Singapore, Day 16-18

First morning in Singapore and I awoke to the sun shining through the net curtains;  the box of tricks next to the bed included switches to open/close curtains and nets. Didnt see that last night.

So given that the hotel was supposed to be central I decided to take a wander and find myself around. The biggest challenge was to find my way out of the hotel grounds; I think most residents take a cab.

Within 10 minutes I was on Orchard Road, the main shopping district of Singapore and it was full of the designer label shops and lots of electronics shops selling all the latest gadgets, including the new Sony Playstation 3 I noticed. There were malls full of shops and boutiques of all sorts and sizes.

I kinda stumbled on the Lucky Plaza and spent a couple of hours wandering around getting an idea of prices and quality of mercendise. Took some lunch in the food hall which again was excellent; this time roasted duck with fried rice and a can of sprite.

Spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the malls and stalls getting a few bits and pieces. Then the objective was to find a bar showing the england-Italy six nations match. No problem as StarSports, a Hong Kong based channel, was showing it live and was being shown through Singapore Cable :-) A good win but could have done better...

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Ok had a nice traditional Sunday lie in this morning. Seem to be getting over the time difference issues but its soon time to come back onto GMT :-(

Anycase I had booked a 2 hour Thai Massage for 11am so I couldnt laze around for too long. Wandered down from the hotel to the massage shop where Marinda duely stretched and manipulated the old bones more and the back is really starting to free up. For such petite frames they certainly know how to maximise the effect.

After the massage I wandered down Orchard Road to the Orchard MRT station and caught the Singapore underground to Harbourfront. I must admit the sign posting isnt the best there but then again maybe they want the tourists to get lost amongst all the shops down there! The cablecar connects the harbour front to Mount Sedosa and ?????. It gives an excellent view of the Interbational port and then provides you with access to the Carlsberg SkyView, a rotating gantry which gives excellent panoramic views of the Singapore skyline.

I then caught the underground back onto Orchard road and walked its length in the early evening sunshine; and there were a few rain drops as well, the first of the holiday....The end of the last full day of the holiday, nice and relaxing but the locals were still shopping well past 10pm...

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Ok awoke early as I had booked a Thai massage for 10am; well actually just got there in time having packed and checked out of the Shangri La. This is a superb hotel.

Things are definitely starting the work the way they were designed and muscles feel more relaxed and flexible. There might still be hope....

Then I had planned 4 hours of wandering around the shopping plazas and stalls for last minute treats. After many trips to the ATM and shopping bags full of whatever (you will find out later....) I headed back to the hotel to repack and make sure everything fitted. Just about but the case was over 10kgs heavier than on the journey out.

The journey to the airport was strees free as was the check-in. The Cathay Pacific staff ensured that my luggage was checked in all the way back to Gatwick as well :-)

So I had plenty of time to wander around Singapore airport. Unfortunately was couldnt shop for alcohol duty-free as I was heading for Hong Kong and not directly back to the UK. Saved me having to carry 2x Jack Daniels, 2x Bombay Sapphire Gin, 6x Veurve Cliquot that I had planned. Never mind..

But then there was a new watch just wanting to find a new home...Well I have enjoyed myself this holiday :-) All I will say here is it is from the home of watches....no not Swatch nor Sekonda...

Mon 12th Feb Cathay Pacific Flight CX716 Depart Singapore (SIN) 18:30 Arrive Hong Kong (HKG) 22:10

Haagen Dazs ice cream and Toblerone to compliment the excellent food on the Cathay Pacific flight. And there was plenty of time to catch up with this diary, do as all good men do and read the new watch instructions cover to cover, even in French but those skills are slowly dying away.

And sad I know, but I waded through all the business email so that the rest of this week isnt too much of a shock to the system....

On the subject of flights I booked the Hong Kong-Bangkok-Singapore-Hong Kong flights through expedia.co.uk. The price seemed very reasonable at the time and I have been most impressed that they also reserved my seat on all the flights to my preference, window seat over wing. I used Emirates, SwissAir and Cathay Pacific so this does work across carriers. Faultless there...

So now I am wandering if there will be shopping available in Hong Kong, especially as it is purchase tax free. Time will tell. Yes but the prices werent as good as in Singapore. Never mind a bottle of JD and Bombay Sapphire will suffice

Tues 13th Feb OasisHongKong Flight O8700 Depart Hong Kong (HKG) 01:30 Arrive London-Gatwick (LGW) South Terminal 06:20