We had booked planes such that we would have flown in from Ho Chi Minh
(Saigon), had a couple of hours in the Singapore airport, and flown out to
Perth.
Jetstar very annoyingly changed the booking forcing us to have about 20 hours
in Singapore.
So we got in at about midnight, went to a hotel, had a few hours sleep and
then most of the day in Singapore before flying out.
We greatly enjoyed our few hours in Singapore; the similarities and contrasts
with the other SE Asian countries we had just visited was fascinating.
Accommodation
We stayed in the
Fragrance Hotel Pearl, Lorong 14, Geylang, which our
daughter had kindly discovered and booked for us.
It cost about S$60.
On a previous visit we had paid about S$100 for a very much inferior hotel.
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In Singapore use the MRT
The Singapore Mass
Rapid Transit railway system is fast, comfortable, cheap and will get
you to within a ten minute walk of most accommodation.
In future visits (if any) to Singapore my wife and I will use the MRT rather than taxis.
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The only unpleasant feature of our visit to Singapore was that we believe
we were allocated an
unnecessarily expensive taxi at the airport (we should immediately refused
the one we were allocated and asked for an ordinary one – but after
many hours flying and in Saigon airport we were less sharp, even, than
normal) and then I suspect we were cheated by the taxi driver, who seemed to
take us the long way around.
We had, on previous holidays, had less than ideal experiences with taxi
drivers in Hanoi (tried to tell us that the hotel we wanted to go to was
burned down and take us to a hotel that would give our driver a cut) and
Saigon (I'm pretty sure he drove us in a couple of circles before taking us
to the airport).
My opinion of taxi drivers is not particularly high; although I'd have to
admit that the great majority of them might be honest.
Painted elephants on display in Rafles Place, Denece in the foreground.
The inner harbour, with Rafles Place in the distance.
The painted elephants would be hidden behind the first row, or several rows,
of buildings.
Photographed from the Singapore Flyer.
Without the creapers on the concrete road bridge this would have looked much
more mundain.
The locals don't call Singapore "The Garden City" for nothing; there are
well tended gardens all over the place.
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| A small part of the shipping in anchorages around Singapore.
This is a striking feature for anyone who aproaches Singapore by air.
This photo was taken from the Singapore Flyer.
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This building, or would you call it a group of buildings? with a 'ship' on
top of them, would have to be unique to Singapore.
On the edge of the inner harbour, near Raffles Place
