Beautiful Singapore - Jewel of Asia

I first visited Singapore in 1955 with my parents enroute to my father's new job with a tin mining company working out of Kuala Lumpur.

The only recollection I have from those days is the Raffles Hotel with ceiling fans that got my attention as I had never seen ceiling fans  before, and monkeys that hung about in the nearby trees.

I recall a story about the monkeys getting into someone's room and pulling their clothes out into the trees. If it's true, I can imagine how delighted the owners must have been.

Go forward six decades and Singapore is the model of a perfect city. With a mere four million local inhabitants, expat workers from all over the globe, and we tourists, it's no doubt changed significantly.

It's one of the neatest, cleanest cities I have seen only degraded by Little India that smelled and looked just like Big India. By comparison, Chinatown is much better kept.

We stayed at Robinson Quay and managed to do a Lot of walking with several inexpensive train rides and a tour. Near to us was the nightclubbing area filled with dozens of expensive restaurants, offers of high priced, but said to be discounted, buckets of beer. A 330ml bottle of local Tiger beer cost me $10 AUD. Later I bought a couple of tins of beer - 500ml for just over $5AUD each - Anchor, another local 500ml. A huge difference.

Wine is expensive in restaurants but cheaper bottles are available in specialist wine outlets and 7 Eleven stores. I bought two bottles to take on, the ship, a Jacobs Creek and a bottle from Chile.

So, the long and short of this is that it's expensive there for many things, but there are options to buy cheaper if one looks around.

It was more humid than we prefer and that goes with the territory so no use complaining about it. One just has to grin and bear it with frequent fluid intake, showers and change of clothes. Isn't that what the locals do?

If I was still young enough to work, spending a couple of years teaching something within my disciplines would be a high consideration because Singapore is so close and central to the rest of Asia. And such a nice place.

Needless to say, I took numerous photos of Singapore's iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the three towers with a ship-like structure supported on top. It was also part of our tour.

Unfortunately, I've been unable to place them in the blog, but am working on a way to do so. See my related post.

Robin

Bangkok: No Power Shortage Here

A typical Asian capital, Bangkok is a critical tourist hub for Thailand that must rake in billions annually.

There are over 10 million citizens in Bangkok and an unknown number of tourists and unaccounted for locals.

We stayed at Ratchaprarop within the fashion area just out of Bangkok central. The supply of belts, bags, shoes, wallets, t-shirts and almost every other item of clothing is overwhelming. If you can't buy off the hook, there are tailor shops that will tailor you a suit in one day. As my days of wearing suits are over, I didn't investigate how good a one day suit is.

What occurred to me most often was the large amount of energy that is being provided to probably billions of air conditioners, lights and equipment throughout this city and elsewhere. One small building I saw had 20 split level air conditioners hanging from one wall. Presumably they weren't all working simultaneously, but presumably they could.

Where does all this energy come from? Obviously not from wind turbines and solar. I haven't seen a solar panel anywhere. Nor a wind turbine.

While Western Countries follow energy policies destined to turn them into Third World countries based on a well documented global warming Deception (See Dr Tim Ball's several books), Third World countries are steaming ahead towards the First World.

Any saving of C02 we make will have absolutely no benefit to anyone except the UN, to whom PM hopeful Bill Shorten has promised yet another $500 million if elected, and manufacturers of inefficient wind turbines and solar panels - China.

A gas that is essential for all life on earth that represents 0.04% of all gasses in the atmosphere has been demonised and is now accused of endangering all of us who inhabit the planet. What will people say about us in 100 years' time as they visit the remnants of our broken down wind farms - when they stop laughing?

Australia the lucky country is now the stupid country!

Robin

Barossa Valley - Blessing of the Vines

Barons at the rotunda address the crowd

According to the Barons of Barossa,

"Every year on the third Sunday of February, the Barons come together in Tanunda and declare the vintage. The first picked grapes are blessed in the historic Tabor Church, paraded along the main street and crushed and the juice sampled at Keil Garden. The Winemaker and Vigneron of the Year are also announced."

Christina and I attended Keil Garden to watch the proceedings and taste the grape juice.

Example plaque

On this day, new Barons are appointed by their peers. Two were selected for 2019 and awarded a ribbon with medallion. These are people chosen because of their inordinate contribution to the wine industry. When a Baron dies, a plaque is placed on the footpath lining the Keil Garden.

Needless to say, you need to do much more than just imbibe on wine to make the grade.



Strangely, the National Anthem wasn't played by the band, but the presentations took place, the two recipients of the awards then used an old wine press to press two baskets of grapes into a barrel - see photo.

Some lovely wine maidens from the local Faith Lutheran College then decanted the grape juice and presented anyone wanting to taste it with a sample.

It was very sweet and I commented that it was good enough as it was without the alcohol.

Everyone present seemed to enjoy themselves and it was just another example of the numerous festivals and other events that happen here. It really is a lovely part of Australia.

Robin