We lived in Singapore for nearly three years. Below are some links to venues and restaurants for those visiting Singapore, some useful links for those thinking of moving here and some of my photographs of Singapore.

The page was last updated on 30th March 2007.

These photographs are of the northern end of Orchard Road and were taken during my first return trip there after we emigrated.

It is the Deepavali Festival, centred on Little India, at the moment, so last night Ploy and I went down there to look around and sample some excellent Indian food. Click on the images to view them full size.

My favourite restaurants and bars in Singapore:

A regular haunt for us, for just a drink, a sandwich, a good buffet (with an unlimited buffet wine option), or something more, is the Crossroads Cafe at the Marriott hotel. Situated on the corner of Scotts Road and Orchard road the open air area is a fantastic place to sit and people watch. Try the California Cobb salad with a side order of cajun fries and a cold glass of the Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. It also has the best staff of any restaurant in the world.

We haven't eaten at the Sage Restaurant for a while now, but I don't think we have ever had a bad meal there and some of the dishes are exceptional. It is the surprises, the 'ordinary' dishes done in a slightly different way, like the potato and sage soup, a delicious consomme poured onto mashed potato. Nice service from Kimberley and a good selection of wines by the glass. Reasonable prices for this quality of food as well. The only down side is it can be a bugger getting a taxi to go home.

Cafe Iguana, situated as it is in Clarke Quay, is frequented by ex-pats but the food and beer is great. It can be difficult to get a table; even if you go really early you will find most of the tables already reserved. However go at a quieter time and enjoy the tuna enschilladas, with lime and coriander rice and great beans. And heat it up even more their mango and chilli sauce. Their Iguana lager is a great accompaniment.

Although Golden Mile offers authentic Thai food the quality is variable and the ambience somewhat lacking. For a more formal setting the Thanying restaurant in the Amara hotel offers, I think, the best Thai food in Singapore. Try the Yum Nua Yang, a spicy sour salad of barbequed beef. The other good Thai restaurant is the Parkway in Centrepoint but you have to be careful. The Thai chef is great and I suggest you go with a Thai friend and order what you want. The food panders to the Orchard road Singaporeans and is generally bland and unexciting, especially the ubiquitous buffet they serve at lunchtime and the service can be variable as well. But if you ask for Yum Takai (lemongrass salad) which is not on the menu (because no-one except me ordered it apparently), you are in for a treat. Also try the Kow pat krapow, which is fried rice with chilli and spicy thai basil.

I like Indian food and obviously lots of authentic dishes are available in Little India. However away from there I rather like the Curry House restaurant at 31,Boat Quay. The food is more expensive, but then you get to sit by the river and watch the ex-pats trying to out-do themselves at Harry's Bar nearby. The lamb jalfrezi with sidedishes of potato and green pepper with cumin and the five types of lentils in cream and spices, with a garlic naan and a beer is well worth the bit extra.

I have been to Esplanade, Singapore's concert venue, quite a few times, but I try to avoid eating there as I have not found a single restaurant that serves decent food. Until this week when we happened across Aria Bistro and Wine Bar . The food was supurb, especially my salmon pate and Ploy's duck leg confit. It was a very quiet night, but the restaurant should do well. We will be back.

The Cafe Iguana and Crossroads Cafe are also a good place to just have a drink and watch the world go by, but if a drink away from the crowds is what you want then try Montero's pub at the Goldhill Plaza, Novena. Just a good, unpretentious place to relax.

We treated ourselves to the Blu restaurant recently at the Shangri-La hotel and it was special. The ambience, the live music, the service and the view are great and for that special meal it is worth splashing out. The sashimi of yellow tail tuna was exceptional and Ploy was making lots of approving murmuring sounds throughout the meal. Treat yourself.

