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Jane-Maree O'NeillJane-Maree O'Neill
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  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 15

    Singapore

    March 7, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 29 °C

    Well our last day here in Singapore. I can't believe our 2 weeks have come to an end. What a lot we've seen and done and for me. I reckon I've eaten more in the past 2 weeks than what I have in the last 6 months.

    So we walked to Bugis this morning as opposed to getting on at City Hall and MRTing and changing to the Downtown line. It was nice to do that and quite easy and nice walking outside instead of through the tunnels under the earth.

    Anyway on the downtown line to Chinatown where my main objective was to find a mahjong set. But of course we'd planned out a morning and afternoon around that.

    A wander throught through the closed off Pagoda Street with all the souvenir sellers selling their wares. To my embarrassment I bought one of those stupid waving chinese cats for my desk at home - a fat gold one. And some litte satin zip bags because they are always handy for bits and bobs when youre travelling or for your handbag.

    We then visited the temple of the Buddha Tooth Relic. It's a relatively new building but it's gorgeously and very, very richly decorated. The bonus was there was a chanting ceremony starting when we got there. So there were about 6 monks in yellow robes near the deities chanting and playing instruments, and then the congregations were mainly women. Some definitely Buddhist nuns with shaved heads and brown robes; some were in black and grey robes so we're not sure who they were - maybe devotees?

    Through the streets to a few other temples as we wound out way to Lau Pa Sat hawker stall for lunch in the downtown area. Walking throught the back part of Chinatown was very trendy streets. Lots of old houses that have been turned into trendy restaurants or boutique hotels. Lau Pa Sat is hugely popular with office workers and a bit more expensive than the other hawker stalls we have been to. But a beer and a fragrant hainan chicken rice and a dish of garlic bok choy was just the order for our last day here.

    So next port of call was the People's Park Complex. This was THE original shopping place in Singapore and I remember Aunty Peg and Uncle Jim talking about it back in the day. Now it's still full of ramshackle shops with heaps of chinese ambience - not like Bugis - but kinda better quality maybe? And more local Chinese with travel agents, banks, goldsmiths, shoe shops - kinda cute.

    We could have walked for hours to find a mahjong set but we asked in a shop and there was a dedicated mahjong shop there!!! Only a small shop but full of colours and tiles and dice and different coloured bits and specialised carved tiles. Oh my :) the old couple were really cute (the guy had really little hands) and showed us an "English set" - which really meant they had numbers carved into the tiles. It was heavy and expensive (198 SIN). And it looked junky thugh it was big. So I don't even know the game yet so said no to it. However when we walked outside he raced after us with an alternative. Mahjong cards! So I bought a red set for us and a blue set for Josie. I didnt look at the cards so I've probs spent SIN 20 on blank cardboard. Who knows :)

    Back to the hotel to pack and get our heads around going home. We'd like to be going out but Mick's tummy is a bit yuck so a quiet one before our early wake up tomorrow.

    This has been good for me. My first overseas trip for as long as I can remember almost. Hopefully it kick starts the flame again, I think I'm on the way...    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 14

    Singapore

    March 6, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    It was very nice this morning not having to face the crowds at breakfast, and probably a lot healthier becasue we're not indulging in the trough of plenty. So breakfast was muesli flakes we picked up yesterday at the supermarket - in the stainless steel bowls I bought in Kalang and the plastic soup spoons I snaffled from Newton Circuis yesterday. Also, some lovely fresh mangosteen we got at the Tekka Centre in Little India the other day. And 2 coffees :)

    It was an easy walk down through the colonial part of the city where we are staying near. Our walk took us to the Asian Civilisations Museum down near the Singapore River past St Andrews church, the high court, the cricket club, the Victoria Hall and concert hall. Such lovely old buildings.

    Then into one of my favourite museums in the world. A small but amazing collection of Asian art and artifacts. And a very 'negotiable' space. Like it's 3 floors and you can see everything in a few hours. Some of my favourite parts were artifacts from the wreck of the Tang from the 800s; the tribal gallery; the jewellery gallery and the Buddhism collection. What I like about it also is that it's very eclectic. So, whilst you go into the Angkor museum in Siem Reap it's all Angor carvings, but here it's a sweep of everything in Asia. Defs a tick place!

