Singapore & Bali 2000

Once again we stayed in the Garden Wing of the magnificent Singapore Shangri La.  The clever use of huge glass walls in the lower levels blurs the boundary between indoors and out doors.  Colourful gardens, with pools and many sporting facilities can easily make you forget that you are only a stone's throw from the centre of a bustling city.

The interior of Shangri La is impressive.  Although many tourists stay here, this is mainly a business hotel.  Bedrooms are well equipped with fax and computer link whilst the Business Area provides full office facilities.  Life is slightly formal, but the service is unparalleled.

Coming from the UK in the colder months of the year, it's an automatic reaction to brace one's self for the icy blast as one leaves the comfort of the interior!  But quite the reverse here - as you step out into the garden you are reminded the the temperature seldom varies much (day or night) throughout the year.  A balmy 30 degrees or so.

On our second night here we were treated to a magnificent early evening thunderstorm.  An hour later we were eating outdoors at one of the many restaurants at Boat Key.  It rains here 2 days out of 3 but it never lasts long and soon everything dries up.

Singapore is a remarkable place.

And then, of course, the compulsory visit to one of the world's most famous hotels.

Land reclamation work has substantially changed both the island's topology and the coast line (most of the hills have been dug up and dumped in the sea to make more building land).

Sir Stamford Raffles might well feel a moment of disorientation should he return today.

This is not the original Raffles Long Bar, but nonetheless the world seems to flock here to test the unique Singapore Sling - served as always with huge quantities of peanuts in their shells.

Singapore has very robustly enforced litter laws; but it is a tradition in the Long Bar that discarded peanut shells are dropped on the floor.   By late morning visitors crunch their way across an astonishing carpet of shells as they make their way from entrance via bar to table!

Sir Stamford's statue looks out over the water.  A man who truly recognised the importance of:

Location
Location
Location

It doesn't require specialist knowledge to realise that some of the world's finest architects have been at work in the city.  The buildings, mainly very tall because of the scarcity of land, are a delight to the eye.  Buildings of real historic importance have been preserved and there is a strong sense of history.  But overall this modern place conveys an atmosphere of excitement, endeavour, purpose and achievement which those of us from a more staid environment can only admire.

Although Singapore is many miles from the UK and enjoys cultural, political and ethnic environments very different from our own, this is a place in which one could easily feel very at home.

The recreation island of Sentosa, with its gardens and cultural attractions drew us back once again.  The former military hospital is now a museum.  Bill's army uncle Stuart and physiotherapist aunt Angel would certainly be familiar with the hospital from their time here when there was still a strong British military presence.

Every evening ends with a sound, light and water show which is as impressive as it is difficult to capture on film!

The island, as those who recall the musical 'South Pacific' will know, is volcanic.  The volcano is still active and its peak is usually shrouded in cloud;  we were lucky to get a view as clear as this during our visit.  Tourists get no closer than this!

Lava is much used as the raw material for stone carvings which abound all over the island.

Much of Indonesia is Islamic, but Bali is mainly Hindu.  The people here are quiet, modest and friendly.

We stayed at the Bali Hyatt hotel which offers air-conditioned bedrooms and every convenience expected of a quality hotel including bars, restaurants, pools and other recreational facilities.  The public areas tend to have no walls and rely on fan-assisted natural ventilation.

Construction uses a clever combination of wood and palm-leaf thatch with more modern materials.

Our picture to the left shows the hotel lobby.  There are no doors here!

When visitors are expected, musicians provide a welcoming greeting.  Their instruments are all percussive;  perhaps the western ear is not well accustomed to this style of music but it is, nonetheless, a pleasure to hear.

Our rooms, with their en-suites, were well appointed and fully air-conditioned.  Fluid intake has to be maintained and we consumed an impressive variety of locally bottled products.  Bottled water was supplied freely by the hotel.

