Home Again

Arrived home yesterday morning after an overnight flight from Singapore. For our last night in Singapore we visited a restaurant in Little India, Muthu's, that was recommended to us on our last trip and we found it very good. This time the food was still very good but the service was somewhat lacklustre. Streets in Little India were decorated with coloured lights for the forthcoming Deepavali (or Diwali) festival which celebrates light overcoming darkness and is also known as the Festival of Lights; it is the most important celebration of the Hindu year.

Street lights in Little India for Deepavali celebrations. On our last morning before we flew back to Australia, we re-visited Chinatown for a better look and as usual it was fascinating.

Scenes from Chinatown. We are now home in Melbourne contemplating where our next trip may take us.

Tour of Tiger Brewery

Today I was privileged to have a private tour of the Tiger Brewery ( you may ask how I managed this - it was precisely because nobody else turned up !!!). It was an excellent tour (Jean was a great guide) and at the end it was samples for 45 minutes.

Views of the brewery tour and the Tiger Tavern. Tiger lager is a very refreshing beer on a hot day in the tropics. The brewery also has a craft beer operation called Archipelago and I tasted their current seasonal beer which is infused with cherries. The beer was very good (4.5%) with just a hint of the cherries.

Busy Time in Singapore continued

Following the Gardens of the Bay visit we travelled to the observation deck of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel which looks like a ship perched on three massive pillars. We had a drink at the bar which is located at the bow of the ship.

Views of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and from its observation deck. We followed this with a Singapore River cruise in a modern version of the iconic bumboat which used to ferry cargo at Singapore's historic trading port and then a quick walk around the old Chinatown area.

Views from the River cruise to Marina Bay and the walk to Chinatown.

Busy Time in Singapore

It has been a very busy time in Singapore and I am looking forward to rest when we return to Melbourne!! The first day we arrived at the hotel at approx 5.30pm after travelling for almost 24 hours from Turku, Finland (including airport waiting time) and we had a quick bite at the hotel and had an early night. The next day we caught to cable car to Sentosa, an island full of amusements eg Universal Studios and other attractions such as a very large aquarium complex and high tower observation deck.

Scenes from Sentosa Island. That night we went to the Night Safari, an off-shoot of Singapore Zoo, and it was great with more than 2,500 nocturnal animals including tigers, leopards, lions, fishing cats, bears, flying squirrels (which swooped over me), elephants, hippo's and rhino's. Yesterday we visited the Gardens by the Bay complex which displays a diverse range of plant life from around the world. The key attractions are the Flower Dome and the Cloud Forest (which had orchids, pitcher plants and ferns and 35 metre man-made mountain and waterfall.

Views from Gardens by the Bay.