We fly Royal Nepal Airlines overnight on Monday 12th December leaving Kathmandu at 11.45pm, we are upgraded to first class on a 15 year old Boeing 757 and flew towards Singapore via a stop in Kuala Lumpar or KL as its known locally. We land at 6.30am local time ( Martines Birthday ) at KL for a crew change and an opportunity to stretch our legs in the transit lounge, the stop over is scheduled for 45 mins then we are due back on board for the final leg to Singapore. Time passes 1 hour then 2, we look out of the airport lounge window to see a swarm of engineers, plus the pilot discussing the port side engine which by now has its outer casing removed and its guts exposed !! This plane is going nowhere, we are tranferred to Maylasian airlines for the final leg to Singapore. Kuala Lumpar airport is a refreshing change from the airports of Delhi and Kathmandu. A modern complex with all the amenities of Heathrow. We consume a Burger King compliments of Royal Nepal Airlines for the delay. Singapore International Airport is even more high tec than KL with free internet services in the arrivals hall. The imigration officer wishes Martine a happy Birthday as he notices the date on her passport. We take the high tec MRT metro train to our Hotel destination. Singapore being just off the Equator is hot with a constant climate in the late 20's all year. It's also one of the easiest places in the world to navigate as everything is clearly marked and a superb model of how transport in a city should planned and developed. Some say its sterile, we disagree its a fabulous place and well worth visiting. Birthday greetings come in from the Hotel staff as we check in. The heat is a warm welcome from the cold snap of Nepal. We celebrate Martines Birthday by visiting Raffles Hotel for the famous Singapore slinger, then onto a seafood centre by the waterfront for chilli crab while sitting in the warm evening heat overlooking the straights of Singapore towards Indonesia. It is refreshing to have such a selection of culinary delights on offer in Singapore which has a huge mix of Indian, Chinese, Thai, and Malaysian foods to experience. We visit Orchard Road Singapore answer to OXford Street in London, we are amazed at the fabulous street decorations celebrating Christmas for the christian sector of the population. The air con department stores and shops are full of christmas shoppers and the sounds of christmas carols ringing out over the PA systems, its a sure reminder of the UK. We visit the night Safari located north of Singapore city taking a silent train through the jungle to see the wildlife, Tigers, Rhinos, Elephants , huge Bats, and an assortment of animals never seen by us outside a textbook or London Zoo, the whole experience is like visiting Jurassic Park albeit with today's creatures. Next stop China town for an open air Christmas concert in a prk alongside the famous China town district. A very enthusiastic group of christian Chinese/Singapore singing Silent night and O come all ye faithful ! very bizarre, onto a small theatre for an introduction into the art of Chinese opera with an explanation of what the performance means, we see actors and actresses in full costume with make up, which apparently takes 2 hours to apply. Finally a meal at one of the many hawker stalls in the street outside the theatre. We only intended to stay in Singapore for 2 days, but liked it so much we are stayed 4, we both agree its a fabulous city and well worth a visit in the future.
Saturday 17th December. On an express coach out of Singapore heading for Maylasia and a town called Melacca.
posted by MartineandMike @ 7:11 PM
1 Comments:
hu hu what a journey! anyway welcome to malaysia....
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