A short, but very sweet, stop in Singapore

First stop Singapore for a brief 24-hour stay.  I’m picking up Ben here to go to Rome to see his daughters, my beautiful granddaughters, Stella and Chloe.  We are off for a holiday with them to Amsterdam on Wednesday.

 It’s been a great day today – Ben lives in the Geylang neighbourhood of Singapore, I’ve never been here before, having always been in the fancy hotels located around Orchard Road.  Geylang is very authentic and much more reminiscent of the old Singapore,  Gui Ci Maitreya Buddhist Temple, Poh Tiong Kiong Taoist Temple and Nan Hai Fei Lai Temple grace his road.  We began our morning with a walk to Geylang Drip for a coffee to get us going, especially for me as I arrived at Ben’s apartment from the airport last night at the equivalent of 2.30am NZ time!   I did manage to resist, and yes folks, this was hard….. a bowl of fresh frog porridge at the Geylang Lor 9 café!!!   We followed this with a walk around Paya Le Bar, a visit to PLQ Mall (and a few purchases for me of course!) and a tasty lunch.  It was great walking around the area as there are so many interesting little local shops selling everything from bathroom fittings to one selling only durian fruit. 

 It’s Ramadan at the moment and there is a Ramadan bazaar at Geylang Serai with 800 stalls to explore during the holy month, numerous stalls are selling food, clothes and decorations in preparation for Eid al Fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month.  The streets are all lit up with amazing decorations all beautifully illuminated at night when Muslims arrive at sunset after fasting all day – quite stunning to see.

 We left early for dinner so Ben could show me around the Joo Chiat area – so pretty with all the pastel coloured

Shophouses.  Many of these historical homes belonged to the Peranakan community who hail from Malacca and Penang in Malaysia and one of the distinctive features of these shophouses are the ornately designed tiles that adorn the buildings, from porches to walls, hallways and courtyards, and are known as Peranakan tiles.  The story of these tiles dates back to the early 1900’s when they were regarded as an emblem of wealth and influence.  With their intricacy and artistic details, they are mostly geometric in shape and the original tiles depict oriental motifs such as fruits, flowers, fish and birds.  There are some very eclectic shops in this area, including an Italian Vintage clothing shop with the most beautiful silk dresses and coats complete with a sit-up gin bar in the rear, and a number of really delightful independent boutiques offering homewares, fashion and furniture.  The perfect destination for yours truly, only this time somewhat hampered by luggage restrictions given that I will be lugging my one bag around on planes, trains and automobiles – and ferries, for the next few months!

 Ben was keen for me to briefly relive my Caribbean sailing experiences and we had a delightful dinner at Lime Caribbean Restaurant in Katong, another heritage neighbourhood – a perfect end to a very interesting and fun-filled day.

 Back at Changi Airport now, waiting to board the flight to Rome.

 And just like that…..my Singapore stay is over!