Europe 2019

Getting closer to home. For us, any trip to Europe or Asia has a mandatory stopover in Singapore for family time and to eat Singaporean food.

Having been here about 17 times, there aren't many things to see that haven't already been seen multiple times. However, there is one new one to see - Jewel at Changi Airport.

Jewel is a massive indoor waterfall, 5 storeys high, surrounded by major shopping and dining. The waterfall starts as an nwards facing, circular waterfall, falling into the centre of another waterfall that is water cascading down the inside of a clear perspex, circular wall that narrows as it descends, i.e. a vortex shape. This is surrounded by a vertical garden with multiple, small waterfalls. The T2-T3 Skytrain runs through it, so if you are only transiting through Singapore airport and have a little spare time, you can take the Skytrain back and forth to see it, though won't be able to get out for a closer look.

The biggest change I noticed in Singapore was the absence of share bikes. Just a year ago, they saturated the city centre and where also in large numbers scattered around the island. There were numerous companies competing for business. But now they are all gone. The government put restrictions and taxes on them, making them unviable businesses.

There are still eScooters zipping around though not the numbers I saw in Europe. Here, they are restricted to footpaths. My opinion remains unchanged, they are too fast making them dangerous.

It's mooncake time on the Chinese calendar, so we were given some to join in.

Back in the days of getting around Singapore with toddlers and pushers, we found Singapore quite unfriendly to those on wheels. They seemed to put steps in wherever they could whether they were needed or not. Things have improved over the years since. However, as we get older and some of us getting weaker knees, focus returns on unnecessary steps. One of the nearby subway stations is the deepest in Singapore, having 3 escalators just to reach the ticket level and then more, long escalators down to platform level. So why do we need to go up 10 steps from street level when we're going down so far?

This is the time of year that forest land on Sumatra (Indonesia) gets set alight to clear land for farming. Malaysia and Singapore are innocent victims having periods of very high smoke haze with associated health issues. It is a shame that this practice continues as our planet is becoming increasingly unable to deal with the impact of mankind's destruction. Sadly, Australia is also a participant in this stupid practice, putting more money in rich people's pockets being more important than a good world for our grandchildren. Czytaj więcej