Bankers and Gods!

My feet are sore! We were out with Cary on his way to work today. He pointed us towards the Botanical Gardens and we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours discovering their delights. There were lots of people in the gardens, practising tai-chi, jogging, walking their dogs, doing all sorts of physical jerks or, like us, just looking at all the amazing plants. We deliberately went slowly because the humidity is so energy sapping.
From the gardens we took the MRT in to the city and down to Clarke's Quay to take a river cruise around the harbour so that Tony could see how much things had changed since he was here with the RAF in the mid seventies. Much has changed, including the moving of the Merlion, symbol of Singapore, out in to the harbour area. It was an interesting mix of old and new contrasting the colourful traditional houses with the skyscrapers behind. We had lunch close to the waterfront and then took the MRT (very cheap and easy and pristine - our underground in London could learn a few lessons!) to Chinatown for more Tony memories. He found it much more touristy with the food stalls and market stalls now replaced by much souvenir tat. Great atmosphere though! We visited two temples, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and this one, the Sri Mariamman Temple where I paid three dollars to be able to take photos. I like this one because it illustrates the old religious traditions living alongside the 'new religion' of business.
We then walked through to the harbour to take a closer look at the Merlion and on to the Civic District. Much land has been reclaimed here to create the Esplanade which boasts three skyscrapers topped with a casino shaped like a huge boat! Tony could remember when the shoreline was much closer to the famed cricket ground outside the City Hall.
So much walking and exploring on our first day of our short visit to Singapore. This evening we are doing the treating but Cary and Yu Yen are choosing the restaurant, I think it could be interesting!