Singapore has a very consistent climate; hot and humid. And, while we both viewed it as just another big city, it had the air of a Disneyland for adults. Greenery everywhere, flowers everywhere, everything was neat, taxi drivers were courteous, streets are clean, and so on. Singapore does have a lot of laws-including the prohibition of the sale of gum-so you don't want to do anything that might offend someone. The taxi driver pointed out that it is illegal to drive over 80 kph and if you go over 100 kph they just execute you. We think he was exaggerating.

We grew up in the Los Angeles area and got used to the LA zoo and the San Diego zoo. These are great zoos. However, Singapore has a zoo that ranks up there with the best in the world. We signed up for the breakfast with the orangutans and we have pictures of both of us sitting with one and her infant. It is a relatively small zoo but most of the animals were out moving about and the settings were very intimate; i.e., natural settings with few cages. A variety of monkeys move freely about in the trees and we fed a group of them.

The gold jewelry in little India was strikingly ornate and beautiful. ( By the way, have you ever wondered why it's called Chinatown and little Italy and not Italytown and little China?) And the prices were extremely reasonable. Katherine is one to know such things. Katherine was looking to buy another trinket on mother's day and we ended up having a delightful conversation with an Indian lady, bedecked with gold and diamonds, at a jewelry store with her daughter who was to buy something else for her. Here also, business was down and businesses were in the mood to negotiate.

Across the street from the hotel I found a wine shop with a proprietor named Fonz who had just returned from Napa with the wine he liked the most, Silver Oak, which just happens to be Katherine's favorite wine; it's a small world. I wouldn't make a major detour to go to Singapore but it's a nice city to be stuck in. They also have a lot of golf courses. The bad news is you can't get on a lot of them and they are all expensive. We had a dinner in a Hooter's by the river in Singapore; it was the busiest place by far. ( We needed an American food fix. ) Given the Asian figures it was not the same as back home but still entertaining. The Japanese have been the slimmest people we have seen so far; they seem to have almost no body fat. They are also extremely long legged and the girls wear very short skirts which works out quite well.