3-5 April 2010 - Singapore

How wonderful it was to arrive in steamy beautiful Singapore after such a frantic time getting ready to go away - the warmth, hospitality and order of this city is so nurturing. We had a great flight over - video/music on demand in our seats - we got to catch up with movies that we did not think we would get the chance so see as we get to the cinema so rarely these days! Movies included: Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Sherlock Holmes, The Blind Side, Dr Who…..it makes a long plane trip go so quickly!

On arrival in Singapore we went to our hotel that was located in Chinatown - the taxi driver drew in his breath when we told him where we wanted to go and asked us who had suggested such a place. "it is in a terrible spot - surrounded by bars, pubs and prostitutes - ai yah!"Well, well - it turned out to be the quietest nightclub district I have ever come across - the pubs and clubs are located inside the original Chinese buildings that actually remain in the high rise concrete jungle of Singapore. It was a stunning spot - full of colour, life, gentle and polite people, hawker stalls, cafes, restaurants, tea houses, temples, churches, mosques and green spaces! It is very popular with Singaporeans - did not see many other tourists in this area.

Our hotel was very cute - it was a built in the 1930s during colonization (I think) and had the most gorgeous simple lobby filled with Asian antiques, marble floor and great artwork. The lift was so old that it could carry us, our luggage and a bellhop!! Lucky we were on the first floor! We had a simple spacious room overlooking a park and a stunning shower. What a delight it was to have a shower in a country that is not drought affected and had great water pressure - especially after a long flight.

Dinner was the first item on the agenda - off we went to the nearby hawker centre to enjoy some fresh lime juices, Hainanese chicken rice, roast duck and custard tarts - all for about AUD$12 - welcome back to Asia - the centre of culinary delights!! Rachel got to practice her limited Mandarin "ni hao", "xie xie ni", "hao chi", which was lots of fun!

The next day we were awake at 4.30am due to our body clocks - we are still adjusting! So we were up early and off to Orchard Road to explore the shopping mecca! It has a new 'vertical shopping mall' which is built mainly of glass and all parts of the mall look outside - up to 11 floors of it. It was pretty freaky and inspired moments of vertigo which was a bit hard to handle. But that did nothing to deter our enthusiasm for consumerism- had a ball exploring lots of other shops and reminding ourselves that this is really the city to visit when planning a summer wardrobe! Enjoyed more fab cuisine - belachan kang kong, sam sui steamed chicken, chilli prawns and tofu.

Our last day in Singapore was kickstarted with the wall mounted hairdryer blowing up when Rachel was using it and being set on fire! We calmly enacted our fireplan and it only took the fourth staff member to show up to actually bring a fire extinguisher!! We did get moved to another nicer room which was lovely. We then spent the day exploring Chinatown - the temples, markets, and of course, the chilli crab restaurants!! It was very humbling to observe the co-existence of diverse religions with a massive Chinese Buddhist temple, a large and ornate Hindu temple and a mosque within 100m of each other.

Changi airport is amazing - it has banana lounges if you need to get a little shut-eye; free internet access, restaurants, cafes, a butterfly garden…..it is like a huge airline club lounge!

6-8 April 2010

After a 14 hour flight we arrived in briskly cold Paris, caught the airport bus to downtown Paris, got dropped off at the L'arc de Triomphe, promenaded down the Champs de Elysee with our luggage to our gorgeous little boutique hotel. It is a funky little hotel and room was only renovated 1 week ago! The hospitality and warmth of the Parisians is wonderful. Have enjoyed wandering the streets of Paris, enjoying baguettes, croissants, confit of duck, terrine, foie gras, café au lait and vin rouge!

We are now in the lovely Ville de Nancy - a small city about 300km from Paris, which is about 1.5 hours on the fast train - that's what I call train travel! Lynda is conducting interviews at the universities and research institutes here. Yesterday afternoon she interviewed a director whilst sitting in the medieval square Place Stanislace which is breathtakingly beautiful. It is the place where the people of Nancy promenade, drink, meet, walk their beloved dogs - a central hub of life.

We head back to Paris at lunch time and look forward to exploring some museums and gardens - the spring flowers and leaves are slowly unfurling from their winter sleep - as the Parisians are. It is a delightful time to be here.