Raffles and The Curse of the Mosquito Bites

I've had a very interesting day in Singapore... The Museum of Asian Civilisation is a must! I found the shadow theatre and chinese theatre masks particularly interesting.

On the way back, I got talking to my cab driver. He told me my hotel used to be a brothel... He was a police officer for 21 years and it had a reputation. Of course, this was many years ago! However, he informed me, the cafe across the road kept the 'red light' tradition in full swing at the first hint of the night!

Sadly, he informed me of what I had suspected. Singapore may appear to be a clean, wealthy and well ordered society but the price as a police officer was a life full of restrictions and rules. People seem suffocated by the weight of the system that governs them. He left the police force, took an early pension and was unable to find work. His decision to earn money as a cab driver was a temporary one, at least that is what he thought.

In the afternoon I had a little retail therapy in one of the many malls in Singapore. Orchard Road is the equivalent of London's Oxford Street. One mall (all 6 floors) exhausted me. I am a hardened shopper but I think I had met my match. The malls too have a 'clinical perfection', long polythene bags for wet umbrellas are provided outside entrances to prevent drips of rain falling onto the perfectly tiled floors! The traditional chinese malls full of food stalls, fortune tellers and chinese medicine are far more interesting.

My mosquito bites have transformed into pus-filled boils ... it is not an attractive sight. In a coutry where they believe in 'karma', I wished for awful things for those mosquitoes and their bellies full of my blood! So ashamed of my legs, I wore trousers to the famous 'Raffles Hotel'. You could imagine Noel Coward sipping a Singapore Sling as we did that evening. Monkey nuts are provided free of charge with the very expensive cocktail. The waiters encourage you to throw your shells on the floor! Around each table and there is a distinct 'crunch' of shells as you step on them getting to your seat. You feel almost like a delinquent for doing it but you are simply adding to the tradition.

After the cocktail, I went off with my canadian friends to sit by the river lit up in all its glory and tell stories of chance happenings and coincidences. Tomorrow is our last night, we are going to take a boat down the river and eat in one of the riverside restuarants.

Tomorrow, I plan to go to the 'Esplanade' (an array of theatres and outdoor arts events ... like our National Theatre) to watch some performances and see a photography display. Later I am going to a Spa. I booked it today. It is eventually getting a lot easier to paper myself without the guilt..