October 2014 Around the world and then some, Part II

As this trip started I was going to go to China in between Australia and Amsterdam. This trip was postponed so I had a weekend in Singapore plus a couple days. It was good to be back in such a great city and I managed to visit our Gaffney-Cline office there and meet some old friends.

Snapshot

Singapore
From Adelaide to Singapore to met with a Baker Hughes consulting firm (Gaffney-Cline & Associates) in Singapore. Singapore is wonderful. Plenty to see and do. Wonderful history and culture. Also my favorite food---chili crab, black pepper crab and lakhsa. Singapore also is celebrating Deepavali with a Festival of Lights and it was really fascinating.

For 20 years, Singapore was (to me) just an airport and a place with hotels and meeting rooms. Sure I would go by Jumbo Seafood to have Chili crab and black pepper crab with steam buns. But I never saw the town. When my wife and I traveled there it was much better and documented in our blog entry. We saw almost all the tourist stuff and love Singapore. This was more of a working weekend as I am behind on articles and presentations.

Little India was packed for the festivities and local temples had more than the usual number of worshippers.

The streets were crowded with hawkers and shops---and one man providing a service I didn't take advantage of.

Some Malaysian food from a hawker stand. 3.50 Singapore dollars, or $2.80 USD. It was excellent.

There were scores of butchers doing on the spot work with huge crowds buying every conceivable animal.

Seafood and fish were also in abundance and obviously very fresh.

There was a display of Japanese design. This picture is not a computer simulation but an actual photo.

This is atop the taipei Buddhist center

There is a large "Arab" town in Singapore with many mosques. This is the same one where my wife and I witnessed a wedding on a previous visit so it holds a special memory for me.

An old Moslem cemetery

Some typical shops in the area

My wife and I went to all the tourist stuff before but here are a few pictures from my walking around. This really is a great city.

Finally, a note about Singapore airlines --- I really like this airline. Almost everyone does and Singapore Airlines perennially winds up on the top of the list of "Best Airlines." They deserve it. The service and food were excellent and they do a wonderful job.

If you have a chance in Singapore spend some time in Fort Canning. Splendid views and a great insight into the history of Singapore.

Thirty five days, twelve flights, 36,000 miles, six currencies, eight beds, 1 opera.

IAH-SFO/SFO-AKL/AKL-ADL
ADL-SIN
SIN-AMS
train to FRA
FRA-TSE
TSE-GUW
GUW-SCO
SCO-ALA/ALA-DXB
car to Abu Dhabi
AUH-AMS
AMS-IAH