The iconic Singapore image: the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the Art Science museumI’ve visited Singapore a couple of times in the last few years, and there’s something about the place that I really like. Perhaps it’s that it is a well-ordered society; or maybe it’s the amazing architecture; or the history; or just the fact of being in a place and a society that has a reasonable claim to have been the most successful in the world over the last 50 years.
My previous visits were in the late winter, March 2017 and February 2018. This year (2019) I went to Bangkok at that time, and we already have a big trip to the USA arranged for April next year, so there wouldn’t be time to do an Asian trip before that. So in July I booked myself a short break in Singapore for the end of September.
I had just five full days there, plus the late afternoon and evening of my arrival day and a very few hours on the morning I flew out. That turned out to be long enough to do everything I wanted on this trip. I decided that mainly I would go to places that I hadn’t visited before, so I gave the Gardens by the Bay and the National Museum a miss. Instead I went to other places, perhaps a bit more unusual. That said, I did find my steps leading towards Marina Bay on quite a few occasions – these days it is the heart of Singapore city.
I did have one big worry both before and during the trip. This summer I have been plagued by outbreaks of Achilles tendinitis in my right ankle/heel. Not only is this painful, it’s extremely disabling; basically, during a flare-up I can’t walk any distance at all. In fact it’s a struggle just to get around the house, let alone any further. So I was worried that I might not be able to go, or that I would get there and then find myself immobilised. In the event I was OK. Perhaps it was the exercises that I have been doing more religiously than in the past couple of years or so (I have had this problem before, most recently in 2010), or perhaps I was lucky and the next flare-up is just around the corner. Either way, I got there, had the holiday and did a lot of walking around, and then got home without problems.
Anyway, it was a good trip; I visited a number of interesting places; and I took what seem to me to be some good photos. I’ll do detailed posts over the next few days.
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