We ate out very well every evening in local restaurants - most food is served on banana leaves.  There's plenty of fish, meat and vegetables presented in a variety of styles appropriate to the geographical region.  Red wine might best be described as 'variable'.

Mobile phone coverage was excellent wherever we went even if calls home were a trifle on the costly side.   Once we had discovered how to spot them ATMs were widely available.

The climate favours luscious plant growth and the cultivated gardens of the hotel were a riot of colour, shapes and smells.  Ornamental pools and streams teamed with fish.   No film-set designer could improve on this.  Away from the cultivated areas the same vegetation grew - but not so densely.

In our experience, swimming pools in much of the world come in the "it's nice when you're in" category.  Not so here.  These pools are just a degree or so below blood heat and ideal to cool off in.  There were hot and cold plunge pools as well which Nick and Chris investigated but their temperatures were extreme.

The hotel grounds led straight to the beach.  Neighbouring islands are visible on the horizon and many ships pass by.

Inside the reef the water (approaching 30 degrees) is shallow and safe.  Nick and Chris went SCUBA diving whilst Liz, Bill and Annalie stuck to the safety of Jet Skis.

Apparently kite flying is a popular local pastime and beach traders provided an opportunity to bargain for these and other trophies.

Australia lies south of Bali and is an attractive departure point for refugees attempting to reach Australia's northern coast.  However we saw none of this.

Bali is famous for its stone and wood carvings.  The raw materials are available in abundance (most of the stone is actually lava) and each village has its own specialism.   Many other places in the world make or import such artefacts purely for the tourist market.  In Bali it is good to see that products such as these are widely used in local architecture and decoration.  Some of the wood carvings in particular were stunning - huge heavy relief dining tables and chairs indeed most common items of furniture - and Nick spent many hours pondering the commercial possibilities of importing such items into the UK.

Whereas older members of a family might do most of the artistic design and basic carving, there's always a lot of finishing and polishing work for the youngsters.

Starting at sea level and running up to the peak of a volcano, Bali enjoys a variety of micro-climates - warm and well irrigated at lower levels, cooler but drier higher up.   We saw rice, tea, coffee and citrus fruits growing together with many other crops less easy to identify.

Although tourism is certainly having a growing impact on the local economy, and the introduction of electricity and family planning (two children per family) has much altered social structures, agriculture retains a  place in island life.

Children all go to school and the moped has become a prized possession - father drives with wife on the pillion, the oldest child sits in front of father and the second between father and mother.  Complete family transport.

Temples abound everywhere and some are very ancient.  This one had become so overgrown that its existence had been forgotten.  Our picture shows just a small part of what was a huge construction which included a spring and lakes.  It was recently uncovered and is now undergoing major renovation.  All visitors must cover their legs - for this purpose wraps are available at the entrance for tourists.

Most buildings on Bali have their own shrines and at shops offerings are commonly placed by their entrances.

Our picture to the right shows two women bringing very ornate assemblies of meat and fruit to a temple to be blessed.  At the conclusion of the service, the food will be taken home and eaten by the family.

It happens that a receptionist at the Shangri-La in Singapore is Balinese.  When we told her where we were going, she said that we must visit Jimbaran - a village renowned for its fish restaurants.

And so it was, one evening, that a courtesy car came to transport us.  The driver apologised that the air conditioning was not working:  as the journey continued we discovered that much else was defective!  However we all completed the round trip without incident.

Restaurants stretch as far as the eye could see along the beach.

Each restaurant was a fairly minimalist structure and we had some concern about the hygiene facilities.   In view of the free transport, we felt obligated to to have at least some food and drink here - but we ate a more substantial meal later elsewhere.

Jimbaran is also noted for its stunning sunsets and we were not disappointed.

Bali has been an unforgettable experience for all of us.  The gentle and friendly people, the colour, sights and sounds of a small tropical island all combined to make this the perfect holiday experience.

For all of us this was also our first crossing of the equator.

As has now become our habit, Liz and Bill only took video.  We are indebted to Chris whose camera took all these stills.