Read this blog: The one where we jettison the shoes Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd March 2025 We had woken up on Friday to the rather dramatic news that a fire at the North Hyde Substation had caused a total power outage and Heathrow International Airport was consequently closed to all flights. As we were due to fly into Heathrow, this obviously caused us some considerable consternation. However, realising that nothing we could do would influence the speed at which the matter was resolved, we decided we would still spend our last day in Singapore visiting the Battlebox, the museum in the WWII Bunker at Fort Canning, as planned. After breakfast [see Dish of the day] and en route to the museum, Robert wanted his photo taken to showcase his two new branded bucket hats. Where better to do this than outside the Long Bar at Raffles? By opening time, a queue had already formed at the entrance to the Battlebox. As advised the day before, we had brought our Airpods for use with the audio guide, to avoid having to wait to be allocated headsets, and so we were able to jump the queue slightly. We were consequently the […]
Singapore
Read this blog: The one where we view a thousand different gins Wednesday 19th to Friday 21st March 2025 The forecast for our time in Singapore was not good. We arrived in the dark in torrential rain and were told to expect several days of monsoon weather. Robert therefore researched places we might like to go which were undercover or inside. The following morning after breakfast [see Dish of the day] we set off to see the exhibition The Art of Banksy:“Without Limits”. This was a real treat. As you enter, a useful timeline of the artist’s work sets the scene before you walk through the exhibition [see also Video and Selfie of the day]. Certain images and motifs recur, including the Banksy rats which appeared, amongst other things, as little red carpet doorman at floor level. It has been said that Banksy uses the rats to represent anyone who feels rejected by society. Banksy’s work often subverts more traditional forms of artistic expression, for example classical statues are reimagined as suicide bombers. Bathroom is a working from home [WFH] project produced during the first lockdown. It was first revealed on Instagram and features a series of Banksy’s signature rats […]
Read this blog: The one where were Matilda shakes her Singapore Sling Monday 15th to Thursday 18th April 2024 We would undertake the journey back to Singapore in two stages: firstly travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru via Gemas by train before crossing the Johor Strait into Singapore. Robert, despite his enthusiasm for all things rail-related, is always reluctant to rely too heavily on train connections which could be subject to delays and had therefore planned for us to stay overnight in Johor Bahru. We went to Kuala Lumpur Sentral to catch the first train to Gemas. This was an aerodynamic high speed engine. The route took us through the lush Malaysian terrain. The onward train from Gemas to Johor Baru was running late and we became increasingly concerned that we would miss our next connecting train. However when Robert went to ask the ticket inspector he was confidently told not to worry as the service would wait. It transpired that the ticket inspector was also transferring to work on the connecting train which would definitely not leave without its full complement of staff. The Johor Strait, between the Malay Peninsuala and the Republic of Singapore is just three […]
Read this blog: The one where Robert is given the forceful thumbs down Monday 4th to Wednesday 6th March 2024 Having travelled for almost a decade on a passport with a malfunctioning chip which never seemed to work in the biometric gates at airports, on landing at Singapore Airport, Robert once again found himself in possession of a defective piece of equipment. This time it was his right thumb. He had dutifully completed the online electronic visa passes to let us enter this historic city state and these scanned successfully. Matilda then stood on the footprints as directed, took her glasses off for photo-recognition, placed her thumb firmly on the scanner and was allowed to pass. Robert however was stopped at the barrier. The immigration official first cleaned his thumb with a spray. When this had no effect, she then told him press down harder, and then resorted to pressing his thumb down very firmly on the scanner herself, all to no avail. Finally Robert was told to use his left thumb and eventually the barrier opened and he was allowed to enter Singapore but we are not sure whether this means he has a fully functioning left thumb or […]