The Lion City

Singapore's skyscrapers determine a modern skyline for this tropical city - where I was born. In the last decades, it has substituted its old quarters for highrise offices, hotels and shopping malls. There are still parts of the citystate which can be qualified as authentic, and which hopefully will hold against the encroaching steel and glass of present day architecture. Many characteristic buildings disappear and make way for even more,higher and huger shopping malls. This is a vibrant city where you can experience the modern and multicultural face of Asia.

Favourite spots:

::The Esplanade Theatres On The Bay:: It was first nicknamed The Papayas but later a new nickname The Durian stuck on and since then it has been fondly referred to as The Durian because of the prominent spiky sunshade curtain adorning the two glass domes of the complex.Those of you unfamiliar with the king of fruits might be put off by the pungent smell of the durian. But, once you have savoured the flavour of the durian, you will realise you have entered seventh heaven. So it is with The Esplande ::The Night Safari :: the world's first wildlife park built to be viewed at night. Not an ordinary zoo simply illuminated by night or a modern version of nocturnal houses found in many zoos. Set in 40 hectares of dense secondary forest, the Night Safari offers guests the unique experience of exploring wildlife in a tropical jungle at night. Through the use of subtle lighting technique, guests are able to view over 1000 nocturnal animals of 100 species in vast naturalistic habitats.

What's really great:

One cannot deny that Singapore is one of the best places to eat. Frankly, I would prefer Malaysia as a better place to eat but because one can get almost all the good stuff in just a few minutes drive, it serves as a substitute. And of course shop till you drop!

Accommodations:

Accomodation varies depending on your budget form cheap hotels , B&B @ Bencoolen Rd to Mid Range & High End along famous shopping street Orchard Rd. For more deatils Please visit : http://www.holidaycity.com/singapore_hot-els/

Nightlife:

My personal fav : :Zouk Club:Anyone who is someone in Singapore has been to Zouk progressive and techno most times. :Velvet Underground: (mixed str8/gay/bi/tri)- Best to go by taxi. Trendy hybrid of high and low design. Great music. More mature crowd than Zouk, flashy and upmarket, mixed ethnically, mixed sexually. ::Must visit!! :: :Boom Boom Room : Singapore's famous drag queen/stand-up comic and his band of performers (mainly other drag queens and teenage boys) on stage here. Witness as this jolly bunch poke fun and and get away with almost everything under the sun. Their uncanny, unpredictable and extremely outrageous humour might cause some jaws to drop. Visit :http://www.boomboomroom.com.sg/ :Illusion Bar-Mohamed Sultan Rd : One of the largest dance clubs along Mohamed Sultan Rd. Crowd largely made up of young working executives. Wed nights are especially dedicated to the professionals from the media, beauty, fashion and aircrew industries and the gay community.

Hangouts:

Que Pasa(orchard Rd) : expats crowd- check it out! Moods #01-02 Scotts Walk, 25 Scotts Rd :Uni students cheap drinks! Karma Bar 57B Boat Quay :New age feel belly dancer shows if you're lucky :)) If the above mentioned not your thang & u are looking for other alternatives, I've listed some gay/lesbians hang outs around town : :: Actor's Bar:: -13 South Bridge Rd (opposite the Riverwalk Apartments) : Gay friendly bar welcoming both gays and lesbians. :: Backstage Bar:: -13A Trenggannu St Chinatown : A cozy, gay-owned bar, nicely decorated, with a balcony for flirting with passersby. The place to be and Fri and Sat are particularly jam-packed! ::Taboo ::-65/67 Neil Rd :Crowd is primarily gay, but also some lesbians. All races party here, so it?s extra fun. Busiest on Fri and Sat nights (many clubbers come both days).

