Found another old letter from our travels, this one from
February 2005:
We're off tonight to Singapore. YES!!! Not exactly the
adventure holiday we planned but Irene, our nice travel
agent, couldn't get us what we wanted but she's got us
a great deal on this instead so we're planning to have
just as much fun doing this as doing the other, although
for a lot shorter time.
Longest I've ever spent in Singapore in the past is 17
hours, so this will be terrific. I definitely want to
go to Bugis Street, even though I know that these days
it's a fake. It's the area the government built after
it got on that big morals campaign and bulldozed the
real Bugis Street and there was a world-wide public
outcry, so they faked this new one and rounded up all
the ladyboys and herded them in there just so we
tourists can all go see them like they're exotic zoo
animals.
Actually, the real reason I want to go is so I can
get all outraged at the injustice and that will make
me feel like I'm a bigtime International Citizen and
Sophisticated World Traveller ... but, knowing me,
I'll probably enjoy the new place.
Also want to walk down Orchard Street and do some
serious bargain-hunting. AND I want to see all the
restored colonial mansions on Emerald Hill to get
ideas for when I get my own old colonial mansion
in Vietianne in Laos.
AND, naturally, I want to take afternoon tea at
Raffles ... which is really silly considering
afternoon tea at HK's Peninsula Hotel is MUCH more
prestigious and I've never ever done that; at least
not since I was a child. Inexcusable considering
I've been here over a year. Keith is SUCH a Scrooge!
AND there's a temple in downtown Little India that's
meant to be a carbon copy of our much loved "Sri Rama
Temple and Motorbike Repair Shop" in Saigon ... only
this one doesn't have the motorbike repair shop.
Oh, and I'll also take lots of photos of Singapore
Botanical Gardens since it's meant to be a carbon-copy
of Victoria Park in HK AND Thurston Gardens in Suva ...
although the Fiji one is much smaller since it was where
Thurston worked out his planting schemes for the other
two parks. I just LOVE it when Fiji indeed turns out to
be the epicenter of the world, and this is one of those
cases!
Oh, and there's meant to be a stunning Armenian Church in
downtown Singapore that was built in 1835. Isn't that just
ODD. Seems there were masses of Armenians there even before
Raffles claimed the island in the name of England, which is
strange because it was supposed to be a simple fishing
village built among the ruins of the great Bugis pirates
principle city Singapura. So that's something I'd like to
check that out properly. Don't like historical anomalies.
Anyway, those are our plans for Singapore. I'll write to
you all about it when I get back.
2010 UPDATE!
1) Bugis Street, 2005, was a sad little "white elephant"
wasteland without a single ladyboy anywhere and no one
else either. All closed and empty shops and "to-let"
signs and a sad air of "good idea at the time" desolation
... except for this terrific little icecream parlor
with fabulous icecream and actual customers.
2) Orchard Street is a tourist trap and not a lot worth
buying.
3) Raffles was lovely.
4) Singapore Botanical Gardens were lovely, but I've
already posted about them.
5) Never found that particular Hindu temple, but
we did discover other ones.
6) Never got to any museums, except for the one
dedicated to the Straits-Chinese, and that one because
one look at the Straits Chinese and they instantly
fascinated me; they called themselves Chinese but
don't quite fit the mould so that was the mystery I
solved to my own satisfaction on that particular trip.
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