After breakfast at Malacca we popped across the road with the intention of looking around the Baba and Nyonya Museum but were told that we would not be allowed to take photographs. As they charged admittance for a non guided tour of the place we decided to give it a miss and head off to Johor Bahru a little earlier than planned.
During our time in Malacca we only explored as far as we could comfortably go on foot. Driving out of the town we realised there was quite a bit more of the town to see so when we return next Thursday for one day we've hired a car again for 24 hours and will look a little further afield before catching our flight home to England.
We had to stop for pictures of these statues outside a body building gym. Apparently Datuk Wira Gan Boon leong is a local hero. Born in 1937 he's a minor celeb and politician. He was Mr Asia in 1956 and awarded an honorary Mr. Universe title in 2000. He's the President of the Malaysia Bodybuilding Federation
En route we got held up in traffic due to an accident that must have happened just minutes earlier and it wasn't a pleasant spectacle with two overturned vehicles - one a people carrier with a large group of people dressed for an occasion (possibly a wedding or funeral). In the central reservation there was the body of a man who was obviously dead and on the opposite carriageway several vehicles had stopped and were trying to help the injured. It looked as though the deceased man had tried to cross the motorway and had caused the vehicles to swerve before hitting him .. so sad for all the people concerned.
We eventually dropped our hire car off at Johor Bahru and had a 30 minute wait for our taxi driver. He got us through the customs formalities at the border between Malaysia and Singapore and drove us to our Hotel.
We're staying at the Furama City Centre Hotel which is close to Clarke Quay and the river. With Chinatown and Clarke Quay MRT (subway) stations nearby its a brilliant place to base ourselves. Its in easy walking distance to many tourist attractions and eating/drinking places
This is a photo from their website and obviously taken years ago before the taller buildings overshadowed it (or else its been photoshopped). When we arrived there were workmen and lorries in front of the hotel as its undergoing a facelift just now so I couldn't get a photo of my own.
This hotel was my first experience of Singapore when I arrived as a very nervous 26 year old on my own to take up a temporary assignment for the American company I worked for. Its silhouette reminded me of sponge fingers (the ones my Mum used to put at the base of trifles/jellies) and I was very pleased to find that the hotel hasn't disappeared as Singapore is renowned for constantly reinventing itself. After two weeks at the Furama hotel I moved into a huge (but old) apartment at Venus Mansions in Peck Hay Road for seven months. Sadly the original buildings were demolished a few years after I left Singapore but I understand that new Venus Mansion apartments/condos replaced them.
We've got an executive package at the Furama which gets us a dedicated check-in reception, free shoehorn and shoe polish (woohoo) and a pillow menu as some of the additional benefits. More importantly we're entitled to complimentary access to the Executive Lounge which serves evening cocktails including canapes, unlimited drinks and we can have our breakfast there if we don't want to eat with the hoi polloi.
We thought that the cocktails might be watered down and volume restricted but we were wrong. We checked into the hotel around 4pm and had complementary coffee in the lounge before going to our room briefly and then doing a quick walking tour around 'downtown Singapore' which includes the statue of Raffles at Raffles Landing Site, the Merlion, Clarke Quay by the river, The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, The Art Museum etc., From our hotel the round trip is easily achievable on foot in around 90 minutes - including time for looking around/taking photos.
We got back to the hotel around 6.30, freshened up and went to see what the Executive Lounge had to offer. There were two Australian couples there ahead of us and they were already on their 2nd or 3rd glasses of wine and really going for it. The snack selection was interesting with a cheeseboard, chicken wings, sandwiches, assorted roasted nuts, savoury pastries and some oriental titbits (don't know what they where) plus some very pretty cakes and pastries. David ordered a G&T and I had Bacardi & Coke. Both were very generous (strong) measures. We had another one each before calling it a day and heading out in search of dinner but we would have been able to order more (up till cut off time 8pm) if we wished. Alcohol is very expensive in Singapore and a glass of rum will set you back £8 - 12 although most bars have Happy Hour offers. This Executive package will pay for itself on the drinks alone. We've also been given a happy phone for our personal use whilst here and can make calls to the UK for nothing. Saves us having to buy a local Sim card.
