Last month I told you about our family reunions, and the theme has continued with a recent visit to Singapore from my wonderful niece Laura. As some of you know she runs her own artiste management company, and one of her talented acts, “Emmy The Great” did a mini tour of Asia. The tour was a big success which started in Tokyo and ended Singapore with a large crowd turning out to hear her play. A friend of ours suggested that the venue which was called “Home” was due to the fact that it was in fact a Gay Club. Surely not, such things don’t exist in Singapore I cried!! Well, after a great gig I was minding my own business when a female youf with a mouth full of metal approached me and boldly stated that she was a Leslie!! I quickly grabbed Gareth and Laura when she proceeded to tell us she was the manager of the place and did we want a drink. Not wanting to be rude or anything we all nodded gleefully, only to be presented with glasses of beer and a shot of something colorful sitting at the bottom. It was only when the burning sensation hit the back of our throats that we realised she had tried to give us Absinth poisoning!! We declined a second and headed back inside where an indie disco was in full swing. Needless to say, the night went slowly down hill from there and after dancing to Blur and a Michael Jackson tribute, were we all did our best to Moon Walk, we headed home at about 3am – the longest I’ve stayed out since we’ve been here!
Emmy headed back the UK on the Saturday and Laura stayed with us till the following Wednesday. We had a great time catching up and showing her the sights of Singers. Of course shopping was on the agenda as was a trip to Little India, walking along the riverfront, checking out the museum, cycling along the beach. Gosh, I’m exhausted just thinking about it!! Of course, it was brilliant to just spend time together and drink gin by the pool till the early hours on her last night!!
Before all of this we spent our last weekend with Gareth’s parents Bev and Alan in Phnom Penh before they returned to NZ. This is the capitol of Cambodia and as soon as we got out of the airport we knew we back in the heart of Asia – the sights, the smells, the crowds, people in shanty towns on the riverbank, tuk tuks everywhere and life racing at 100 miles an hour. Cambodia has a heartbreaking history and these people suffered more than we will ever be able to appreciate at the hands of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Over 200,000 people died during this appalling act of genocide. A trip the Killing Fields was a must for us and although it’s mostly a shrine these days with the display of human skulls at it’s centre, it was a truly moving experience.
The Cambodians are a resilient lot though and they greet you with a friendly smile and genuinely care that you enjoy your stay with them. The best place to eat and drink is in the Foreign Correspondents Club, or FCC. This is the actual hotel and bar where reporters from around the world stayed and wrote their stories of the atrocities of war and the walls are covered with actual photographs taken during that time. It still has an atmosphere of those times with big leather seats, low hanging ceiling fans and a long bar serving cold beers and hot pizzas. Or you can simply sit on a stool at the window and people watch. Traffic is chaotic with a mix of overloaded tuk tuks, overloaded vans, overloaded motorcycles and overloaded cars! At T- junctions no one stops, you just either drive or walk into the traffic, not hesitating, and somehow manage to avoid whatever is coming towards you. We left Phnom Penh feeling humbled by the resilience and friendliness of its people and saddened by the poverty most of them still live in.
Talking of week ends away – we also did a mini trip to Malacca recently. Malacca is a Malaysian state and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Where Phnom Penh’s architecture is clearly defined by the French, Malacca’s is a throwback to the days when the Portuguese invaded and reigned. The colourful pink building in the town centre now serves as a very informative National Museum and is a great place to hang-out during the day. It’s also the central meeting place and loads of cycle rickshaw drivers park up and ply their trade by taking you to Chinese temples and shopping areas of this small and very appealing city. The riskshaws are all brightly decorated with ribbons and flowers and the drivers hoot loudly at each other as they cross paths on their tour. At night the place comes to life with market stalls down the main streets all lit up with fairy lights and hawker food is served Peranakan (Malaysian) style. Karaoke is the favourite past time and there is any amount of places where you can just walk in, pick up a mike and start singing. I was very tempted, but they didn’t have the Spice Girls, so I gave it a miss! It’s a lovely place to visit for a day or two and just escape the usual crowded shopping malls of Singers.
Gareth has been travelling a lot for work lately and was in the Philippines last week. He was back just long enough to wash his “smalls” before heading off to Beijing this week. Not to be out done, I’ve booked myself 4 days in Siem Reap. I’ve always wanted to go there and have just finished a Travel Photography Course. With the famous Angkor Wat being the focus point of my trip I hope to put everything I’ve learned about light, aperture, shutter speed and composition into practice! Will up-date you all next month and hopefully be able to put pics some on my Picasso website – stay tuned……
So a quick round up of what’s happening in Singapore:
WHAT’S HOT
Well, the hottest ticket in town right now is for the National Day Show and Parade. Singapore celebrates it’s 44th year of independence next week, and just to make sure they get it right, they’ve had 3 ordinary rehearsals and a full dress rehearsal including F1 jets and helicopters over the skies, Navy Boats letting off canons in the sea and firework displays. Should be a good “do” for those lucky enough to get tix, and for those who can’t, they can watch it all on TV. At 8.22pm exactly the whole of Singapore will asked to recite The Pledge in once voice (to Singapore presumably!) no doubt with the right hand on heart and the left waving the flag – nationalistic fervour at it’s very best!!
WHAT’S NOT
A Night Festival that was held a few weeks ago. Last year it was fantastic, so we headed off to check it out again. Laura came with us and we were keen to impress her with this wonderful nights free entertainment. Unfortunately, there were huge thunder and lightening storms for most of the evening so most of the entertainment got rained off. However, we stuck it out to the end on the promise of a big firework display and some acrobatic group from Germany doing amazing things strapped to a big wheel thing. But, it was not to be their (or our) night as one of the troupe fell off a platform and an ambulance had to be called. The show did go on though with the wheely thing, which was quite impressive for about 2 minutes, then got really boring!! The fireworks were akin to a damp squid and we were lucky to make it to the MRT station just in time for the last train home. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all I guess.
AND FINALLY
For those who prefer something a little more exclusive when celebrating National Day. You can get a birds-eye view of the whole event from the window of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Luxury Suite. Priced at a mere $13,200 for the night you’d want to be assured of the best seat in the house. And yes, it is fully booked for the weekend!! Recession, what recession????