Some of my favourite links that relate to Singapore:

Everything that is on culturally in Singapore: Sistic

Singapore Tourist site, Uniquely Singapore

Places to eat in Singapore : Restaurants

The Singapore art museum: Singapore Art Museum

The fantastic Asian Civilizations Museum: Civilizations Museum

The Singapore classical music venue, the Esplanade, Esplanade

The best airline in the world, Singapore air

Low cost flights to Thailand (and elsewhere), Tiger air

For anyone thinking of moving to Singapore, the following sites are useful:

Information about the Singapore retirement scheme: CPF scheme

The Singapore tax office: IRAS

The Singapore Finance office: Ministry of Finance

Properties for sale and rent in Singapore: Propnex

The webhost for this site: Webhosting

My bank in Singapore: DBS

The Singapore Immigration office: ICA

The weather in Singapore: Weather

The Ministry of Education website, with details about all the government schools in Singapore: Education

General information about moving to Singapore, including renting an HDB apartment under the SHIFT scheme: JTC

If you are thinking of moving here, or just want to know more about the country, I found these two books on the right amusing and insightful, although having now lived here a while, I am not sure I agree with everything he writes.

August 9th is National Day, the anniversary of Singapore's independence. Our neighbours had a spare ticket for the rehearsals of the National Day parade at the Singapore Stadium, so Ploy went along. Click on the images to view them full size.

For the last five days there has been a fair at the Thai embassy in Orchard road so on Sunday we went along. There were over 100 stands selling Thai produce and crafts, as well as Thai dancing, Thai music and of course, Thai food. Here a few photos of the event. Click on the images to view them full size.

Below are some photographs of Sembawang Park at the north of island, taken just after a thunderstorm. In the distance, across the Johor Straits, you can see the shoreline of Malaysia. Click on the images to view them full size.

These photographs are from around the old ChinaTown area of Singapore.

The next set of photographs show some of the sculpture that can found around the city. Click on the images to view them full size.

The next set of photographs are some of the buildings in Singapore, from old colonial to contemporary. Click on the images to view them full size.

One of the best things about Singapore is the weather and in particular the thunderstorms. Yesterday we had a really spectacular show for the best part of an hour. Even from my apartment balcony it was a little worrying once I couldn't discern any time between the lightning and the thunder, so eventually I retreated inside to watch it where I could also look at the weather radar images on the Internet. Here are some more photographs of Singapore skies. Click on the images to view them full size.

We have been living in Singapore for over two years now. We rent an HDB apartment in a central area of the island called Bishan: the HDB (Housing Development Board) apartments are the Government housing of Singapore. Apartments are available in sizes ranges from 2 bedroom to a penthouse 4 bedroom apartment. We live in a corner 3 bedroom apartment. The apartments are available for rent or to buy and for foreign workers Singapore has a scheme to help find apartments (it only took us four days from arriving here to moving into our apartment). For details see the JTC link above. Here are some photos of our apartment.

Daeng Mo, Ploy and I made a trip to Singapore zoo, an open zoo which gives a real feeling of being close to the animals and doesn't give the feeling the animals are in captivity the same way as 'conventional' zoos do. I am always worried taking Thai people around zoos: they are always muttering 'aroi' (delicious) as they wander around, but we made it through without serious damage to the animal population. Click on the images to view them full size.

These are images of Sentosa, the holiday resort island just off of Singapore island. Most of it is a bit commercial for my liking but as you can see the beaches are fantastic and a book, a beer and sun lounger can while away many a Sunday afternoon. Click on the images to view them full size.

The images below are of Bishan Park, a sanctuary from the normal bustle of Singapore and within ten minutes walk of my apartment. Bishan is a small district located towards the centre of the island. Click on the images to view them full size.

The next images are of Orchard Road and Scotts Road at Christmas 2004. Most of the main shopping malls and designer shops are located along Orchard Road. Click on the images to view them full size.

These are images of Golden Mile in Beach Road, the Thai village of Singapore and a cluster of Thai food supermarkets, shops, karaoke bars and Thai restaurants. The 'beach' at the end of the road is used for Thai festivals such as Loy Kratong in November. Click on the images to view them full size..

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The following photographs are of Clarke Quay and Boat Quay, the old trading area of Singapore along Singapore River, that is now converted into collection of restaurants and bars of every ethnic variation. Click on the images to view them full size.

The next series of images are from the Bukit Timah nature reserve in the centre of Singapore island. This area includes many walks, including one on a suspension bridge over the canopy of a small area of tropical rainforest. Click on the images to view them full size.

My visit to Singapore's Chinese Garden did not invoke the tranquility that these photographs suggest, met as it was by blaring music and and a rather surreal demonstration by Singapores Interior Defence! The Garden also includes a turtle museum. Click on the images to view them full size.

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