    Having been to the museum we got 10% off in the coffee shop - it still cost a lot for 2 beef hamburgers and a tipple each but we figure it's the only 'restaurant' we've been to here so justified the cost.

    After lunch with our view of the Singapore River we crossed the old pedestrian bridges to the Fullerton (very grey) and took some touristy shots of the old merlion statue- what memories :) We wanted to go on a Singapore River 40 minute harbour cruise but it was going to cost us SIN56 for 2 so bugger that (I dont know how she got that figure as it was advertised for 25PP :(

    A wander back to the hotel for an hour before a venture out to some of the shopping centres - nothing to report.

    Back to the room again for a quick drinkie before we got the MRT to Gardens by the Bay to watch theit 15 minute nightly light and sound show. It was very beautiful and really nice that it was free! I lay down for a portion of it and was in the moment. There were a lot of people there but you wouldn't know it. After all the rain it was just a really nice and warm night with a slight breeze. Perfect!    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 13

    Singapore

    March 5, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    A nice slow start today with the usual breakfast downstairs where it was mad crazy busy. Even the usual chilled staff were running around like headless chickens. The food stations were chaotic and madly being restocked as people were devouring what they could. To tell the truth I'm glad that from here on breakfast isn't included so we'll be having a nice quiet coffee and muesli in our room.

    The plan today was to go to the Singapore Botanic Gardens to see the National Orchid Garden. We were going to team this with Andy's old expat stomping ground - Holland Park - which we didn't actually get to.

    However. An MRT station was right at the gardens so we started with a nice 1.5km walk through the gardens to the Orchid Garden. We were chuffed because our NSW Seniors Card was honoured and we only paid SIN3 to get in instead of SIN15 per person. Winning!!

    The orchids were magnificent and only got better as we moved through the place. Banks and banks of orchids and little niches and by-paths with different types of orchids and settings. I've never seen so many sizes, shapes, colours or patterns. Magnifiecent is an understatement. I don't know how many photos Mick and I took but it must have been hundreds. I loved that almost all of the paths were accessible, and even for people who had a visual disability could still walk through and at least hear the rustling and insects and smell the plants - and that was for the whole botanic gardens. A truly beautiful surprise.

    A long 1.5 km walk back in the rain and heat to the MRT and 2 stations to Newton Circus where there's one of the oldest and famous hawker stall areas. A bit expensive but delicious. Again, chicken and port satays, fried rice and 2 large beers. Yum.

    Back for a quick mooch through Bugis markets and then back to the hotel to the pool.

    We are having a night in because we've eaten so much today.    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 12

    Singapore

    March 4, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    So our mates aren't with us today as they've headed back home. But didn't stop us from having a full day.

    Breakfast was from when we got up and wandered downstairs. Luckily they know the room 2217 breakfast compications so we were waved through thankfully as we were ready to share the full story. Again :/

    I can't beilieve I pack in so many carbs on holidays - toast with ham and cheese and tomato; coffee; pancakes with maple syrup; coffee; vegemite toast...and while having brekky we planned our Little India day.

    A quick MRT ride to Little India station. But it's been pouring here for days so everything is a little cooler, a little slower and a lot wetter. We poured out of the MRT startion and immediately hit the Saturday morning streetside markets - not the Tekka Centre at this stage. So, stalls of beautiful shiny fresh produce: so many types of eggplants, herbs, fresh legumes,still in their pods, salad stuff, root vegetables - potatoes, turnips, beetroots, pink carrots, cauliflowers, gourds, okra, cabbages, tomatoes it was so pretty :)

    Every second stall were fresh flowers and leaves for garlands and then the grocery stores at the back selling stainless steel cooking implements, indian groceries and snacks, nirvana gear and saris.

    We crossed the road in the rain to the Tekka Centre to the wet markets. Always a treat to see more local produce. I'm always happy to give the chicken and red meat a miss but the seafood section was glorious - so many colours (sorry, dead fish but they were beautiful). Really fresh fish, prawns, crabs. squid and fish from tiny silver beer snack anchovies to big tunas. Silver, blue, yellow, turquise, grey, white, pink, black, green, orange. So many colurs. The only thing I didn't like were the little sharks - I dont know why, but the big tray of fish heads on offer for fish head curry wasn't a problem - go figure.

