Sing, sing a song, make it simple, to last your whole life long!!!!!

Singapore. Singabore. Disneyland with the death penalty.

Before moving to Hong Kong, I thought it and Singapore were same same. City states, in Asia, ex colonies, financial/business hubs. National pastime = shopping. What could differentiate??

Having now a touch of experience, I know. I've grown to treat trips to Singapore with a mixture of dread and leaden anticipation. Dread as my time is usually accounted for before I land, and I have no time to myself, leaden anticipation as this place can be so, so dull....This time my feelings were heightened as the full enormity of the trip (10 whole days!!!) came on the back of the freedom, exhilaration and sheer beauty of Mongolia. A panicky email to friends to recommend "things to do" whilst in Singapore ensued - I was seriously worried that I might actually die of boredom whilst here...

And then, in the manner of most things, the cards fell in a very different way and I began to appreciate its charms....Aided by a limo pick up from the airport (seamless), a stay in an amazing hotel and then the fortuitous appearance of many friends over the weekend makes me wonder what all the fuss was about....

And if I only could, I'd be running up that hill....

hello all

back, rested and refreshed from a sojourn of reflecting on life and stuff in the wilds of mongolia (there's just so much of it - it certainly impresses the smallness of us WRT everything else....)

Anyway, back to more profane matters - in the ongoing, informal competition for who has the most bonkers ex, I give you a bone fide story about a guy that a very good friend of mine had a thankfully brief liaison with some time ago.....

And then a steppe to the right.....

I am typing this at 12 15 in HK airport. I have been here for 5 hours. Luckily, I have lounge access so I have been enjoying the hospitality of the Cathay lounge (my, I get value for money from Cathay in all sorts of ways :-) )

The reason I'm stuck here is that there is unseasonable weather in Beijing which is preventing my flight from taking off. From Beijing I will be going to Mongolia. Mongolia has also been hit by torrential rain. By rights, Mongolia should be one of the driest places on the planet if records are anything to go by. However, it has been struck by 4 catastrophic climate events within 10 years

WTF is going on?? This is profoundly depressing. And no matter how much free cab sav I pour down my neck, or how many South Africans I befriend at the bar, this just isn't right....

And so my jolly to Mongolia (also somewhat blighted by the recent riots ) starts in a less than auspicious manner.