The family visits Asia-week 1

 Recently we had the pleasure of welcoming some of our family to Singapore. It was my Sister and Brother in laws 25th wedding anniversary and they were returning to visit Singapore where they had spent some of their honeymoon. My niece and nephew came too and Granny C who had recently celebrated her 80th birthday,. Granny had never been to Asia before and really dislikes flying so was very brave taking the long flight here; I think it helped that she travelled very comfortably in business class and in fact enjoyed it so much I wouldn't be surprised if she doesn't come again!
 

Their first morning was spent exploring Chinatown, I think we must have visited nearly every shop!

The Heritage Museum is currently shut for refurbishment so I explained (as best as I could) that this statue commemorates the Samsui women that came to Singapore in the 1930's and worked in the construction industry, they took vows never to marry and were renewed for their hard work. Samsui means 'red bandana' which refers to their trademark red cloth hats.

We then visited the Hindu temple; Sri Mariamman. For those not appropriately dressed a sarong is provided. We arrived as the daily Puja rituals were being carried out with bells ringing, prayers being said and offerings being left at the central shrine.

We all admired some of the beautiful Indian outfits, particularly the ladies and this lady kindly agreed to be photographed with Granny

Flagging a bit and very thirsty we were soon revived with coconut drink and other juices

Then on to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, which was as fascinating as always. Granny remarked that she had seen some ornate churches in her time but none compared with this 

The family particularly enjoyed the very top floor with the Tibetan prayer wheel and peaceful orchid garden

I hadn't noticed this decoration before, on the very top of the roof, the glass globe in the middle reflects the city buildings below

By now it was lunch time and everyone wanted hawker food, so we headed to Maxwell Food court and enjoyed lots of different local delicious dishes

on the way back we passed a TCM stall, unsurprisingly none of us wanted to buy the dried pipefish or squashed gecko inspite of the sign stating it's good for lungs and kidneys!

After a busy day exploring there was time to change, relax on our balcony and enjoy the sunset before setting off to Marina Bay Sands and Ku de Ta to see the city at night

The next day the rest of the family had an early start to catch their plane to Cambodia. Granny stayed on with us and we had a relaxing day starting with brunch at Vivocity then a trip to Sentosa

                                                    where we met strange creatures....

                                             ...... and made new friends at the beach bar

and of course had a paddle in the South China Sea

During the following week  Granny C and I explored Singapore. We started off with the Asian Civilisation Museum and joined the tour that focussed on Buddhist Art from Kolkata

It was interesting but tiring standing up for so long so time for a rest at the lovely Fullerton Hotel

where we enjoyed trying some of their cakes

To finish of the day we took a boat trip down the river, a lovely way of seeing some of the city

The next day the jet lag and heat was catching up with Granny C so we had a very relaxing day at home only popping out for a leisurely lunch at the British Club with my friend MA

By the evening we had more energy and went back to Marina Bay in time to secure a place in the crowd to sit and watch the nightly light and water show, its quite a spectacle and despite having already seen it a few times I still enjoy it

One of Singapore's most wonderful places is the Botanic Gardens so a visit there is a must. The weather was still extremely hot (when is it not?) so we made an early start and planned to visit some of the major highlights in the garden notably the Orchid Garden

It is quite simply stunning and around every corner there are fabulous orchids and other stunning flowers and foliage plants

The botanic gardens have resident monitor lizards and one was ambling by as we came out of the orchid section, it's always a pleasure to see these fascinating creatures

The people watching can be quite entertaining too, including dogs wearing booties! Not sure if these are fashion items or for protecting their feet from the hot pavement

Papa T returned that weekend and Granny took us to 'her' club in Singapore-The Tanglin Club for a lovely lunch. 

The Tanglin Club is in a beautiful building and their website states that it is "an inviting oasis for relaxation and rejuvenation as it's ambience still evokes the grace and charm of the past whilst reflecting it's mission of being a 'home away from home'". We certainly had a very enjoyable afternoon there.

By the end of her first week in Asia Granny C had seen and experienced a fair number of  Singaporean sights and was ready for the second half of her adventure- a trip to Malaysia.