Last, last day

For the sake of completeness: last full day here spent on Sentosa Island.  We took the MRT to Harbour Front and walked through -guess what?- another giant mall to a tower.  The cablecar station is on the 14th floor and is scarily high above the ground.  However, there are no stomach-churning jerks as your cabin tips over the edge into the void nor when it passes the gantry halfway over.  The views are pretty amazing- even on a dull day, as this was.
Sentosa is dedicated to entertaining the Singaporians and tourists and there are huge building projects on going even here.  We did the 2 attractions we'd prepayed for:a 3D film with interactive seats +waterand air squirted on your feet and neck etc at points in the action.  I disliked the bats flying at me which were accompanied by the said puffs of air-just like the beating of bat wings!  So, good fun in a weird way.  We were the audience- no queues anywhere.
Next was a 3D film in which the spectator is on a log of wood which swoops around etc like a roller coaster but you are safely in your seat.  We've done these before and always like them: thrills but absolutely no danger, just our kind of ride.
We then searched out the only natural entertainments on offer and walked through the remains of rain forest on the island.  The trails are sign posted with emergency call buttons and info re the plants and (non appearing) wildlife so not exactly a genuine trek.
We hit the aquarium area at the same time as several groups of very young school kids so probably didn't do the underwater tunnel full justice in our rush to escape the horrendous noise but we thought it not so impressive as the Sydney one.  We ended our time here with a walk along the back of the man-made beaches which are all immaculate and well served with cafes, clubs etc and a place making artificial waves (eat your heart out Boscombe!)  The sands were virtually empty but are apparently heaving on weekends and public holidays. 
The island and beaches are a further eg of the spirit of Sing:the citizens need beaches and somewhere to get away from the main island so...we'll reclaim land and import sand and- voila!
We took the cable car to the top of mount(?) Faber and looked at the views but there was little to detain us there as it's all restaurants and a shop so we descended to the Harbour Front and thence back to the hotel
Can't believe we did this but we had another steak meal for our last night.  I'd had satay the previous night and, although I was fine,we had had minor tummy problems earlier so decided we'd better be really sure we would be OK for the flights back home.  Anyway- it was a Hog's Breath place.  Is this the chain you mentioned, Olly?  Have to say the steak melted in the mouth though the waitress took a lot of convincing that I wanted mine rare.  Seems Aussie steaks are something special- yours included Oll.

Very, very last day:
Had a trip on the Singapore Flyer.  This is a larger, higher version of the London Eye which takes 30 mins to complete a rotation.  Cars may be hired to dine in.  In that case you get 2 rotations.  We walked back to the hotel via the underground link malls which do exactly that- they link various malls together with the MRT stations.  Naturally they are lined with more retail opportunities.  The whole system is perfect for days like today when it was raining very hard at times.

Now we're killing time at the airport.  Unfortunately Air France misinformed B on the phone this am by telling him we could drop off our baggage at any time.  We've arrived to find we have to wait 4 hrs before we can do so so we're stuck in the boring public side of Changi.  So, we've parked ourselves in a cafe and I'm doing my last posts.  Am hoping to take advantage of the famous free Wi Fi connection once we get airside.....

Yeah, the system works- why did I doubt Singapore?

