....thunder bolts and lightning, very, very, fright’ning; mama mia, mama mia....

We are off on a “round the city” tour with a guide to see most of the other areas we want to visit, and to get some of the local knowledge. We will be visiting China Town, Little India, and the Orchid Collection among other sights. My son Simon told me how busy the roads could be and suggested we use the MRT or Mass Rapid Transit rail system to get around. Good advice for getting quickly from A-B and you can purchase a tourist ticket which allows multi trips. He also told us that it rains normally around 4 o’clock each day. Well, we haven’t seen any rain yet!
We are taken on our tour into a Buddhist temple in China Town. We inadvertently went in without a couple of the ladies covering their shoulders. An usher quickly grabbed cloths to cover them up. Unfortunately, one of these ladies was Margery! She normally carries a pashmina for such occasions but didn’t have it with her today!
We grab a bite in one of the China Town street shops for breakfast, having skipped dinner last night and breakfast this morning. It was` a Very good lunch! The bus has a no food or drink policy. It helps keep cockroaches and ants at bay, not that we have seen any! We are told about the two meanings of the word fine. Fine can describe the weather, or it can be levied for a plethora of mis-deeds. It seems that this very safe city comes at a price if you break the rules on litter, driving, speeding, jay-walking, etc. We don’t want to be accosted by the “Bill” so listen intently and thereafter mind our p’s and q’s!
After our trip to the rare orchids we decide to top up water bottles etc and get something to eat for lunch before exploring some more this time towards Clarkes Quay. During our trip this morning, the guide gave a message to those travelling to Sentosa (a small island to the south of Singapore reached by bridge) that “do not worry, come rain or shine, thunder and lightning the tour would go on.” We had been watching the clouds building and so thought this was a bit like the warning given by the soothsayer in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar to “beware the ides of March”. So brolly in backpack we set off in a very light rain. We get to Clarkes Quay and purchase an ice cream as the mother of all thunderstorms struck with monsoon force but without any wind fortunately. The sound of the rain drumming on the roof covering was like a tube train rushing through a tunnel, and the rain was bouncing up by at least 4” and water was cascading down steps and off roof’s. OK Simon, you were right and Dad was lucky to have another guardian angel to stop us getting wet!
Fortunately, my navigation was impeccable as always, and we were within a short walk from the only micro brewery in Singapore. Well, what else do you do on a wet afternoon, in a strange city, in a shopping mall a mile from the hotel? We sampled the local wares after 4pm as it was “happy hour” and BOGOF! Philias and Wattlie enjoyed the experience as you can see. After the first pint we had to order some “blotting paper” as we really aren’t used to drinking! We decided to sample the India Pale Ale but sensibly went for the 300ml option rather than the 500ml (pint). Good plan as the latter is 6.2% alcohol.
I wandered of the talk with the master brewer Scott who was a very interesting American who has been brewing at the Pump Room for the last two years. I got a guided “free tour “ to boot. We talked about the brewing process and some of the ideas I floated with him he may take up, including the “polypin” which he hadn’t come across. When I got back some 30 minutes later, the rain was still raining, and the spicy wedges were getting cool. Food takes a long time to get cold in this climate.
Braving the improving weather we walked to China Town and then got some supper after shopping in the air-conditioned malls. The food is very different from UK Chinese food which is possibly because of the fusion of cultures here. We had marinated cucumber and marinated edible fungus (definitely not conventional mushrooms), asparagus with prawns and sliced roast duck. Very scrummy, but you would be lost if you didn’t or couldn’t eat spicy food. (I suppose you could go to McDonalds, KFC or Burger King).