Monday 24th March
 |
| Islamic calligraphy du jour |
We left Nellie and
Weng Wah’s house very early – 7.15 – because they were dropping us off at the
Sentral bus station on their way to church.
I was very much looking forward to having a roti canai at the station,
to replace the one we had to abandon in Gemas.
We found a large,
slightly smelly, food market outside the station, with frolicking kittens and
yes indeed, I had a wonderful roti for 1 ringgit…(3 ringgits = $1…) Pete and I balanced on the customary little
plastic chairs, amongst hordes of local people busily eating rice, noodles,
roti breakfasts. Some very nice people
came and sat near us. They spoke very
good English. They gasped a bit and
said, What are you doing here?? This place is not for you! The food is too spicy! We assured them we were quite happy and
that we thought this food was very delicious and they were relieved but still a
bit doubtful. Poor mad fahrangs…
 |
| High-heel shoe flowers |
The bus trip was
all very pleasant, on our large comfortable big red bus. Half way through the trip (why not earlier??)
they put on a movie – Captain Philips. And oh dear what a stressful movie for people
like Pete and me to watch! Pirates on the Somali cost! Hijacking, kidnapping, guns! My concentration was slightly broken by the
head right in front of me, belonging to a very nice young Chinese man. It was the biggest booffiest head you can
imagine, with a thick covering of straight black hair. He kept dropping off to sleep so his head
would loll to the left…to the right…wherever, in fact, I was trying to see the
movie…Sometimes all I could see was a large round ball of luxuriant black
hair. Probably a good thing; it was a
very stressful movie! Just when we got
to the part where there is a life raft, a US naval ship, a pack of SEALS ready
to storm in and kill the badboys…we arrived at the bus station and the movie
stopped for good and all, three quarters of the way through. We assume that Captain Philips survived, that
justice prevailed but who knows, things were not looking good…
By 2.30 we were in
the middle of Singapore, Pete with his pack, me with my little pink and green
wheelie suitcase. We were hot, tired,
hungry and we did not really know which direction we should be heading for… So
did we get a taxi? Of course not… Pete
always likes to Do It Himself. (Or as
Zoe would say, do it on myself…) We wanted to find the Tanglin Club…and we
would have been much better off had either of us remembered the name of the
street it was in…
 |
| Orchids in the foyer |
In the end Pete
rang Reception at the club and a very nice man talked him right to the
door. Or rather trotted him right to the
door, quite a few blocks away. I was
faint but pursuing in the far distance.
I don’t think many people turn up at the Tanglin Club with not much
luggage, walking like mad dogs and Englishmen in the midday sun, but they took
it in their stride and greeted us very politely.
And how beautiful
it is here! I wanted to cry with joy at
the sight of the big soft fluffy white bed, the spacious room, the luxurious
shower, bath, toilet, hairdryer, complementary shampoo, iron, kettle, extra
pillows!! We never stay in places like
this… (Pete is a member of the Tasmanian Club in Hobart, and the Tanglin Club
has reciprocal membership.)
We have a curved
balcony which looks out over the pool and the city:
There are about
six restaurants and bars, and at night it all looks like this:
We had a shower,
rinsed out some travel-worn clothes, and set off to explore the (very large)
premises. Our exploration took us to the
rooftop of the sports section of the club, and there we discovered a full-size
bowling green and a whole gang of very friendly people* who wanted to ply Pete
with beer.
 |
| Roger, Ross, Pete |
Today we are going
to the zoo. We are NOT going to rush about
too much here in beautiful Singapore. Maybe
one, or at the most two, activities per day, and time to relax in our luxurious
surroundings.
* This reciprocal club arrangement is very recent. So we were very surprised to meet these Australians, Roger and Ross et al, some of whom are going to Tasmania in April...to stay at the Tasmanian Club under the reciprocal arrangement!
* This reciprocal club arrangement is very recent. So we were very surprised to meet these Australians, Roger and Ross et al, some of whom are going to Tasmania in April...to stay at the Tasmanian Club under the reciprocal arrangement!
No comments:
Post a Comment