“Regarded as one of the world’s greatest train journeys, The Ghan delivers so much more than an extended train ride. It promises access to parts of Australia no other holiday can come close to – the perfect balance of comfort and adventure, culminating in an experience that will move you in every sense of the…
It’s always nice to visit your own backyard and there’s a lot of backyard in Australia. Especially when you can travel in comfort. A few days in Darwin, a trip from Darwin to Adelaide on the iconic Ghan train, then a few days in Adelaide sounded like a great idea. I’d never been to Darwin…
I’m carefully avoiding the news again and find myself looking at my photos of Singapore’s orchids. So, I’ve put some more up for you to enjoy. And now for something completely different. Like most readers of crime, I have an interest in Jack the Ripper. I wrote a review of Bruce Robinson’s book They All…
I don’t much like reading the paper these days. It’s depressing to read about thousands of useful idiots marching across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to stop the ‘genocide’ in Gaza. For those who may have forgotten, on 7th October 2023 terrorists from Hamas crossed from Gaza into Israel to attack civilians, raping, torturing, murdering, and…
On our final morning in Singapore we visited the country’s oldest museum, with roots going back to 1849 when it began as part of the Singapore Institution’s library. The current building on Stamford Road opened in 1887, its neoclassical dome and wide façade obviously colonial. It was declared a national monument in 1992. Inside, the…
Sunday is always busy in Singapore. The people enjoy their weekends and the crowds were out. Our guide took us for a short bus tour of the impressive colonial buildings around the city centre, pointing them out as we passed. Then we went to visit the famous Merlion from which Singapore gets its name, on…
After our wonderful lunch at Tunglok Seafood we returned to the hotel to find our room had not been serviced. We rang housekeeping to find out if that should have happened and were told we were supposed to be checking out. We assured the lady we weren’t and went out of the room so the…
I’d been looking forward to seeing the Cloud Forest Dome at Gardens by the Bay – and today was the day. But before that, we went up to the Sky Walk which connects two of the taller super trees for more panoramic views across the gardens and the city. From there we went into the…
Singapore has had an aquarium exhibit on Sentosa for many years but the site has recently been renovated, expanded, and become the Singapore Oceanarium. Today it was opened to the public for the first time. I was looking forward to the visit – and so were several thousand other people. Unfortunately, we had to wait…
Singapore is a true multi-cultural society. Most of Singapore’s 5.9 million people are of Chinese descent (75.9%), followed by Malays (15.4%), and Indians (7.4%). The remaining 1.6% of the population is categorized as “Other,” which includes Eurasians and other groups. The English language is used for education and administration but Singapore also officially recognizes Mandarin,…