A sunday in Singapore

Sunday.  Had a lazier day today.  Wandered round Bugis Street "market"  This was once the red light area and offended the government so it has been cleaned up and is now dedicated to hundreds of stalls crammed into a small space selling clothes, jewellery and food. 
Next we jumped on the hop-on hop-off bus and travelled  round parts of the city we had not seen before including Cinatown, Little India, the Malay kampon.  We saw that there are still some old buildings and I suspect they will be preserved for their heritage interest and -of course- for the tourists.  To their credit, the government has built thousands of blocks of flats and 86% of the pop live in them-somehow owning them as home ownership is the highest in the world.  There are almost no street people here.
We whizzed round the Singapore Art Gallery but there were few works that appealed to us.
In the evening we went in search of the Long Bar in The Raffles hotel to have a Singapore Sling.  The hotel is a beautiful, airy building with all the atmosphere of its colonial past but the Long Bar has become a tourist trap and was so noisy we decided not to stay and went off in search of supper.  This night we chose Chinese- cispy duck, ddelicious.
Monday. Heeding the advice fro Lonely Planet we took the metro (MRT) to the harbour area to find a harbour cruise.  It started so well.  The MRT is a marvel to anyone familiar with the LOndon Underground.  As you might expect it's clean, fast, frequent, easy to use cheap.  Where it all went pear-shaped was once we reached our destination: according to LP there are many companies offering cruises just "east of the station".  Unfortunately events have overtaken the book and the area between the station and the harbour is now a massive building site.  We walked for about 30 mins skirting these works (which include new public gardens) and when we finally reached the Marina South pier there is only 1 company doing harbour cruisesand we'd missed their only 1 of the morning by 20 minutes!!
Feeling hot and aggravated with LP we decided to take a taxi all the way up to the zoo-about a 30 min drive.  We had been intending to go there later in the day so we could go straight to the Night Safari next door which opens at 6pm.  It was just as well we were there earlier as the zoo is wonderful with lots to see.  Almost all the enclosures are  large, although we thought some of the big cats needed more room, and it's particularly good that the orang utangs are living unfettered in the tree tops.
Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring the 2nd battery for my camera and the backup camera stopped working so we have hardly any pictures.  I did get some of the elephants showing how they work with humans.

The night safari was also very enjoyable.  We saw many animals from our tram, apparently roaming free (I guess we just couldn't see the barriers in the dark)  Too tired to walk any of the trails we headded back to the hotel.

Singapore

Singapore
Arrived Friday evening to find hotel here charging S$20 for 1/2 hr internet so this will be my farewell posting....
 Immediately some of the differences between Singapore and Malaysia were apparent: drivers on the road from the airport were using their indicators to change lanes. ( Several times we were told in KL and Penang that drivers never signal their intentions because no-one will let them in!  The driving there is manicwith thousands of scooters and mopeds making the mix even more dangerous) The vegetation on the roadside was lush but clipped and so it has continued. with control seeming to be the dominant factor here...this is a sanitized version of Asia where life is obviously very pleasant for the majority so long as they toe the line. 

The great majority of cars are taxis as the government makes it very expensive to own a car: every 2 weeks there is an auction of licences to own a car for 10 yrs.  Highest bidders get the licence.  Then they often go and buy a very expensive car.  We've seen lots BMW convertibles and the odd Ferrari.
As in Malaysia huge projects are underway everywhere.  There are hundreds of ships at anchor outside the harbour -the busiest in the world.  All this in a country the size of the Isle of Wight
As for shopping, well it's unbelievable.  God knows how many malls there are- all thronged with shoppers.  Orchard Rd- the main shopping street- is 6 kilometers of shops and eating places with many huge malls.  But for us the shopping is disappointing as clothes shops are designer stores (and prices are higher than UK) with the same names appearing all over the city.. 
Our hotel is right next door to the Raffles where we intend to have a Singapore Sling tomorrow evening. There's a converted convent across the road with lots of restaurants where we ate last night.  This centre could stand as the essence of Singapore: commerce not spirituality is definitely the driving force here...with no hypocrisy about it. 
Tonight we were going to a food court/hawker centre in the mall next door but it was so busy and noisy we opted for a cafe instead. Then we found another area of eating places in the basement where we indulged at a stall just selling desserts.  There must have been well over 100 stalls/eateries and that is just 1 shopping mall.


