Whistle Stop One

In this Monkey Year, the predication for Horses is that they may go galloping off for no good reason.

And is just what I'm doing. On a day the temperature is 36 degrees Brisbane is a good place to be leaving. In Singapore the New Year festivities are just coming to an end. The city is more cosmopolitan than ever and has been taken over by hipster cafes. It takes me all of an hour to find the chain of cafes called NamNam that do Vietnamese street food and good black coffee served in an enamel mug. Nothing much happens on Orchard Road until around 11.00am by which time I have had several coffees and read the Straits Times cover to cover. Scraps of heritage between the high-rise at Emerald Road.

But where were the gondolas at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands?

I didn't go to Marina Bay Sands for shops, let alone Shoppes. I walked through the atriums of the hotel towers and the miles of shops, but declined to go up to the pool area in the sky.

 I visited the two huge conservatories, Flower Garden and Cloud Garden, and admired the solar-power generating palms and the views across to the city.

 Missed the light show though.

Street art, and my salubrious accommodation on Orchard Road.