Fri, May 31

We arrived in Singapore this morning and set off on our excursion to see the orchid garden and Chinatown on our City Drive.

Having been in Singapore in the last year, Orchard Road, Raffles Hotel and Chinatown were familiar; however we did stop at Mt Faber and the Presidential Palace as well as admiring the oldest Hindu Temple in the city, the 19^th century Sri Mariamman Temple.

But the highlight for us was visiting the Botanical Gardens to explore the Orchid Garden, which is the largest display of tropical orchids in the world.  Needless to say, many photos were taken as the orchids were absolutely stunning.

As we wandered around Chinatown it was interesting to see each apartment with its’ own bamboo pole to dry their clothes.  We were told that newcomers to Singapore who may want to get a job as a maid have to pass a government-run course on how to hang out the laundry on a pole so that they do not fall out of the window!