    The vegetable section was pretty similar to what we'd passed in the street so we ended up buying some red and yellow cherry tomatoes, a cucumber and some mangosteens for our eat-in-dining here in our room. We are starting to miss cooking home cooked meals. Like the hawker centres are great and cheap but it doesn't replace home cooking when you get to a certain stage of your travels.

    Upstairs at the Tekka Centre I was on my quest for dupattas - no luck - but so many beautiful sparkly things for so cheap it's overwhelming. And like, when am I going to wear this lovely stuff? Move on Jane....

    A walk to the Mustafa Centre past a long shopping strip of Indian shops selling mens' clothing, toys, gadgets, junk, religious stuff, junk, saris, shoes, tyres, junk, furntiure, mobile phones, junk. And tailors which was cool. Using their machines with bobbins and cottons and ribbons to make and repair clothing. And a lot of music..

    So the Mustafa Centre. I bought 3 batiks for tablecloths which ended up being polyester so hmm, shit, but at least they will last and were cheap. Ho hum..

    Back to the Tekka Centre for a biryani lunch. A huge mound of rice with chicken leg/thigh, cucumber pickes, dahl and a boiled egg. And a beer.

    We thought it was too early to go back to the hotel so we ventured down to the Indian Cultural Centre which was basically an Indian museum which was very interesting. Funny, it was SIN 8 per adult but they gave us the seniors rate without us even asking or us showing our seniors card for SIN 5; so funny.

    Some very modern museum displays of Singapore as a colony and the Indian figures and presence. Then a floor of magnificent sculptures, paintings and jewellery and textiles. A Pakistani blue tiled doorway and a Chennai wooden carved doorway were the highlights

    Back to the hotel for R&R and drinks. A shared pizza across the road for dinner and off to bed soon.

    Souths beat Cronulla! Glory Glory!    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 11

    Singapore

    March 3, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 24 °C

    We woke up to a very rainy day here but luckily the tropics mean if you get wet it isn't that bad. A good night's sleep, washing and meeting the Drinnans for 8 am breakfast.

    I'd love to explain the breakfast debacle but frankly it's not worth the effort on these pages. Suffice to say Mick's moment of brilliance was, well, brilliant after we got the Singaporeans to understand our situation which was outside of their realm of understanding.

    So a big breakfast with the Drinnans- their last day. They wanted to go to Gardens by the Bay, so a quick trip on the MRT (Ian missed it so we waited for him at Bayside) and then a wander through the beautiful rain in the gardens. We couldn't go on the tree skywalk however because of the rain - it was closed - so we got tickets for the flower dome instead.

    I can't believe the changes in 10 years. We were there in 2013 when the gardens first opened and though the towers were built and the paths were there, there were no trees or garden beds or flowers or anything- just towers and lawn. It was surprisingly beautiful, and the colurs were gorgeous because of the rain, and quiet because of the rain - not many people.

    We spent a lot of time in the flower dome which gave us all the differnet ecosystems from last time but with the plants a lot more established. They had a dalhia exhibition so there were these glorious big colurful blooms of autumn flowers which were beautiful.

    The real bonus though was when Mick spotted a 'thing' in the water while looking out from the flower dome to the river. It turned out to be Malay water monitors swimming around. OMG these bad boys were nearly 12 ft long and I was happy to correct the non -aussie tourists around us that they weren't crocodiles!

    From there we headed back to Bugis to try and find the hawker stall place we frequented back in 2013. So we got out at Bugis and followed the C exit that took us through the Bugis Street markets.

    I love an Asian market. Watches, facemasks, socks, sweets, T shirts, souveniers, bags, etectrical shit, shoes, vanity bags, handbags. All sorts of crap. We walked through the noise and melee a block till we got to the crossing and in front of us was the Albert Court food centre, such and institution complete with noise, birds and general mayhem.

    We left the boys at a table to organise beers while Josie and I got the food. Satays were a little hard to come by but we finally found them in a Muslim stall so we ordered 5 chicken and 5 beef each, and then hunted out some char kway teo. The satays were great but the noodles hmmm a bit fishy. But we had deep fried wontons which made us all happy.