Restaurants:

Wherever you are in Singapore, there is a food centre, a coffeeshop, a tuck shop, a canteen or an eating place of other sort near you. These are places where locals eat and where you'll find the most delicious and inexpensive food!

thxs Nashie

Singapore Fling

Clipped into Singapore from Auckland after sleeping almost the entire flight. Arrived at the airport to 25°C heat at 6am set to rise throughout the day. And rise it did. Hot, hot, hot. Humid, humid, humid. Tis rainy season and boy does it show. Beautiful place is SIngapore and staying in this amazing 5-star hotel called the Grand Hyatt. It's pretty special and Narg has his own executive suite - nice.

Singapore is very cool, only staying here for a couple of days before heading back to the UK then onwards to Chamonix. It's pretty cheap - got lunch with mum for $3, about £1. The city teems with business deals being forged and hums with financial intent. Lots of westerners too. There's an endless supply of prositutes here, something I never really expected. Apparently they satiate the sex-trade demand for the westerners. Narg Snr gave out tips and techniques on how to watch out for ladyboys - now THAT'S the kind of father-son advice that should be listened to, understood and then never forgotten. There are more than just loads of chinese working girls too - lots of Russian and Eastern Bloc ladies of negitable virtue floating around. It all makes one feel kind of uncomfortable going out on the beers. Mrs Narg Snr gave a small speech on STD's and lots of jokes - the family Narg is never short of conversation when dealing with personal content. Gotta love having parents who really are open and funny. Rocking baby.

So pretty much had a mooch around topping up the tan by the pool, adventuring around the city and going out for fantastic dinners in wine cellars, drinking and doing some brief clubbing. Hoping to get rid of some jetlag too.

Bumped into one of the boys I used to work with in Changi Airport on the way home (how random!!) and so stopped for a quick chat. I'm sure we both looked absolutely knackered after flying half-way round the world! Nice to have it happen though. So got on the plane and slept most of the way back to Manchester.

Nothing much of note happening now. Am sitting back at home feeling perpetually jetlagged and sleeping during the day and bouncing around awake at night. Hopefully all the jetlag will be gone in a few days. Spoke to Chris from Listingslab who's going to pick us up from Geneva Airport on Saturday (cheers mate!) ready to start the next chapter in The Life of Narg. Can't believe how excited and relaxed it feels to move and start a new life. As well as snowboarding of course!

Just got to get all this damn washing done now.

thnxs Narg

Singapore Comfort

thxs Jill

I've been excited about coming to Singapore for over a year now and I must say, it has not disappointed me. The mass transit is superb and dirt cheap; the shopping is irresistible; and the parks/gardens are sublime.

I'm suffering from a bit of sticker shock though. We paid more for our dinner last night (at a "NY deli" that turned out to be more of a diner) than we spent in a day in Malaysia. At this point, I'm willing to pay for a little comfort. I had my first hot shower in over two weeks (don't worry, I've taken cold ones), and our hotel has pillows that I am sure come straight from heaven. Oh yeah, did I mention the wonders of air conditioning and high speed internet?

We're going to bask in the comforts of the 1st world for another day before heading to Lombok Island in Indonesia. There, we're going to climb the second-highest mountain (a volcano) in Indonesia. I'm a little nervous since we've been sea slugs and jungle sloths since we left Seattle. I'm afraid the climb--7,000 feet in 6 miles (and that's just the first day)--is going to kill me. To recover we'll head to the beach for some more time in the water and sun.

(For those who have been asking, we're going to try to upload pictures periodically during the trip, but so far the technology has eluded us. We'll try again when we're back in Singapore.)

Ordering Coffee and Tea in Singapore

Ah, there’s almost just as many varieties of coffee and tea in Singapore as there is in your regular Starbucks menu. Here’s a basic phrasebook to help you choose:

kopi/teh: coffee/tea with sugar and condensed milk
kopi/teh C: coffee/tea with sugar and evaporated milk
kopi/teh kosong: coffee/tea with milk, without sugar
kopi/teh O: coffee/tea with sugar only
kopi/teh O kosong: straight and bitter
kopi/teh peng: coffee/tea with sugar, milk and ice
kopicinno/tehcinno: milk at the bottom, coffee/tea in the middle, froth on top, just like your cappucino