Singapore

 Last weekend saw me in Singapore for a few days on a work trip, mostly to stand in for my head of school and present the graduates at the graduation of our cohort of Singapore students who take our degrees through MDIS, a collaborating partner of SCU's, and to attend the Singapore chapter of SCU alumni, together with a dinner on the Friday night with various senior 'executive' of SCU and MDIS. I get to go to Singapore about once a year these days and I always enjoy my time there. This trip was no different. The pic above is taken from a friend's 54th floor apartment overlooking the Marina Bay development with the amazing Marina Sands casino/integrated resort in the background. The three towers with the boat seemingly marooned on top.

 After the graduation, I caught up with our friend, Warwick, who is a flight attendant with QANTAS and happened to be in town. We taxi'd over to the fabulous Fullerton Bay Hotel for a light lunch and a couple of cocktails before paying our respects to the Merlion who projectile vomits continuously back into the harbour.

 I spent much of Friday at the newest tourist attraction on the island, Gardens by the Bay.  This is a huge development, a botanic gardens for the 21st century, replete with 'supertrees' which are these incredible steel tree-like simulations which of course form part of a light show during the balmy evenings. The two must-do parts of the Gardens development are these giant domes, glasshouses. The one featured here simulates a cloud forest biome up a mountain. This waterfall is what confronts you as you enter this exhibit,

 Steel walkaways twist around like old Kodak film - it is an incredible experience.

 As you move out of the exhibit you must pass through this audio visual extravaganza called +5 degrees which basically gives you a fraction of a degree by fraction of a degree account of what the earth might be like under climate change leading to an increase of 5 degrees in the earth's temperature.

Of course, Singapore is a food paradise, so on my last afternoon, last Sunday, after my 90 minute massage, and feeling very relaxed, I spent a pleasant hour or so drinking a couple of glasses of sangria and enjoying some very delicious tapas before heading back to the airport and flying home.