Singapore is a small country and, although many people only stop there for a day or two on their way to somewhere else, there is a quite a lot that can be seen and done. My trip lasted about a week before my company came to its senses and asked me to come back (I was actually getting paid during this time ). Singapore is a very clean and orderly metropolis. For the amount of land they have there are a lot of people living there, and urban/city planning is something that Singapore seems to be doing very well at. Singapore has set aside nature reserves and other areas to get out of the city and do some hiking, biking, or relaxing. During my week I walked around the city and met a lot of interesting people, and well as went out to the nature areas to get some fresh air and exercise.

On my first night I went to the highest bar (1-Altitude) in Singapore with some people I met at my hostel.
The entry drink was very expensive but well worth the cost of the view.

I walked around the city and viewed some of the more interesting museums.

The stamp museum was actually well done and interesting even though I am not a stamp collector.

I walked around some of the famous neighborhoods like China Town and Little India.

The highest natural point in Singapore. Not quite mountain climbing, but the during my hike I saw some interesting wildlife and plants.

The Bird Park. I really enjoyed feeding the Lorys, and one of them really enjoyed my ear.

I took a short ferry to Pulau Ubin, where I rented a mountain bike and toured around the island. One of the highlights was a challenging mountain biking course around one of the old rock quarries.

The food in Singapore was quite good. Here I am eating chili crab with a new friend.

Speaking of friends, I got to meet up with an old one as well. My Singaporean friend Victor that I met about 5 years ago when I was still living in Tokyo showed me even more of Singapore’s delicacies.

There are a lot more pictures in the photo gallery: Singapore Photo Gallery

Due to circumstances my company offered me some emergency vacation time…

So, I am off to:

9.0地震
大津波

I made seafood Paella for the first time, and I have to admit that it turned out really well. My Polish friend also made homemade Polish style Borscht, so we broke out the champagne and decided to have a nice small dinner party.

It is now plum blossom season and one of the nicest places around where I live to see them is at the Taura Plum Garden. Instead of just going directly to the garden, I decided to participate in an organized walk set up by the Keikyu train line company. The course started at Kanazawa-bunko station, went for 12 kilometers and finished at the Taura Plum Garden. On the way was also a stop at Takatori Park. It took a little over 4 hours from start to finish, but the weather was great and there were a lot of interesting neighborhoods, rivers, parks, and other things along the way.

Arriving at Takatori Park.

The view back from where we came.

The park used to be the location of a rock quarry, so there are a lot of vertical walls that are used for rock climbing.

Rock climbing.

Also in the park.

Yay, we made it the 12 Kilometers to the Plum Garden.

Plum blossoms