagined Singapore would become the metropolis it is... He probably couldn't afford to live here now...
This is the contraption reverse bungee I photographed last year, goes up or over the river horizontally, as you like it Madam....
But I did not take so many pics here, did them all last year ! More relaxing just wandering...
I had another taxi driver try to sort out my life, he reckoned I should move there and then his daughter would show me how to live like a local....
This is my hotel. Converted old shop houses.
And inside the executive wing indoor fish ponds and plants....
The place was oddly inefficient for Asia, they had a nice place, but the management was way off, everything was chaotic.
The remaining time of my stay, my last few hours were spent eating sushi at my favourite place on Orchard Road and walking down the insanely busy shopping packed street, with gaggles of birds up above in the giant tropical trees, all cackling away as it was just after sunset....
If shopping is what you want, Singapore is a far better location than Dubai. I have to say that. And Singapore has some soul, a warm, humid and spicy one.... Not that Dubai is bad, but it's just so spread out and no one part is finished and there's dumps of sand and miles of houses in between the interesting bits. Many miles. The food in Singapore is so awesome, you can eat all the continents in one town. Damn that chili crab, I will have to come back....dammit.
Oh well, off to the airport now.
PS some pics were missed from the Kuching insert... Here they are, can't imagine why they were forgotten:
We climbed up these limestone caves, I was more worried about spiders, snakes, bats... However it was so hot in there, sweat dripping from places it shouldn't.... No air movement whatsoever...
We walked through a pitch black cavern to the outside, made my skin crawl, it was so dark even no bats....
Note the one stem one leaf plants, unique to the caves, all facing the light..
This last one is outside the giant caves back in moving air land.
Ok, really must fly now.... Bye.
- BlogPressed from my iPad. Click on picture for larger image and gallery.
