Day 1 - Chesterfield to Singapore

For those of you who do Facebook you'll know we made it here in one piece and with all our luggage in place (wonky boobs not withstanding).  Neither child cried en route (OK, one did but I'm not saying which one), the flight was long, uneventful (save for some worrying turbulence over the Andaman Sea) and they even managed to rustle up a vegetarian meal or two for us so we didn't starve.

Arrived in Singapore around 4.30pm.  George was given the evil eye by a Buddhist Monk in the queue for passport control and we made an appalling discovery at the desk where we had to fill in our full names - the child cannot spell his middle name.  It didn't seem to matter too much as they let George Aurther Harris through without a second glance.

So, having zipped up my metaphorical boots and gone back to my roots, how did it feel to be back in the land of my birth for the first time since 1978?  Well, great actually.  It all seems both completely familiar and completely different at the same time.  There is definitely some lingering haze from the Sumatran forest fires doing its best to mute the Sun's rays,  but the forest of skyscrapers and amazing ship-shaped and Avatar tree-like buildings were all very clearly visible on the ride into the city from the airport (the news a few weeks back showed these completely enshrouded in thick grey smog, but they were not today).

We are staying in the Holiday Inn Atrium which is very comfortable, in shades of 70s brown and beige, with illuminated lifts which shoot up from the lobby at alarming speed and certainly not suitable for vertigo sufferers.  After a slight contretemps with the rooms (two double beds, not really ideal for sharing siblings, or even long-married couples come to think of it - tee-hee) we got settled into our rooms on the 26th floor and freshened up in readiness for our evening hunter-gatherer food expedition.

Kent is vaguely familiar with this part of the city (Clarke Quay) and had eaten at a roadside cafe somewhere around here before so we went off in search for that - Kent determined to make his first meal of the holiday a plate of Singapore noodles and a Tiger beer.  We traipsed past dozens of posh eateries selling Japanese, Spanish, Italian and other non-local cuisine (who comes to Singapore to eat cheese I ask you?) and, just at the point when tempers were in danger of fraying just a teensy bit, and little legs starting to tire, we happened upon an authentic, basic Singapore caff selling all manner of delicious sounding grub (well maybe not the fish-head soup and frog fritters).  We ordered six plates and each was polished off within minutes, the highlight being ginger prawns with chilli in a sticky dark sauce and some Chinese greens fried with a ton of finely chopped garlic - mmm yummy.  Very worried I am going to have burst out of my new clothes by the end of next week at this rate.

Now back at the hotel, sitting in the lobby and making use of their free wi-fi while the rest of the family seems to be yearning for their beds.  Better sign off now.

Maria