A day in the tropics. Singapore

Singapore has always been one of our favourite places.  There's a sort of madness about it's orderly perfection that entirely suits our personalities I think.  I tend to identify with the fact that it's always a work in progress, always a new project beginning before the last has finished, while the other of us it must be said, has a certain affinity for it's tidiness.

After years of non-stop commuting between hemispheres, we have decided that enough is enough.  Instead of continuing on our mind numbing way, this year we would make time for two nights of fully horizontal sleep, interspersed with a day of gentle sight seeing and catching up with friends.

"Catching up" in Singapore speak, means "eating with", and if ever "doing lunch" were to become an olympic sport, I suspect Singapore and France would be vying for the gold medal, with the minor placing being fought by everyone else.

"Just a snack" turns into a dozen courses of ever more tantalising and disturbingly larger portions as each successive dish is brought to the table, culminating in the latest Singaporean gastronomic sensation.  Today, "just a snack" became exactly that with the culmination being the improbable "Coffee Crab"- whole crab steamed in a wok with a thick, sugary coffee sauce that penetrated not only the shell and flesh of the crab, but the flesh of anyone who dared to pick up each shell-morsel and suck it dry!  

After hours sheltering in the restaurant away from the downpour outside, and with pulses racing from a near overdose of crab flavoured caffeine, we  bade Phil and Serene farewell without finding a way of thanking them profusely enough for their hospitality, promising ourselves (and them) that we'd stay longer next time.

Our attraction to Singapore is such that we wondered if see it through rose coloured glasses.  On balance though we probably don't, it's most likely just the odd blue tint of the hotel windows.