Articles from March 2017

Back in Singapore: #1 Tiong Bahru

Fresh from three months in the Antipodes, we’re back in Singapore for less than a couple of weeks – better make the most of it! I’ve always fancied living in the hip Tiong Bahru district, and so jumped at the chance of staying at our friend Matt Chapman’s gorgeous flat in Eng Hoon Street while he was away. Thanks again, Matt!

Tiong Bahru is the city’s very first public housing estate – built in the 1930s by the Singapore Improvement Trust (predecessor to the HDB, or Housing Development Board). In recent years, this district has become one of Singapore’s trendiest and therefore priciest residential areas.

The Tiong Bahru Road block shown above is typical of this Art Deco estate.

Eng Hoon Street – back in the 1830s, it was Sir Stamford Raffles himself who made these sheltered shophouse pavements – or “five foot ways” – mandatory, to provide shelter from the tropical sun and frequent downpours
Just beyond the Block 55 bus stop in Tiong Bahru Road, here’s another row of typical shophouses, predating the Art Deco ones that the district is so famous for

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Abalone for Breakfast?

It was another of those perfect mornings down at the beach – the infamous Perth wind hadn’t yet sprung up – and there they were again: hundreds of Chinese men, couples and families streaming down the footpaths through the dunes to the sea below.

They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, and they were clearly on some sort of mission. The sea wasn’t especially cold that morning, though it can be here, and many of them were kitted out in full wetsuits, plus snorkels and masks.

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Noordam Cruise – 14 days from Auckland to Sydney

What can I say about our 14-night cruise from 14-28 February on Holland America Lines’  Noordam? First of all, thank you, Roy, for organising it all and presenting me with the tickets as a fait accompli on my birthday in January.

Have you cruised? Did you like it? They – whoever “they” are – say that there’s a cruise for everyone. You just need to choose the right ship and the right voyage for you.

Boarding the Noordam in Auckland

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