    Next was the MRT back to City Hall and a line up for the iconic Raffles Hotel. Two singapore slings each with the peanut chaser and that blew the budget for a year :/

    Back to the hotel for a quiet few hours and then a quick meal across at Raffles City so we could say goodbye to the Drinnans.

    We had a really nice time with our friends, heaps of laughs, wit, fun, food, adventures and D&Ms.

    We are very lucky to have such good friends that we can travel with. Bon voyage Jo and Ian.    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 10

    Singapore

    March 2, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Very deep night's sleep after yesterday which was nice and then a later breakfast. Breakfast was frenetic and average.

    Found the Joo Chiat Kalang area after a map tanty for the beautiful old peranakan houses and funky local shops and cafes. Josie and I bought some pretty scented candles from a market stall that came in pretty tin boxes, and from a kitchen shop I bought a sieve and some stainless steel bowls. Stopped into trendy cafe for a local beer when it got too hot.

    Back to Arab Street in Kampong Glam for murtabak at Zamzams restaurant. We all shared beef, mutton and chicken murtabak that came with 2 curry dipping sauces - a fish curry sauce and chicken curry sauce. Drinks were non-alcohiloc of course; lychee soda for Josie, the boys had ice milo and I had a surprisingly nice ice kopi!

    A huge storm and rain. Walked around in the rain in Kampong Glam. We found some batik shops where the cheaper batiks I'd use for tablecloths were quite nice but the real batik, of course, was really expensive. But having said that there were large silk scarves from Indonesia - of which I have 4 - that I bought in Bali for AUD 20 and they were selling here for SIN150. Go figure...

    Back to the hotel at about 5pm and it ended up being a nice quiet night in. I got some cheese and bikkies from across the road so that was dinner.

    A good and fun day :)    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 9

    Penang to Singapore

    March 1, 2023 in Singapore ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    So today was a travel day, and even though it's not a long flight from Penang to Singapore it may as well have been 8 hours; such is travelling! We probs could have driven it in less.

    So up at 6 for a 7am breakfast with both of us not having a very good night's sleep - nor did the Drinnans matter of fact. They didn't have all of the dining room set up but that was OK - it was still dark as sunrise wasn't till after 7.30, so a fitting farewell to our lovely Blue Mansion. There was early morning traffic on the run to the airport but our Indian taxi driver made us laugh with his philosophy and words of wisdom: don't trouble trouble or trouble will trouble you; Your satisfaction is my reputation; I'm not into ghost riding etc so funny.

    It was an easy passage through check-in, customs and screening. I'm so happy we got stamps in our passports! A rare occurrence these days but our Malaysian ones are quite large and very clear - bonus!

    The flight was non eventful - I dozed and read. Singapore at the other end was more to do with fares for the MRT than anything else but as the MRT is easy to negotiate we got to our hotel very quickly but couldn't get into our room. So we went to Raffles City across the road and after walking through the gorgeous and expensive designer floors we found the food court,.

    Mick had chicken rice and I had wonton soup - probs about SIN13 for both?

    Got into our very nice room on the 22nd floor and freshened up. It took a while for us to get the internet working but when I did there was Samways to the rescue with details on a supermarket in the basement of Raffles City that had WINE on special and BEER on special! Yaaay.

    The supermarket was medium sized and had lots of lovely groceries and produce and fresh food and takeaway kind of stuff. Not cheap but reasonable for where we are. I was able to get bottled wine for SIN20 -22 which was pretty good.

    We then had a beer and did some planning with the Drinnans for the next 2 days as they fly home early Saturday morning.

    After dumping our groceries at the hotel we met downstairs and headed off on the MRT to Chinatown to go to the Maxwell Food hawker centre. Jo's friend Trish had recommended the stall called 'Wonderful' which sold satay and a few rice and noodle dishes. Well the satays were glorious! We had chicken, mutton and pork satays to share, with noodles and bok choy, The pork ones were to die for. Fatty and flavoured and glistening with juicy goodness. The boys had beer and for some stupid reason I got a can of watermelon flavoured cider. Hmmm.

    Chinatown was a lovely energetic place with lots of shops and stalls and eateries with narrow intersecting laneways with festoon lighting and lamps and noise and vendors quietly selling their wares. Whilst not crazy frenetic, it was still a lovely vibe, especially as the Indian temple was havng some kind of celebration which added to the colour and noise.

