Singapore with Family and Friends

Lisa, Kate, Mark and me in Little India

    So why Singapore yet again I hear you say? Well I was on my way to meet Lisa, my eldest daughter, who has taken 6 months off work as a teacher to go travelling and have lots of  exciting adventures. She had a three night stop-over in Singapore on her way to Brisbane and so it seemed too good an opportunity to miss, since I was so close. (Her blog is lisasontheroad@blogspot.com) We met up in the evening at the "Sleepy Kiwi” backpacker hostel where I stayed at in November which is in the heart of the Arab quarter very close to the mosque. There was someone very famous in the Muslim world in the Mosque on Friday as there was constant atmospheric singing all day and lots of women around as well as many men praying outside. In the evening Lisa and I walked to Chinatown which was quite a way but we were rewarded by some satay and a nice cold beer and then walked back chatting and catching up on the news.
   Saturday morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then decided to go to the Botanical Gardens which were really beautiful and in particular the orchid garden with the most wonderful colours. It is huge with magnificent mature trees, lakes and gardens and I suspect we only saw a small part of it. We felt quite exhausted from the walking and heat and ust had time to get back to the hostel, shower and change and walk to Little India for our next important meeting.

 By another strange coincidence we were meeting up with Kate and Mark our dear friends from Normandie who arrived in Singapore on Friday evening too. We have known Kate and Mark for nearly 15 years and got to know of them by firstly being asked to translate the birth certificates for a "strange" couple, American and British who wanted to marry in the small Mairie of a little village where I taught nearby. They have been our neighbours and friends since then and it was in fact Mark who is a physicist and author who suggested that I started a blog at my farewell party in July 2011. Anyway, we met up in Little India and it seemed quite normal after the first beer. After a few more beers and  delicious Kerala curries, we parted company but I was carrying a large amount of children's books that Kate had kindly brought with her in her luggage to take back to Sabah. Thank you Kate!

On Sunday, we did more exploring and eating around the Arab and Indian quarters and then visited the Changi  Museum in the afternoon. It was a nice opportunity for Lisa to see her grandfather's story (whom she never knew) in situ and see the new exhibits since her last visit 8 years ago when she probably wasn't that interested either! I was surprised that the guide recognised me and insisted in taking a photo of me and Lisa together but we're not quite sure why. The next stop was the airport and my flight left before Lisa's so we said our farewells and we will see each other in May when we go travelling in Indonesia together. Meanwhile Lisa is off to explore Australia and New Zealand.