Clarke Quay is like a fancy Eagle St Pier (for the Brisbanites), a select number of cafes along the river, most with interesting catch-phrases painted on the front.
Singapore’s national sport is shopping, and Orchard Rd is the place to do it. Kilometers of shopping centres line both sides of this busy road, you can find not only what you want but even how you want to buy it - large David Jones type department store or more one of the more seedy shops over at Lucky Plaza.
Seeing as I was cramping her style (she’d only bought one pair of shoes in the first 90mins, and they were a less than perfect replacement for her all-time favourite pair that just broke) so Lara and I split up for the rest of the day.
Armed with a crash course in How to be Ripped Off When You Think You’re Getting a Bargain from my Cambodian exposure, and feeling rather bored, I started browsing digital cameras. Not to purchase you understand, just for looking. 45mins and two sweaty palms later I’ve come away with a new toy. You be the judge: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z20 (5 Mega-pixel, 8x Optical Zoom, cats pyjamas of features), mini-tripod, carry case, 128Mb SD card, 4 rechargeable AAs and charger, Lens protector filter and travel power adapter for AU$386 (incl Visa conversion fees). Back to the hotel I went to double-check that it would copy photos to my iPod (it did), and then I decided to walk back over to Orchard Rd.
It was a very pleasant day for Singapore, the cloud cover helped keep it cool. I took a longish way around, including a ‘private road’ that a local told me of but said I should be right because "You’re a tourist". There wasn’t much special about it except the boom-gates (which were all up), and the guards at one innocuous looking place who were more than happy to ignore me completely from the other side of the road.
That evening Lara and I took a cab to the Raffles "The Plaza" and Swissotel "The Stamford" complex. "The Stamford" is the highest building in Singapore at 72 stories, and Level 71 is the "Equinox - New Asia Bar" with views over the whole rest of the city if not country (72 is a mezzanine level for members of some elite club). This bar is fantastic! Go between 6pm and 9pm Sun-Thurs and get 50% off drinks (Sing$10.50 for cocktails and Sing$7.75 for exotic imported beers). Be sure to get there early or be willing to stand (at 6:40pm Lara and I got the last two stools) and be prepared to wait ever so slightly longer than you’d like for service, but it is incredibly worthwhile, even at full drinks prices. Watching the lights of Singapore one-by-one come on while sharing a drink with all sorts of people in a great atmosphere is a must for any traveller who has more than 4 hours stopover here!
OK so now we’re in Germany. The train from the airport was easy enough to find and catch even for those of us who don’t speak the language, though it did take a little nouse and initiative. I was quite disappointed to see it was late to arrive and leave the airport. This has entirely blown my own personal stereotype of Germany out of the water, leaving me in the awkward position of having to form an opinion of the place without my beloved preconceived ideas.
Also, from the train carriage, I’m finding Frankfurt to be not at all very clean. It seems every time I turn my head to look out Lara’s window there’s another causeway or barn with graffiti on it, or an ugly building like a power station or Frankfurt Central Train Station.
The train ride is lovely and smooth though, and I think I’ll have a nap and dream of what I’d like Bavaria (we’re going to the area of Franconia) to be like when we step off the train in less than two hours.
Seat 91, Car 21
ICE825 Frankfurt - Nuremberg
Singapore’s national sport is shopping, and Orchard Rd is the place to do it. Kilometers of shopping centres line both sides of this busy road, you can find not only what you want but even how you want to buy it - large David Jones type department store or more one of the more seedy shops over at Lucky Plaza.
Seeing as I was cramping her style (she’d only bought one pair of shoes in the first 90mins, and they were a less than perfect replacement for her all-time favourite pair that just broke) so Lara and I split up for the rest of the day.
Armed with a crash course in How to be Ripped Off When You Think You’re Getting a Bargain from my Cambodian exposure, and feeling rather bored, I started browsing digital cameras. Not to purchase you understand, just for looking. 45mins and two sweaty palms later I’ve come away with a new toy. You be the judge: Konica Minolta DiMAGE Z20 (5 Mega-pixel, 8x Optical Zoom, cats pyjamas of features), mini-tripod, carry case, 128Mb SD card, 4 rechargeable AAs and charger, Lens protector filter and travel power adapter for AU$386 (incl Visa conversion fees). Back to the hotel I went to double-check that it would copy photos to my iPod (it did), and then I decided to walk back over to Orchard Rd.
It was a very pleasant day for Singapore, the cloud cover helped keep it cool. I took a longish way around, including a ‘private road’ that a local told me of but said I should be right because "You’re a tourist". There wasn’t much special about it except the boom-gates (which were all up), and the guards at one innocuous looking place who were more than happy to ignore me completely from the other side of the road.
That evening Lara and I took a cab to the Raffles "The Plaza" and Swissotel "The Stamford" complex. "The Stamford" is the highest building in Singapore at 72 stories, and Level 71 is the "Equinox - New Asia Bar" with views over the whole rest of the city if not country (72 is a mezzanine level for members of some elite club). This bar is fantastic! Go between 6pm and 9pm Sun-Thurs and get 50% off drinks (Sing$10.50 for cocktails and Sing$7.75 for exotic imported beers). Be sure to get there early or be willing to stand (at 6:40pm Lara and I got the last two stools) and be prepared to wait ever so slightly longer than you’d like for service, but it is incredibly worthwhile, even at full drinks prices. Watching the lights of Singapore one-by-one come on while sharing a drink with all sorts of people in a great atmosphere is a must for any traveller who has more than 4 hours stopover here!
OK so now we’re in Germany. The train from the airport was easy enough to find and catch even for those of us who don’t speak the language, though it did take a little nouse and initiative. I was quite disappointed to see it was late to arrive and leave the airport. This has entirely blown my own personal stereotype of Germany out of the water, leaving me in the awkward position of having to form an opinion of the place without my beloved preconceived ideas.
Also, from the train carriage, I’m finding Frankfurt to be not at all very clean. It seems every time I turn my head to look out Lara’s window there’s another causeway or barn with graffiti on it, or an ugly building like a power station or Frankfurt Central Train Station.
The train ride is lovely and smooth though, and I think I’ll have a nap and dream of what I’d like Bavaria (we’re going to the area of Franconia) to be like when we step off the train in less than two hours.
Seat 91, Car 21
ICE825 Frankfurt - Nuremberg
posted by Tim at 6:55 am
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