Day Six - Sydney

It is funny when you go to a different country how you hear the birds singing a different song.  I have no ideas what these birds are that wake me up in the morning (as opposed to a guy filling a skip), but they do sound lovely.  I was up and out by 9.30 and caught the bus to Coogee Beach.  I was going to walk from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach but then decided against it as my back has been really good since I arrived in Australia; and also, I forgot my stick!  Coogee Beach was beautiful.  I wish I had taken a towel then I would have gone for a paddle.  I sat on the promenade watching the world go by.  I decided then to go and get a late breakfast.  I said it before, Australia has some of the best coffee (as well as New Zealand) that I have tasted.  Breakfast was a treat, the

vegetarian special.  I then went for a walk along the esplanade then up to the shops where I wanted to buy a postcard and get it sent off.  Plenty of post offices around too, something you do not see back in the UK.  More coffee whilst I wrote the post card and then I decided I needed to look for some new shoes.

My feet have been very swollen since I left Singapore and I swear it the shoes I have got that are not helping.  I stopped off the bus and Rewnick and went into a shoe shop.  The good thing about footwear here is that it is designed to do the job i.e. be outside in the sunshine.  The woman in the shop was so lovely and helpful and she could see that my feet were like trolls' feet and don't forget the prickly heat all up my ankles too; such a catch.  Shoes purchased, they were not cheap, I decided to keep them on and I have to say by the time I returned to the AirBnB the swelling in my left foot had gone down a bit (fingers crossed).  

I got off the bus in Gay Land.  I swear I must be the only straight person in

Sydney at the moment.  Once again, like most of my life, I am surrounded by gay men but this time gay men from around the world!  The local area looks very colourful at the moment and I walked up the road to our flat surrounded by dogs, jockstraps, rainbows, harnesses and men (oh my).  Back in the flat I decided I would use the washing machine.  Such excitement I know.  I forgot, but the Australians have toploader washing machines, which I have to say I do like and could have done with a few weeks ago when my back was so bad I could not bend down to get things out of ours.  It was nice to be honest just to kick back and relax before the madness starts.

I met up with Andy and Stuart, but here's a tip. When you do not have wifi as obviously my data allowance does not go as far as the other side of the world, make sure you give directions to a place i.e. business that actually exists and

not just a rough area, of if you are doing this, make sure that the person is aware.  Needless to say, I got lost.  I went off on a stroll, down a huge hill until I finally hooked up on some free wifi and checked in!  All that madness aside, we went for a burger and I even managed to get a vegan burger, albeit being cooked probably with all the meat ones but hey ho.

We then went to the Stonewall Hotel and met two of Stuart's lovely friends and that is where we stayed for the evening, and what an evening we had!  To say I was a minority would be an insult to maths.  I think I saw around ten other women throughout the evening and in the typical tradition of Karen, got speaking to more men in a pub than I ever do when, on the rare occasion, I go out in straight world.  They had men in pants dancing on the bar, right in front of my face.  I nearly lost an eye!  I did video it and sent it to Megan with the note ...... this is what your Mum is doing tonight!  They had drag queens performing, brilliant music playing and in my case, plenty of lager and gin.  It really was a lovely, lovely evening and now I have new International Gay Friends to add to my collection.  Obviously, they loved me and are going to look me up when they come to London.  I mean, what is it?  Why can't I transfer these skills to straight world!

Finally rolled home at 2.00ish, slightly the worse for wear but give me a break, I am on holiday.  Collapsed in bed and that is where I stayed to until 10.00am when I did surface thinking I better just grab a shower and go and get some coffee.  So here I am, in the local coffee shop near to where we are staying and a very good place it is too.  The coffee, needless to say, is really good, I mean, really good and they have a steady stream of people coming in. It really is a good, thriving business and of course, the sun is shining. Busy day ahead, but more about that later.

As always, with my love x

Day Five - Sydney

So here we are in Sydney (again).  Wait all my life to get here and then can't keep away!  I went for a stroll last night and it got me thinking (not always good) that here I was seven years ago, looking over the harbour thinking where is my life going to take me, and here I am again, same thoughts, same insecurities.  Granted, plenty of adventures in between but still something solid missing, pulling me back to this spot.  Sydney is a vibrant city.  It is a city for the young.  I went and got my nails done then went for a walk.  I won't lie, I got lost, but that is how the best adventures always start.  I ended up in Darling

Harbour which is so pretty and also has been redeveloped so much since my last visit.  The weather was lovely and warm as I walked around the harbour, over Piedmont Bridge and caught a tram down to Circular Quay. This is the main hub for the ferries that come in and out of the city all day.  In front you there is the Sydney Bridge and Opera House, the ideal photo opportunity that everyone strives for.  I was no exception.  I just sat by the quay side watching people come and go and then went for a coffee before making my journey home.  Once again, there was not much public wifi which makes on the go planning challenging but not impossible and I soon found my bearings, back on a tram and back to the AirBnB.  At least I now my way around now from the premises and this will make it easer in the coming days.