Some photos taken during our whirlwind tour of the local area late afternoon.
Bum boat on the river with skyrise office blocks in the background
Another view of the river. About dead centre in the background building you can see the Furama hotel which is dwarfed by the more modern buildings around it. At the front of the office buildings, the low rise ones are bars and restaurants which sprung up to replace all the 'godowns' and rickety warehouses that used to be there when I first visited. I used to enjoy wandering around looking at all the old traditional businesses being run out of the warehouses - traditional cut throat barber shops, cobblers, tailors etc ... but they all had to go in the name of progress and the area is a little like St Katherines Dock now - but very popular with locals and tourists alike especially in the evenings.
Raffles 'original' landing place
The Colonial area
More river views with the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel in the background
Sadly the Merlion (national emblem of Singapore) is under wraps - or at least under a heap of scaffolding. I asked one of the workmen when the scaffolding would come down hoping it might be before we leave here next Wednesday but he reckons refurbishment work is scheduled to take 2 to 2½ months. So in the absence of the real Merlion, here's the mini one which stands nearby
Marina Bay Sands Hotel - the iconic luxury hotel with the world's largest rooftop infinity pool
Some quirky lifesized sculptures on one of the back streets
Its the Chinese Year of the Pig and these porkies are decorating the roads close to our hotel. I'd read that we need to go to the car park at Level 6 of the nearby 'People's Park' shopping Mall to get the best view of the decorations before they're taken down on 6 March. Hopefully we'll get the chance to do that later in the week. But in the meantime, this photo was taken from a bridge whilst crossing the road to our hotel
We actually went to the People's Park tonight to eat at the food hall there but I didn't have my camera with me. More noodles for Dinner tonight - mine with crispy duck and David's with pork. Street food is relatively cheap here and always hot and freshly cooked so I doubt we'll be eating in hotels very much this trip.
And ... just because I can't resist these cheeky birds. I love mynahs and they're not afraid of humans at all
These two were hunting for bugs in the shrubbery by the main road as we walked to the river.
During our time in Malacca we only explored as far as we could comfortably go on foot. Driving out of the town we realised there was quite a bit more of the town to see so when we return next Thursday for one day we've hired a car again for 24 hours and will look a little further afield before catching our flight home to England.
We had to stop for pictures of these statues outside a body building gym. Apparently Datuk Wira Gan Boon leong is a local hero. Born in 1937 he's a minor celeb and politician. He was Mr Asia in 1956 and awarded an honorary Mr. Universe title in 2000. He's the President of the Malaysia Bodybuilding Federation
En route we got held up in traffic due to an accident that must have happened just minutes earlier and it wasn't a pleasant spectacle with two overturned vehicles - one a people carrier with a large group of people dressed for an occasion (possibly a wedding or funeral). In the central reservation there was the body of a man who was obviously dead and on the opposite carriageway several vehicles had stopped and were trying to help the injured. It looked as though the deceased man had tried to cross the motorway and had caused the vehicles to swerve before hitting him .. so sad for all the people concerned.
We eventually dropped our hire car off at Johor Bahru and had a 30 minute wait for our taxi driver. He got us through the customs formalities at the border between Malaysia and Singapore and drove us to our Hotel.
We're staying at the Furama City Centre Hotel which is close to Clarke Quay and the river. With Chinatown and Clarke Quay MRT (subway) stations nearby its a brilliant place to base ourselves. Its in easy walking distance to many tourist attractions and eating/drinking places
This is a photo from their website and obviously taken years ago before the taller buildings overshadowed it (or else its been photoshopped). When we arrived there were workmen and lorries in front of the hotel as its undergoing a facelift just now so I couldn't get a photo of my own.
