We took the bus down to Orchard Road which is the main tourist shopping street, and found the Hop On ,Hop Off bus which took us around the sights of Singapore. We were pretty tired and it was very hot and humid. We decided that we might stay on board and go all the way around the city until we came across the Singapore Flyer. This is a much larger version of Melbourne’s wheel which was damaged during the heat wave in February 2009. So after obtaining our tickets joined the queue along with hundreds of others. It certainly is a massive structure and we enjoyed our half hour ride. Driving by Melbourne’s wheel this morning we realized how big Singapore’s wheel is. From here we walked across the river in the heat to the new hotel and casino. What an amazing structure we saw and managed to make our way up to the top floor which is shaped like a boat on top of a building. See picture later.
By the time we arrived back at Orchard Road we were exhausted and decided not to venture into the shops but took the local bus back to our hotel. We relaxed for the rest of the day and then ventured out to another shopping centre nearby for some dinner.
We were in bed by 10.30 and didn’t wake up until 10.30am.
Monday 13^th JuneWe had arranged to meet up with old friends Diana and Daniel for lunch at 12.30pm so we had to make a move. We had to pack all our stuff and check out before that time. Warren struggled to get going and couldn’t drag himself to get ready so I took my things down stairs and checked out with Warren arriving just in time to meet them.
Daniel took us to an outdoor restaurant not far from our hotel and bought chicken, prawns, vegies and rice. It was quite tasty. Poor Warren couldn’t stop perspiring and his shirt was soaking wet. Diana even went into a store next door to buy him some serviettes to wipe himself down. Restaurants don’t seem to supply any.
From here Daniel drove us to the exquisite orchid garden where we had a stroll around the gardens enjoying the beauty of the tropical atmosphere. Such a contrast to all the gardens we had seen during the last few weeks.
Then it was off to the Marina where we had been the day before, but this time Warren remembered to take his camera. He had been so disappointed at leaving the camera behind at the hotel. They bought us some interesting Chinese desserts which we devoured.
Daniel drove us to the airport and we hoped that our flight had not been cancelled as we had seen on TV that all Qantas flights had been cancelled in Melbourne because of the volcanic ash from the Chili volcano.
Fortunately it hadn’t been cancelled so we checked in and then Daniel took us down to the basement canteen for tea. We were not at all hungry and knew that we would get a meal on the plane but Daniel insisted that we have something. I chose some dumplings that I had tried I Thailand which Warren really enjoyed.
We said goodbye to them and made our way through security and immigration and changed into some warmer clothes ready for the flight and Melbourne’s winter.
We had a comfortable flight home but neither of us slept as we were not at all tired.
The plane landed at 6.20am after having to detour a little away from the volcanic ash. We breezed through customs and immigration  (declared our vegemite)and Natalie arrived 2 minutes later to take us home.
It was so good to be home. Charlie, our dog, was with Natalie in the car and was so very pleased to see us. He didn’t leave my side all day. The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful blue but it was still very cold.
We had had a great Irish and Scottish experience along with some English experiences too.
Now it is time to get back to reality and may be dream of another far off land to explore some day, but not too soon.