A final day in Singapore

Today I set my alarm so that I would be sure to wake up at a reasonable hour. I did wake up earlier than of late, but it had nothing to do with the alarm – I guess I just woke up. Here, apropos nothing whatsoever, let me give you a top tip. If you're going to rely on an alarm clock to wake you up, ensure that it's set to the time in the time zone where you actually are.

So having made it to breakfast (not really worth the effort as it turned out) I set off for the Botanic Gardens as this was the one thing that everyone who'd been here had said was a must-see. I decided to take the bus rather than the metro as I was hoping to see a little more of the city than you can see from an underground train. I met a lovely girl at the bus stop who, unbeknownst to to me worked out the required route with the driver (unbeknownst to me because it was all done in Chinese). In about a minute, they managed to do what the SMRT website couldn't do and plan a route from my hotel to the gardens with only one change. Not possible according to the website, but there you are. Ain't technology wonderful? In fact, looking at the bus information at the stop at the Gardens, I discovered that you can do it all on one bus, but this is not known to the company running the buses. Perhaps it's a secret...

The Singapore Botanic Garden is very worth seeing. The weather was not cooperating, but I suppose tropical rain in the tropics isn't really something you can complain about. That said, the garden is just beautiful – an oasis of green calm in the middle (well, to one side of the middle, really) of the city. And in the middle of the gardens is the Orchid Garden which is simply stunning. I always think of orchids as incredibly expensive, delicate flowers, but it seems that they are the most prolific family of flowers on the planet. They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and grow in everything from cool mountain locations to tropical jungles.

Blogger isn't letting me upload any more pictures at the moment, so I'll put a post together with just shots from the gardens.

After the Botanic Gardens, I headed back into town for the big event of the day. This was the reason why I'd been going round in long trousers and proper shoes all day. This was afternoon tea at Raffles, and there's a dress code.

There's no getting away from it, it's still the 1930's in the Tiffin Room at Raffles. I was greeted by name and led to my table. Even my rather shabby rucksack was given its own little chair (you can't really tell on the picture, but the chair was about 8" (20 cm) high:

I noticed that the chair was turned to the wall, so perhaps they were just embarrassed to have it in their lovely dining room. There was a cake stand on the table with a selection of sandwiches (neatly cut into triangles, of course and absolutely no sign of the crusts) and cakes which were, I was assured just the appetiser. There was a buffet laid out as well... For those dining alone, a selection of magazines had been left on the table – very expensive magazines about very rich people of course.

Would I prefer tea or coffee? Well, you don't come to Raffles in Singapore and drink coffee, it seems to me, so a silver tea pot appeared, and the first cup was poured. Thereafter, as soon as it seemed as if my cup might be in danger of emptying, a waiter would appear to fill it up, replacing the pot as necessary.

And what else would provide just the right background but a harp? A string quartet would have been just too intrusive, wouldn't it?

This is the Singapore that my grandparents would have known. This was where they would have come to relax and enjoy themselves. There were tea- and dinner-dances here almost up to the day the Japanese army arrived.


The people who run it are very proud of the “tallest observation wheel in the world”. For those who know, think London Eye (only bigger, presumably). For those who don't know what the London Eye is, then think of a (very) big Ferris wheel. Each little pod takes about 30 minutes to make a complete revolution and offers a spectacular view of the harbour, the central business district and much, much more. Well, it was slightly less spectacular than usual as it was still very cloudy (though at least the rain had stopped).


They have a free audio guide available which I assumed would describe the various sites as they came into view but it seemed mostly to be about Feng Shui (sp?). I listened as far as the point at which they told me that the wheel had originally rotated anti-clockwise, but was changed to clockwise to keep the view of the city to last. This also, apparently, improved the energy flow around the wheel. Now, I suppose I believe some pretty odd things according to some people so I'm not wanting to rubbish the whole idea of Feng Shui but surely it depends which side of the wheel you're looking at? And, frankly, a free audio guide describing the various sites as they come into view would be an excellent addition and might go some way to offsetting the feeling of having paid a lot of money for not a lot...

Then again, maybe I didn't give it a fair shot. The cabin in front of ours was being prepared for dinner. There must be a knack for setting up a dinner table in a cabin that's only opposite the platform for about a minute at a time. Clearly important not to drink too much since the toilets are only going to be accessible once every half-hour!

Well, I was running out of time in Singapore and hadn't yet visited Chinatown, so it was back to the MRT and a couple of stops later there I was. And, boy, was it different. Singapore is a very ordered society – it is neat and tidy. Chinatown isn't any of those things. Here there are the street markets that I had read about. Here were the street food stalls that I had been looking for (what a pity that I was still full of afternoon tea). Here was a shop that sold me the carry-on bag that I need for Australia.

And so it was time to say goodbye to the city and head back to the hotel to pack ready for departure. I'd spent the day trying to decide if it was worth trying to stay a little longer, but the discount rate on the hotel was no longer available, and it was cutting it very fine to change the flight. Singapore is a place that I've grown to love. Back on day 1 I doubted I'd ever get used to the climate, but that might have been premature. If I had a nice (air-conditioned) apartment and a reasonable commute to an (air-conditioned) office, I could see myself living here for a while. Only a while, but it would be great while it lasted.

This is a place I want to come back to.