This hotel was my first experience of Singapore when I arrived as a very nervous 26 year old on my own to take up a temporary assignment for the American company I worked for. Its silhouette reminded me of sponge fingers (the ones my Mum used to put at the base of trifles/jellies) and I was very pleased to find that the hotel hasn't disappeared as Singapore is renowned for constantly reinventing itself. After two weeks at the Furama hotel I moved into a huge (but old) apartment at Venus Mansions in Peck Hay Road for seven months. Sadly the original buildings were demolished a few years after I left Singapore but I understand that new Venus Mansion apartments/condos replaced them.
We've got an executive package at the Furama which gets us a dedicated check-in reception, free shoehorn and shoe polish (woohoo) and a pillow menu as some of the additional benefits. More importantly we're entitled to complimentary access to the Executive Lounge which serves evening cocktails including canapes, unlimited drinks and we can have our breakfast there if we don't want to eat with the hoi polloi.
We thought that the cocktails might be watered down and volume restricted but we were wrong. We checked into the hotel around 4pm and had complementary coffee in the lounge before going to our room briefly and then doing a quick walking tour around 'downtown Singapore' which includes the statue of Raffles at Raffles Landing Site, the Merlion, Clarke Quay by the river, The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall, The Art Museum etc., From our hotel the round trip is easily achievable on foot in around 90 minutes - including time for looking around/taking photos.
We got back to the hotel around 6.30, freshened up and went to see what the Executive Lounge had to offer. There were two Australian couples there ahead of us and they were already on their 2nd or 3rd glasses of wine and really going for it. The snack selection was interesting with a cheeseboard, chicken wings, sandwiches, assorted roasted nuts, savoury pastries and some oriental titbits (don't know what they where) plus some very pretty cakes and pastries. David ordered a G&T and I had Bacardi & Coke. Both were very generous (strong) measures. We had another one each before calling it a day and heading out in search of dinner but we would have been able to order more (up till cut off time 8pm) if we wished. Alcohol is very expensive in Singapore and a glass of rum will set you back £8 - 12 although most bars have Happy Hour offers. This Executive package will pay for itself on the drinks alone. We've also been given a happy phone for our personal use whilst here and can make calls to the UK for nothing. Saves us having to buy a local Sim card.
Some photos taken during our whirlwind tour of the local area late afternoon.
Bum boat on the river with skyrise office blocks in the background
Another view of the river. About dead centre in the background building you can see the Furama hotel which is dwarfed by the more modern buildings around it. At the front of the office buildings, the low rise ones are bars and restaurants which sprung up to replace all the 'godowns' and rickety warehouses that used to be there when I first visited. I used to enjoy wandering around looking at all the old traditional businesses being run out of the warehouses - traditional cut throat barber shops, cobblers, tailors etc ... but they all had to go in the name of progress and the area is a little like St Katherines Dock now - but very popular with locals and tourists alike especially in the evenings.
Raffles 'original' landing place
The Colonial area
More river views with the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel in the background
Sadly the Merlion (national emblem of Singapore) is under wraps - or at least under a heap of scaffolding. I asked one of the workmen when the scaffolding would come down hoping it might be before we leave here next Wednesday but he reckons refurbishment work is scheduled to take 2 to 2½ months. So in the absence of the real Merlion, here's the mini one which stands nearby
Marina Bay Sands Hotel - the iconic luxury hotel with the world's largest rooftop infinity pool
Some quirky lifesized sculptures on one of the back streets
Its the Chinese Year of the Pig and these porkies are decorating the roads close to our hotel. I'd read that we need to go to the car park at Level 6 of the nearby 'People's Park' shopping Mall to get the best view of the decorations before they're taken down on 6 March. Hopefully we'll get the chance to do that later in the week. But in the meantime, this photo was taken from a bridge whilst crossing the road to our hotel
We actually went to the People's Park tonight to eat at the food hall there but I didn't have my camera with me. More noodles for Dinner tonight - mine with crispy duck and David's with pork. Street food is relatively cheap here and always hot and freshly cooked so I doubt we'll be eating in hotels very much this trip.
And ... just because I can't resist these cheeky birds. I love mynahs and they're not afraid of humans at all
