Bonjour Cambodia!

Click here for photos of Siem Reap

To ensure that Juliette kept up with her airmiles collection we all headed off to Cambodia for a few days. We saw and experienced so much that it's hard to know where to begin to describe it! We landed in Phnom Penh (yes, that is how you spell it!) and took a rather exhilarating, 5 hour taxi ride to Siem Reap. Exhilarating due to the death-defying overtaking manouevres being undertaken all around us as well as the extreme sport of avoiding wandering livestock crossing the roads. We did arrive in one piece at our hotel with only mild whiplash to show for the journey and set out to wander around the town. We dropped into Wat Po - a buddhist temple with resident monk who kindly took time out to explain a few things about his temple. He spoke fluent English and was also starting to learn French - all to a considerably higher level than our Khmer! The next day we hired a tuk tuk (a motorbike with a small shed on the back as a form of transport) to take us around Angkor Wat - the largest temple in the world and a truly awe-inspiring place. I shall let the photos speak for this one... A word to those planning to visit - don't try to see too much in one day or you may be struck down with 'Temple Fatigue'! And you'll need some energy left to dodge the beautiful Cambodian children trying to sell you MORE postcards!

Happy Birthday mum!

Click here for pictures of Equinox

Forgot to buy your mum a birthday present? Can I recommend that you take her for an "Eat and Drink All You Can Brunch" on the 70th floor of the SwissOtel with free-flow Moet and Chandon, 10 courses of food and a 180 degree view of Singapore? That'll make her forget you hadn't got her a card ;)

Monkey Do...

Click here for photos of MacRitchie

Getting away from the city and into the rainforest is pretty easy to do in Singapore. After applying copious amounts of sun cream and mosquito repellant we headed up to the MacRitchie reservoir. This is in a large area in the middle of the island called the 'Central Catchment Area' and is a really good way to forget you're in the middle of an island that's also a city. My yearning to see monkeys up close and personal was answered and we almost became TOO acquainted when they discovered we had crisps in our bag! The camera squad (Matt and Juliette) were in full force and the sound of snapping shutters resounded through the canopy.

After a serious amount of sweating through the day, what better food to eat than Chinese Steamboat in the evening? Take one vat of boiling soup, a waitress called Irene to ladle out the chilli and your own weight in food to be cooked right under your noses to really bring on the heat!

Monkey See...

Click here for The Clinic

My good mate Juliette swings into town which means it's time to explore different parts of Singapore! Dim Sum in Chinatown, being encouraged to take photos of a Hindu festival next to a sign saying 'No Photography' and finishing up in a hospital-themed bar called The Clinic was only the start. It is disturbing to see photos of your old mum in a wheelchair before her time though...

Singapore Museum

Click here for photos of Singapore Museum

Whilst in Singapore it's only right that one should visit the National Museum! After introducing mum to more strange Singaporean foodstuffs we headed on over to discover that I had to pay an entry fee and she didn't! Outrageous. Roll on retirement... Having spent around an hour poking around the seemingly few exhibits we were beginning to wonder if that was it and whether I should go and ask for my $10 back. It was only at that point that we noticed the rest of the museum and were treated to more information on Singapore than you could shake a stick at! Ask me anything, test me, test me!

Tourist Time II

Click here for photos of the Botanical Gardens

Day 2 of acting like tourists started with a dip in the pool of our condo. We are really lucky to overlook the swimming pools in our complex giving our flat a 'holiday home' atmosphere. My mum is already a regular on the sun loungers :) We then visited the Singapore Botanical Gardens which also boasts the National Orchid Garden (the debate as to whether you warrant the name 'National' if you are the 'only' continues...). The relative humidity feels much higher when you are in a leafy area and we spent perhaps longer than we needed in the Cool House! A free, outdoor concert was happening as we walked past with the National Chinese Singapore Orchestra performing Chinese and Western music on traditional Chinese instruments. It was very pleasant to sit there on the grass and listen to classical music. For a mixing of cultures try listening to music from a Spanish opera (Carmen) written by a Frenchman (Bizet) being performed by Chinese musicians in Singapore...

Tourist Time

Click here for photos of the city

My mum has arrived and as well as it being lovely to see her it also gives us a good excuse to act like tourists! After purchasing an open top bus tour for the Hippo Bus we were whizzed around the city at high speed taking in all th sights. Our bus driver was obviously an F1 fan, as he was completing the bus circuit at such speed that the recorded lady had to skip bits of her talk just to keep up! It also included a tour of the Singapore river on the Duck Boat which took us down to see the Merlion, which is the national symbol of Singapore. Having had enough of animal themed forms of transport, we then headed down to Club Street near Chinatown to watch the sunset from a rooftop bar. After that it was Little India where the festival of Deepavali was in full swing. Coloured lights were strung all down the roads and the place was heaving! A banana leaf curry finished off the night and a taxi took us back home to a well deserved night's sleep!