Hi again, this update is all about my whistelstop visit to Singapore. There is lots going on at New Hope but I will save it for another day!

Last Tuesday (2nd) I was up early to fly to Singapore to meet mum, dad and Susana, who were en route to New Zealand and had a stop over there. I boarded the plane only to be met by a pair of shocked eyes as I went to take my allocated seat. In the adjacent seat was a monk who looked as horrified to see me as I was to see him. They are not allowed to touch women, especially western ones and even eye contact is a big no no. Needless to say the air stewardess soon found me a new seat.......panic over, disaster averted. I arrived at Changi Airport at lunchtime, having gone via Phnom Penh, where we had to disemabrk and then get straight back on. The beauty of budget airlines.

I was at the hotel in time to wake everyone up to get ready for afternoon tea at The Raffles Hotel at 1530. What a luxurious treat. Aternoon tea was served in the Tiffin Room amidst pure oplulence and with an amazing harpist playing in the background. As well as serving the ubiquitous crustless sandwiches and mini cakes, there was also a warm buffet of Asian dishes. An obligatory Singapore Sling also went down a treat, it being invented by Sir Stanley Raffles. Once we had been suitably fed and watered we jumped in a taxi to the main shopping drag where we headed straight for M&S. What a shock the prices were, but needs must and undies, vest tops and linen trousers for Rosanne were purchased, as well as a packet of rhubarb and custard sweets!

Next stop on the military precision planned shopping expedition...........STARBUCKS. I was in grande triple shot skinny vanilla latte heaven.

Then back to the hotel with nibbles and wine, where gifts and necessities were exchanged. My bounty included Carmex lip balm, Sensodyne toothpaste, medication, lip gloss, havaiana flip flops, shorts, tops, hair stuff, a sudoku book, a Filofax 2010 diary insert, English Newspapers, a Hello magazine and a belated Christmas present of a Terrys white choclate orange. Also included were clothes and books for the kids. It's a good job they brought a spare bag for me to take back with me.

Day 2 - We decided to get a tourist hop on hop off bus that did circuits of the city, aptly named Hippo Tours! First stop, the Botanic Gardens. It's not somewhere that would normally be high on my list of must sees, but it was truly stunning, especially the orchid garden. We had lunch here and then got back on the bus to see the sights. We had a wander round Chinatown and eventually returned to the hotel for a quick dip to cool off. Dinner was in the hotel and was an amazing buffet, which even included bread and butter pudding much to dad's delight.

Not much sleep was had as I had to be up at 0330 to get to the airport and mum and dad stood by the lifts waving me off. All in all a lovely trip and it was great to see the oldies. Also, a big thank you for funding this pauper.