Saturday 28th March
Singapore
This morning we took a taxi to the Raffles Hotel area where the footpaths are beautifully edged by exotic plants.


We met Pete and Carolynn as planned and, after strolling around Raffles Hotel, we all had a gin sling in the famous Long Bar. We chatted for an hour or so and all enjoyed meeting up 6,000 miles away from home.

We had a further look aroung the Raffles Hotel complex, which is much larger than we had realised, and built around cool courtyards full of fountains.

After leaving Pete and Carolynn, we walked under the shady trees down Queen Elizabeth Walk towards Marina Bay. We could clearly see the very modern honeycomb design Theatres on the Bay and the new Singapore Flyer, which is evidently bigger than the London Eye.

A short distance further on is the sculpture of the Merlion, the mythical beast with a lion head and a fish body that is Singapore's official symbol.

Later in the afternoon we returned to the Botanic Gardens to explore further. The palm garden has been created around a large lake full of thousands of fish and turtles. People were enjoying feeding them.

At on end of th lake is a small theatre, the organic design of which fits well within its site

This evening from 8.30 to 9.30, many of the lights in the city were turned off in support of Earth Hour. This action is designed to make us aware of the things we can do to reduce global warming. As we looked out of our hotel window, the city seemed unusually dark.