    A great quick trip back on the MRT. Now I'm having a lovely red while doing my diary.    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 8

    Penang

    February 28, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    So our last day in Penang which ended up being very nice - not that it wouldn't. Always bitter sweet to move on from somewhere that you really enjoy; we've pretty much done what we want here in Penang but the accommodation was so sublime it's a place I think we will return to. Also Josie and I found a place that does massages so we wished we'd found it a week ago.

    Anyway breakfast as usual with a few hours of last minute shopping. Our first stop in Little India was the 2 story Indian supermarket-cum-kmart. (This was after I got swooped by a massive, filthy, flock of pigeons feeding off some rice or some shit .) Upstairs I bought 10 stainless steel kulfi molds which can also double as little waler cups but they also had a simple pattern on them you could easily eat the kulfi from them - all nice and chilled in the steel. God knows why but a triple pack of jasmin and almond lux soap which will probs smell like shit.

    We wound our way down to Chinatown to the Little China Cafe which Josie had been dying to get to. Not just for the coffee and cakes but the gift shop which sold all sorts of goodies and cute enamelled tiffin boxes. Tagalong Jane. So I bought a bloody tiffin tower but at least not two like josie did which is our usual scenario :) What a laugh. Mick snaffled in a latte and poppyseed cake downstairs while we were shopping upstairs and then we joined him. Hello, lunch was less than 2 hours away so I was very happy with a lychee and cranberry lemonade while everyone else was stuffed full of coffee and cake .

    Back to the Blue Mansion where I went for a quick swim before we headed to Indigo, the restaurant upstairs for our lunch. It was so lovely. So lovely. Josie and I frocked up a little and we had the set menu. On our round table with proper gold-rimmed crockery and damask we had little warm sweetish bread rolls with butter; we all had squid - hearts of palm, turmeric emulsion, tamarind squid ink vinaigrette, basil oil, micro herbs and then the grouper: rempah marinade, nyonya risotto, torch ginger, long beans, coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, basil oil and then I had a beautiful strawberry, chocolate kinda thing. All so fresh and filling though not overly so. Perfect for lunch. We had beer and shared a lovely bottle of wine. Good times.

    Now, Josie has been agonising over this apricot coloured chiffon beaded coat from an Indian shop. She's finally decided to buy it so we went there after lunch and she decided to buy a gorgeous deep maroon coloured one instead. Then we went to the massage place which we found last night in Lover's Lane. I was a bit hesitant because of my lingering foot injury but I showed them a pic and said 'gently 'and they understood. It was amazing! Bloody hurt on occasion but it was fabulous. As I said I wish we'd known about it a week ago.

    Back to the Blue Mansion for drinks in the courtyard while it rained softly. The lovely red lanterns came on and the candles were lit. We all went to pack for our early start tomorrow and then went next door for a cheap satay and nasi goreng.

    Off to Singapore tomorrow.    Read more

  • Jane-Maree O'Neill2023 Penang and Singapore
    Day 7

    Penang

    February 27, 2023 in Malaysia ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    So another nice breakfast but I gave the noodle soup a miss in favour of baked beans on toast 😊.

    Today was the hiring-a-driver day so we could go to some further away places. Our first stop was Penang Hill which was only cool because of the funicular railway which took us up the 1000 metres to the touristy top. The finicula took us through some lush rainforest and the bonus at the top was we saw a pack of dusky leafed monkey (speckled langurs) which were having fun hanging and bickering in the rainforest canopy. There was a relatively new Hindu temple at the top - garish of course and a mosque. Then all the tourist-touty-carney stuff.

    So the funicular back down and back in the car to the Kok Seng Temple. The biggest one in Asia and typical Chinese. Impressive, huge and high on the hill and typically Chinese. And hot did I mention?

    Lunch was late at the Stables Bar and coffee shop. I had a chicken burger but should have had pasta but the chips were great!

    Back at the Blue Mansion I had a swim and then drinkies outside.

    We met the Drinnans for dinner and walked to Halab which was a Syrian restaurant recommended by Kathleen. It was pretty delish. A chunky baba ganoush, falafel, homous and puffed breads. Followed by lamb and okra curry and chicken kebabs, rice and salad.    Read more

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