Had a very busy day using the hop-on hop-off buses.  We went to the top (57th floor) of the huge new Marina Bay Sands hotel from where the whole island is visible.  The swimming pool on the roof is now famous as being 1 of the highest in the world and the  vast complex includes a casino, arts and science museum and -naturally-high end retail mall.  It's all very stylish but overwhelming and impersonal-as is the whole city.  It reminded us of Las Vegas but with a solid feeling to the buildings and, of course, with many buildings dedicated to business.  Which reminds me: a new CBD is being built which will be twice the size of the present one and will be completed by 2021.

                                                                                     

Marina Bay Sands hotel



From there we went to the Museum of S,E. Asia- very impressively presented and with marvellous collections.  In covering the whole region it also somewhat overwhelmed us.   Then a short river/harbour cruise gave us diferent views of the city and finally a walk through the Botanical Gardens where we loved the fabulous orchid garden showcasing hybrids developed here.

The place is mindboggling.  Huge skyscrapers, many of futuristic design, statues and public works of art, stadia, theatres....we have 4 more days to explore and intend to do touristy things like taking the cable car to Sentosa Island to sample some of the attractions there and we're planning a trip to the zoo because it's supposed to be 1 of the best in the world.

Floating soccer pitch/multi use arena with seats for 24,000

I hope this doesn't sound a negative posting.  Singapore is an amazing city and it's a lovely place to spend a few days.  The streets are super-clean and there is absolutely no graffiti or litter. The only jay-walkers  are visitors.  The traffic flows easily.  There is very little crime and the people we've come into contact with are unfailingly delightful.  (Just remembered:  we were most impressed by the behaviour of young Malays also.  On buses they always offer their seat to elders.  Here they do the same but are nagged into it by notices at the bus stops.....another difference)

Thanks to everyone who has read and commented on our travel blog.  Hasta la vista

Georgetown, Penang

 We hired a taxi for the day and this proved a wise move as he took us all over the city and then to several places on the outskirts which would have been impossible for us to do on our own.  Even so we got very hot and sweaty.

During a very packed day we  popped in on the Botanic Gardens, a spice garden and the mansion of a very wealthy Baba-Nonya (Straights born Chinese) merchant



Opium bed in elaborate home of wealthy Straights born Chinese family

Penang was settled by the British and so there are lots of reminders of their role:  many churches of all denominations, schools and hospitals.  In fact the Christians in general have a large presence.  However, Penang is the only State where the Chinese are the majority and it seems there is growing resentment at the measures being taken by the moslem national government which is becoming increasingly fundamentalist.  E.g. to marry a Moslem woman the man must convert.  If he already has children who do not convert he cannot leave them his property.  A Moslem may not abjure his religion.

We saw many Buddhist temples, each more elaborate than the last until the grand finale; a complex (or komlex as it's spelt here) which starts at the bottom of the hill and is so vast that to see the giant statue at the top you travel up in a funicular train.  Here there were monks chanting with a vast congregation.

To our western eyes it all seem so bright, even garish and, although we were required to remove our shoes, there is little outward show of reverence with shops even right inside the temples.

In stark contrast we took tea in Malaysia's only Georgian mansion- strictly Palladian in style.  The cucumber sandwiches, tiny cakes and scones with cream and home-made jam seemed incongruous in the heat with exotic flowers all round.

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We drove along the north coast which is densly built up with high -rise holiday flats, expensive hotels and local businesses all hugger mugger so the sea is hardly visible until the ribbon development runs out.  New blocks are under construction and we saw 1 block where the 2 storey condos-each with private pool - are selling at £2.5m each!  Some of the buyers in Penang are Australians who see that their pensions will go further here but it would not appeal to us- too humid and the stability of the government and society might not be as assured as it appears.  The guide book says the sea is polluted and there were hardly any swimmers so quite why this coast has developed like this we couldn't fathom.

On the other hand, Penang has a very succesful electronic sector- it is the largest exporter of chips in the world and Intel etc have large plants here.  So that would indicate a secure future and there is certainly a confidence in the future visible in the vast constructions underway.  E.g a 2nd bridge is being built to the mainland to supplement the 13k+ one they already have.

One of the many, many buddhas we saw