Sleepless in Singapore

I woke up at 3 am today and couldn’t get back to sleep. Now dawn is arriving, coloring the sky behind the skyscrapers outside the window.
We are pretty jetlagged after the flight to Singapore, where Gitta and I arrived yesterday afternoon.
If I was expecting a lot of strict controls at the airport I was mistaken. Everything was quite smooth. From the taxi I could see proof of Singapore’s famous cleanliness. No rubbish on the streets or in the parks, whatsoever. Also it’s very lush. Some of the trees are pretty interesting. We’ll be going to the botanical garden today or tomorrow so I guess I’ll find out more about them then.

We are staying with Karin, a friend of Gitta’s, and her family. They live a few blocks off Orchard road, the main shopping street in Singapore. Like most expats they have a maid taking care of cleaning and cooking, and we feel quite pampered.

In the evening we went for a walk down to Orchard Road. There were lots of people about, and all the shops were still open. Singapore is supposedly quite expensive. We browsed through the books at Borders bookstore, and the prices were about the same as back home.

I haven’t met Karin’s husband yet. He hadn’t come home when we decided to make it an early night yesterday.