Have I mentioned that it’s hot here? Kate and I walked through the Botanic Gardens, very beautiful and close to my sister Mary’s apartment, to get to a tour bus stop. By the time we got to the right place we had soaked our t-shirts. The heat + high humidity is a challenge for both of us. And, today was cooler.

We stopped at the Botanic Gardens outdoor cafe and had cool drinks, sat under a fan. That helped. So did shopping at the excellent, and air conditioned, gift shop.

The hop-on bus tour took a couple of hours but it allowed us to see the highlights of Singapore. The bus had personalized ducts for its air conditioning. A good thing for both of us. We went down Orchard Road which is a main retail shop with vertical malls selling the same kind of luxury goods I mentioned as available in the Incheon and Hong Kong airports.

The architecture is cutting edge modern with lots of angles, odd shapes, glass, polished metal and cut stone. Mary says a constant theme here is upgrading: buildings, civil engineering, education, business. The Marina Park development, which contains many whimsical modern buildings, is an example. The Singapore Flyer, a huge ferris wheel, a park set high above the street on three building towers, structures shaped like a lotus flower, a hedgehog, and an inverted whale skeleton all draw the eye.

At the same time there is the historic part of Singapore which includes the grand Raffles Hotel, the Museum of Asian Art, China Town, the Botanic Gardens and the Peranakan neighborhood. This last reflects the particular architecture of the folks who were in Singapore the earliest. They have a beautiful ceramic tradition.

Back at the Raffles Town Club Kate and I left our things in our room and walked around the curved hallways on our floor to the Chinese restaurant. Dim sum and almond coated crispy chicken. Quite tasty.

This evening we’re going to a restaurant (picture above) that features cuisine of the Peranakan culture. Mary says the chef, Violet Oon (great name), is a local celebrity.