Hello everybody, it has been some again since last post, but things have been a bit busy. Nirmala was in Singapore for work. If you Google "GDF Suez Singapore", you will see why. We did, however, manage to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in style (wedding was 1+8 (legal+church) September last year). We went to "Turandot", an opera by Italian composer Puccini, set in a fictional Beijing and performed by the Singapore Lyric Opera. It was performed in Esplanade Theatre, a cultural complex (with shopping mall and restaurants, it is still Singapore!) near the Marina. The Esplanade Complex is nick-named the Durian (spiky smelly fruit as described earlier). You can see from the picture where the name comes from. Now, we are back in Bangkok, officially under state of emergency but, so far, we have not noticed a thing. Attached some Bangkok scenic pictures: first a picture of a demon (forgot the name) who greets you at the airport and then a picture of King Bhumibol, set in a decorative frame along the road. Pictures such as these are omnipresent in the Thai capital (and Thailand as a whole), often accompanied with "We Love the King" or "Long Live the King" slogans. The colour of the King is yellow, so many Thais were a yellow polo or shirt on Mondays. The Queen's colour is blue, and you see a lot blue flags now, as it was recently her birthday. Pink is also popular, as the King was wearing a pink suit (as on the picture shown) when leaving the hospital a few months ago, so it now associated with good recovery. More news later.
Some pictures from the Singapore Botanic Gardens where we went for a walk last Sunday. Income is free, except for the Orchid Gardens, where there are several hundreds of orchids on display, including a selection of "VIP Orchids", created for famous visitors, such as Nelson Mandela, Margaret Thatcher, etc.
Last weekend (12-14 September), we went to Kuala Lumpur, aka KL, the capital of Malaysia for our first wedding anniversary. KL is an interesting city and has become famous throughout the world for the iconic Petronas twin towers, up to recently the highest buildings in the world (452m). It is impossible to miss the impressive buildings, which dominate the skyline of KL. Interestingly, there is another very tall structure not too far away from it, the KL Tower (Menara KL in the Malay language). From there, you have a great view over the city and the twin towers. KL is a pleasant city with a wide choice of restaurants and shopping malls (including a huge one just next to the Petronas towers) and with a mix of different people: Malay, Chinese, Indian,... Some of you may remember the touristic slogan "Malaysia Truly Asia" to underline this diversity. The majority group in Malaysia are the Malays, who are muslim (this in contrast with Singapore which has a similar ethnic composition but where the Chinese are in the majority). We were in KL during Ramadhan which meant we could not have lunch at the restaurant of the impressive Islamic Arts Museum near the national mosque (not accessible for 'non-muslim tourists'). The wondering monkey and friendly albino snake were present at the Batu caves, a Hindu religious shrine just outside the city. The centre of KL has still some typical colonial-era buildings (Malaya & Singapore were a British colony). To conclude, a word of thanks to Tom's colleague Kin Keong Chan who introduced us to his friend Tuck Weng Chin who guided us around in KL on Saturday. Thank you both!
