Memories of Singapore & my birthday

The days have flown by and slowly my house is getting back to normal. It's Sunday midday here and I have just come back from my 1km swim. This weekend has again been a touching array of meetings and dinners with people dear to me. My other friend Sue invited a bunch of us for a welcome home dinner on Friday and last night my dearest Ofra and I yacked for hours in a trendy restaurant in Brighton over a glass of red and delicious food. It REALLY is SO good to see faces you get attached to over the years! Am catching up with my darling friend Amanda and her Tim tonight, so before I attack yet another pile of mail, I felt a blog post was in order.

There are so many incredible and wonderful things and places to show you, I find it difficult to choose which ones to post here. I will leave Malaysia and the orangutans for the next one and concentrate on Singapore and the precious time I had with my beautiful Becky and her special man AJ. I mentioned in an earlier post they live in a World Heritage street with old "shop houses" - its off Orchard Road in central Singapore and there are a host of quaint bars and restaurants just across the road from their front door. Literally!! They could actually crawl home into their front door should they ever get into such a state! LOL.....Their house is the one on the right with AJ's yellow motor bike parked outside, the next picture below is across the road from them with the quaint bars. Their home's interior is really unusual with an open plan of extensive stairways and a winding staircase, different levels make it a fabulous and very different house from the norm. Together they have decorated it beautifully. Here you see part of the lounge with its levels above. We all had such a wonderful time together, Bec and I would go for a walk/jog in the mornings, visit art galleries and wander down amongst the trees and gorgeous buildings along the Singapore river. The town is so perfect, so clean, I love Singas but almost found it too perfect and missed the ragged bustling markets of other asian cities. My birthday was full of wonderful surprises as I wrote in my previous post and here are a couple of shots of the divine restaurant 'Senso' AJ took us to for the night. It had an enclosed outdoor courtyard which we chose to sit in. AJ lavished us with excellent wines and exemplary food! After Senso we went to a roof top bar which offered an incredible view of the city at night! The evening was perfect - balmy with clear skies and full of stars.

I had a special request from my darling Robert to visit Raffles Hotel to have a drink there on his behalf. An icon of Singapore, Raffles has graced the horizon of the city like an elegant white lady. There is no doubt the hotel's ambiance reeks of times gone by and utter sophistication! We veered away from the traditional Singapore sling (too sweet) so I ordered a Cuban 'Mohito' and Becky her favourite 'Cosmo'!
One Sunday the three of us visited the famous botanical gardens of Singapore. I had no idea how superb it was and so glad we went. There is an orchard section that takes your breath away!

On one of my last nights we headed downtown to the riverside area with its incredible array of restaurants, shops, bars and music. We dined in a Thai restaurant right on the river and watched the boats pass by. This area has been built in a very interesting way almost difficult to describe. "Above" all the streets are 'very space' like canopies. I imagined a moon settlement would look like this...it was very bizarre. I am hoping the photo gives you a feel of it!

Another night we headed to the food markets and ate from the 'street vendors' - it all looks rather 'suspect' but the food is wonderful and so very Asian. The air is graced with amazing food smells, smoke, lights and plastic tables, all of which create an amazing atmosphere! Here you see one of the sate stands, they are all in the street and open until very late. Our time together was full of love and happiness with great experiences! Thank you my Becky and AJ for such a wonderful time! You made me feel very special and I love you so much! I can't wait to see you again at Christmas!

Singapore and my birthday

The last two weeks in Singapore have been just wonderful and have flown! I have visited interesting art museums, jogged along the river with Bec and lunched from street stalls with fascinating food, bought fruit in little India, took photos of exotic flowers and trekked out to Changi with its heart wrenching history and tragic photos. Singapore is a beautiful clean city with amazing parks, a stunning botanical garden, endless shopping malls with boutique shops and loads of history. It is growing and the mammoth new casino being built is testimony to its expansion. We ventured out to Sentosa island, a small island connected by a causeway bridge and filled with fun parks. The beaches and cafes there are clean and worth a lazy afternoon. I am unable to load photos at this moment in time but will do later on.

My birthday was full of wonderful surprises. Bec and AJ have spoilt me with not only a delicious dinner out at one of Singapore's best restaurants named Senso, but with tickets to see Al Jarreau a few nights ago. For his age, his crooning style of old jazz and romantic songs were just delightful. I also now have two new wonderful books with awesome salmon recipes and one of unusual juicing styles. I cant wait to try both and feel a few relaxing lunches coming up at home with dear close friends.

The highlight of my birthday is yet to come. Bec knew I always had a dream to see the orangutans. These magnificent human like apes have always intrigued me. We decided that a visit to Borneo was out of our budgets so canceled that idea. Little did I know that SOMEHOW Bec managed to get the two of us permission to work directly with the orangutans, in their cages, feeding them, cleaning the caged areas and making observation notes in a special compound in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for a few days. Normally vet students or other animal studying people can only go there, but they have accepted us. I am beside myself with anticipation of this visit.

So we fly out of Singapore for KL tonight only taking light back packs. We had to purchase gum boots for working with the animals and will have to have blood tests tomorrow morning for H1N1 flu to make sure we cant infect the orangutans.
Part of this special birthday present is staying at a beautiful hotel in KL for 4 nights. I am hoping that I can take lots of special photos to show you.
After that we decided to travel to the Perhentian Islands for 3 days before heading back to Singapore the day before I head back to Oz. Apparently these islands are totally unspoiled with crystal clear water filled with loads of fish and white beaches. We managed to find a beachfront hut nestled amongst coconut palms just ten feet from the waters edge in a gorgeous bay on the bigger island. It seems there still are places that are dirt cheap and just paradise - we must search them out and experience them before the high rises and developers get in and leave their concrete footprints......

For anyone wanting to know when I return home. I was unable to get onto the earlier flight, it is totally booked out being a direct flight. So I will enter Oz via Perth and come home at lunchtime on the 22nd. OMG!! Thats the end of next week! Am really looking forward to catching up with everyone. I feel I have been away for AGES!
Better go and finish packing..........XX

Arrived safely

After a long tedious journey across our planet, encompassing five flights and over 40 hours of exhaustive traveling I have finally arrived safely in Singapore. As usual my flights went smoothly with no hip ups, luggage loss or hold ups. I can only highly recommend Cathay Pacific airlines, the seats were very roomy, the entertainment excellent, the service exemplary and the food totally fresh and delicious. My beautiful Becky was at the airport to welcome her tired mummy with big smiles and hugs.

Photos will come later but the area she and her man AJ are living in is just gorgeous. The Emerald Hill area is a World Heritage Site with old style colonial buildings some 3-4 stories high but quite narrow. It is just off Orchard Road right in the centre of Singapore. The main Centre Point shopping centre is just around the corner and their street has well known restaurants and quaint bars. They are living in one of these quaint renovated houses with an amazing interior of winding staircases, lovely timber flooring and an open plan 3-4 level with shutters and beautiful etched glass windows. The area is listed in Lonely Planet therefore attracting many tourists with their cameras clicking.

For today we are resting but will head off for a swim later and an excursion to the botanical gardens and little India for an interesting wander around and dinner.