2011 Singapore

                                               New waterfront casino and mall

We used a bit of our first two days in Singapore recovering from the journey.  We are staying with Kent and Susan in the North part of Singapore where they walk 10 minutes to work, to the corner for groceries and restaurants and 7 blocks to a mall and the trains.  Taxis are cheap and safe so that is the best way to get around. 
Much is written about Singapore's cleanliness and safety perhaps to the detriment of a traveller looking for character and local color.  That may be true but this is a wonderful place to live for the people who are here.  The autocratic government provides a safe, well run environment that allows people to thrive.  There is much to be said for that.  It is also a city of vibrant architecture and set in a tropical garden.  Driving for half an hour on the freeway it is a completely planned forest of flowering trees, swaths of bougainvillea, wild ginger, orchids, and more tropical plants than we have ever seen.

Kent and Susan live in a lovely luxury apartment complex yet every balcony is festooned with laundry much to the dismay of the management.  This is an example of how they hang clothes on the window sills of the high rises where
there are no balconies.  Most people do not have dryers or do not want them.  This in a climate of near 100% humidity and rain almost everyday.

Jon and kent at the local duck place.  Really good duck and roast pork.  Eating out is a treat here.

Typical Singaporean family of mom and dad and one baby and the nanny.  Live in help is cheaper than a daily maid.  Kent and Susan have a daily maid twice a week and a cook that fixes meals for them three days a week.

                         A tourist trap but this the orginal Singapore Sling.

                     Fantastic bird park and Penguins are so cute. 

This is Clark Quay lots of restaurants and shops on the riverfront.  In the "70's the river was an open sewer and they have cleaned it and made it the centerpiece of the downtown.

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A very expensive lunch.  Bit of an language problem so we had shrimp and crab and the side dish of four fried buns at $.50 each we ordered, was a whole fried lobster at $60 usd.  Jokes on us plus the food was fantastic. We had wandered around until we saw a place that looked busy and found the best place in Singapore for seafood.  Jumbo's on the River.  Really should have known better.  Singapore is one of the more expensive places around and we haven't seen much for $.50.