Well, spent my last day in London taking a cruise down the Thames, before making my way to a comfy pub (Earls Court Tavern) to watch the England v Australia rugby match (I ran out of time to visit the Tate Modern, oh well). Anyway, it was a tragedy watching Australia lose like that, made worse because I was wearing a Wallabies jersey (a few other Aussies were there too)! So, at full time, I took off the jersey and yelled "YAY ENGLAND!!!". I don't think they fell for that!
Took the tube to the airport and once I got through all the security stuff (getting bored with all that - you now have to get almost naked before you go through!), I went to the BA lounge for a few G&T's and some snacks. As luck would have it, my flight was delayed by about 40 minutes, so was able to watch the entire France v New Zealand match, which was the best match of the RWC I have seen so far. The crowd in the lounge were very excited and I think we all wanted France to win! I said at the beginning that the RWC was too predictable - was I wrong!!! I never would have guessed that England would play France in the semi-final.
Anyway, had a good 12 hour flight to Singapore (first time I have flown British Airways - not bad at all), getting there at about 6pm. Got a shuttle bus to the hotel (Sha Villa) and went for a walk to the shopping district on Orchard Road. Stayed up as late as possible to combat any jet lag and then snuggled down for a good night's sleep.
On Monday, got up at a fairly decent time and went down for.breakfast. After all this time away, I was not prepared for the attentive service - they followed me everywhere and did everything to make sure I was happy! As I have since found out, this hotel, while fairly basic but comfortable, is used as a "teaching hotel" for hospitality students, so they are extra eager to please. I was trying not to laugh, I know I shouldn't, but I just wasn't used to it!
Well, as I like to stick to tradition, I found they had a "hop-on' hop-off" tour in Singapore, so I just had to do it! Spent most of the day exploring Singapore, having to run for cover now and then when the rain can pouring down! Another thing that I wasn't used to was the humidity, I have had a mix of all weathers on this trip, but most of it has been perfect, very lucky indeed!
Took a bus trip to Sentosa Island at night (I wanted to take the cable car to recreate our 1976 visit and to get a hot dog with chili sauce, but wasn't organised enough!). I made the mistake of taking the optional "Sounds Of The Sea" show, which was described as a multi-million dollar production containing dramatic effects, water jets, lasers and fire set to foot-tapping music. What they didn't say was it was one of those shows that has cheesy people miming the dialogue and songs - if you have ever seen one of those Disney On Ice shows you will know what I mean. You know, where the performers use exaggerated arm movements to 1) show you who is speaking and 2) Distract you from their mouths so you don't see they aren't in sync with the dialogue / music! Still, the effects were good, so it was not all bad.
On the way back, stopped off at the famous Bugis Markets for a look at the many stalls, but there was so much, I didn't buy anything... Maybe tomorrow.
One day left of the trip - let's see what the day brings...
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