Completed the major travel legs. Planes were on time and connection through Hong Kong went without a hitch. The new airport is massive---whole mountain tops were cleared to make room on a small island for long runways. Not quite as exciting as landing at the central city Kai Tak airport in the old days when 747 jumbos roared along the main shopping street as they settled down onto the single runway. None of my Chinese seat companions en route spoke English so it was a quiet & reflective 20 hours. My first problem of the day upon arrival in Singapore was locating the subway (known as the MRT in Singapore) that operates out of the airport with a single transfer to the area where Google Maps indicated my hotel, The Bright Star, was located. No one actually knew the street or the hotel name-----first this way, then another way--all very confusing, but typical of travel experiences in other strange cities when arriving after dark and the streets are dark.
Very hot and humid with rain threatening from grey skies when I arrived. The monsoons in these parts are supposed to abate mid/end of September, so let us hope for fairer weather on the horizon.
The first time that I have been in Singapore for about 20 years and at that time Changi Airport and the MRT had recently been constructed & looked all shiny new. Still seem to be
functioning well, but no longer look like state of the art and a little worn. Funny how the mind works, so that no one, or nowhere ages in the memory over the years. Suppose the moral is to never look nostalgically in the rear view mirror of life, but always press forward onto fresh projects.
Do not plan on venturing too far today, just the commercial streets local to my hotel, as I work on 'de-jet- lagging' myself. The lady at the front desk informed me that the many hotels in the Geylang district are for local visitors, Malays and Indonesians who do not wish to pay the going rate of $300-400 per night in the international chain hotels in the central tourist district. Personally, I would rather experience the local colour, but maybe not the bull frog porridge on offer at the pavement eatery just around the corner.
The internet in my room at the Bright Star is intermittent to say the least, so I am hurrying to complete this entry before the signal evaporates once more.
Very hot and humid with rain threatening from grey skies when I arrived. The monsoons in these parts are supposed to abate mid/end of September, so let us hope for fairer weather on the horizon.
The first time that I have been in Singapore for about 20 years and at that time Changi Airport and the MRT had recently been constructed & looked all shiny new. Still seem to be
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| Hotel parrot Polly says 'Hello'........... |
Do not plan on venturing too far today, just the commercial streets local to my hotel, as I work on 'de-jet- lagging' myself. The lady at the front desk informed me that the many hotels in the Geylang district are for local visitors, Malays and Indonesians who do not wish to pay the going rate of $300-400 per night in the international chain hotels in the central tourist district. Personally, I would rather experience the local colour, but maybe not the bull frog porridge on offer at the pavement eatery just around the corner.
The internet in my room at the Bright Star is intermittent to say the least, so I am hurrying to complete this entry before the signal evaporates once more.
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