SILLY SATURDAY IN SINGAPORE - SPOT THE ODD ONE OUT

Our last full day in Singapore dawned sunny and bright, as usual, and as we had such a busy day yesterday, we decided that today would be a restful day, so we didn't hurry down to breakfast, but just took our time.

Unlike many others, we are quite happy to sit and watch those around us - whereas most people seem to want to get in, have their food and get out quickly.  Perhaps they aren't on holiday!

We also like to interact with the staff, and one member in particular, Azul, had told us yesterday that it would rain at about 3 pm so we asked him if it would rain today.  He beamed his usual smile at us and said he didn't think so.  However, when Mr. HCB went to get his fried eggs - we haven't yet managed to eat either noodles or fried rice for breakfast! - Azul came up to him and said he had changed his mind and thought it would rain.  In his broken English, he told us that he was the weatherman and smiled again, so we said we would make sure we took our umbrellas out with us.

Another member of staff who cleans the tables once people have left, and who speaks very little English, came over and asked us about our trip to the Gardens yesterday and said to me by making the sign of a camera, "Take many photographs?" Of course, I couldn't deny it, could I?  She just smiled and said "Have a nice day" which of course, for many of them is a stock phrase - perhaps I should have learned some Chinese!

I had very bad cramp in both legs during the night, so realise I'm not drinking enough, and for that reason, we didn't want to go too far on our morning walk.  We had both said we thought the shopping malls were very "up-market" now to how we remembered them from twenty five years ago, and we particularly remembered Tang's, so Mr. HCB said he would like to go there.  We knew it was at the junction of Orchard Road, Scotts Road and Patterson Road, but as each road has five lanes on each side, it's necessary to go down on the escalator and then try and find the way from one side to the other.  This sounds quite easy and we are fairly intelligent people, but we got lost - again!  However, after going up and down several escalators and chatting with lots of different people, many of them Australian, who were also lost, we managed to get to Tang's Plaza.

The first place we visited there was a veritable treasure trove of elephants - and they reminded us of a very dear friend of ours from Church, Daphne, who died several years ago, but who collected elephants.  These were all sizes and colours, and I immediately thought that they would make a good and colourful collage for Silly Saturday - but of course, there is a twist - an odd one out - which I'm sure won't be difficult to spot.

For those interested in knowing more about the elephants, I found out that Elephant Parade is an open-air exhibition, dedicated to saving the Asian elephant from extinction.  Life-size baby elephants are exhibited in international cities with the aim of raising public awareness of the plight of the elephant and to gain support for Asian elephant conservation.  

Very much like the cows, pigs and lions that are often seen in cities in the UK, they are auctioned off after being displayed for a while and the proceeds go to elephant conservation charities.  

The event was created in 2006 by Marc Spits and his son, Mike, and was inspired by Marc's visit to the elephant hospital in Thailand, the only one in the world, which constructs prosthetic legs for elephants that encounter landmines when logging in Myanmar. There he saw Mosha, a baby elephant who lost her foot when only seven months old and was the first elephant to receive a prosthetic limb.  She is fitted with a new leg every year, and must then learn to walk all over again.  I have put in a photograph of the prosthetic limb, which was on display, as an extra.  

The lady who was in charge of this section in Tang's was very knowledgeable about the elephants and we chatted to her for some time.  I also asked whether Tang's was open on a Sunday now because I told her that when we were in Singapore twenty five years ago, as the owner was a Christian, he never opened the store on a Sunday.  She said that had changed, because all the stores were now open and Tang's had to do the same.  

We wandered along Orchard Road, looking for a coffee shop, and came upon Lucky Plaza - and this was the one we remembered from when we were here before, where there were lots of small units selling cheap tee shirts, souvenirs, camera equipment and anything else that tourists would want. We had a quick wander round, but didn't buy anything.  However, we both agreed that this plaza was certainly nothing like the up-market ones further along the road.

We then decided that we would to back to our hotel to rest before meeting Jenny, Alfred and their family later, and it was interesting that as Mr. HCB stood outside one of the rest rooms waiting for me, he had a conversation with a man from Melbourne, who was also waiting for his wife.  The man said (and of course, Mr. HCB said he couldn't disagree with him) that men and women have a very different approach to shopping - men know what they want, go into the store, buy it and then go home - but women wander around for a couple of hours, try lots of things on and then come out without buying anything.  As I keep telling Mr. HCB, that's half the fun of shopping and it doesn't even cost anything!

We walked back to our hotel in the blazing sun - and we both agreed that we are now ready to leave and go home - it has been a wonderful experience and we are looking forward to our meal this evening and then we have most of the day tomorrow to pack and sort ourselves out before our long journey home.  I wish we could bring some sunshine back to the UK, but actually, we are both rather looking forward to some cooler weather!

It's been great having you all on our journey with us - and for your encouraging comments, stars and hearts along the way.  M xx

P.S.  Azul was right - it's now raining, but the temperature is probably still the same!