I was rudely awoken this morning by someone at 7.00am thinking it is OK to fill up a skip. Once again, real life!  So I decided to get up, shower and get some

coffee before planning my day.  Time on my own for the next few days, so I decided to take the ferry over to Toronga Zoo then catch the bus up to Balmoral to take a look at the beach.  I was not disappointed.  It was such a beautiful place.  Sydney is a city.  Not one of my favourite if I am to be honest, but once you get out in the suburbs, away from the offices and shops, there are really some beautiful places to explore.  I sat in the sunshine, thinking too much, then went to get some fish and chips for a late lunch.  I was recommended a place by someone in the UK and once again, I was not disappointed.  

I decided to go back to the city on the bus and not the ferry and this was

interesting as the bus actually went over the Sydney Harbour Bridge or as the locals call it: the coat hanger.  Back into the city and the madness, I caught the tram back up to where we are staying.  Surry Hills is a beautiful suburb.  There are a lot of Victorian style houses and I imagine, and I bet I am not wrong, not a cheap area to live.  We chose this area for a specific reason, which will become apparent for those of you who have not worked it out already, soon.

I rested up for the rest of the evening as I was so tired and actually fell asleep early which was the worse thing I could have done as then could not get to sleep when it was time to sleep.  Jet lag.  You have to love it.

As always, with my love x

Day Four - Singapore to Sydney

I would like to say I as rudely awoken by the Mosque at 6.00am this morning, however, I did not have a good nights sleep. The hotel, for some strange reason, turned into Crewe station around 3.00am and stay pretty much like that throughout the night.  By the time the Islamic alarm clock went off (and I must say, I do kind of like it, it makes a change from Yellow by Coldplay which normally wakes me up) I at least thought thank goodness at least it is 6.00am.

Today is Andy's birthday!  Gave him his card and we both got up and washed, packed etc.  My hair really is not coping well with the humidity.  I am going to get on that plane later looking like the mad woman Borneo! All packed and

ready to vacate the room we went in search of food.  One, of many things, I have noticed in Singapore is they do not really do breakfast.  Needless to say, after wandering around Little India for a while, dragging hand luggage bag with me, we couldn't find anywhere to actually get a cup of coffee and anything that resembled what I would call a breakfast.  In the end we did what the locals, the locals as in Indian locals, do.  We had a curry.  We had some pancake things with some dahl.  I was lovely.  I did order a coffee but couldn't drink it as it had milk and sugar in it!  The whole lot, for two cost $7 which is around $3.50!  We followed it up by going to an Australian coffee house so that I could have a coffee. By now, there was really not much else to do.  It transpires that there are only 6.5 million people in Singapore.  When you compare this with 8.5 million in London you can see why we thought it was quiet.  To me Singapore is the Waitrose of the world.  Thailand is like a very good Tesco but trying to be a Sainsbury's.  Cambodia is really a Aldi with Loas, I suspect, being more like a Lidl.  It is so clean.  I just want to see a pile pf puke or a crisp

packet somewhere, but I know I am going to be disappointed.  They are very hot on punishment here.  We have seen subliminal messages on the tube that state you are subject to being caned for certain offences.  I have just looked at the following page:  https://www.sps.gov.sg/docs/default-source/stats-release/sps-annual-stats-release-for-2019_713kb.pdf.  that gives you details of the number of people imprisoned in Singapore.  Last year four people were executed.  They do not mess around.

We caught the tube to the airport. The underground trains here do not have a driver and I was able to stand at the front of the train as if I was driving it. I made a little video of it.  It really was weird and what was even stranger was the fact that even the underground was spotlessly clean.  No newspapers. No litter. No dust. Nothing!  We took their version of the Oyster card back and got our $10 refund.  We had spent $20 on travel which is around £11.  How cool is that for all our travelling.  I really have not spent a lot of money here and have found it reasonable.  Like everywhere else though, if you eat at top restaurants every night or in hotels, of course you are going to spend more.  As you know I chose not to do this.

Arriving at the airport we were able to check in our luggage and then had a wander around.  The airport, like the rest of Singapore was quiet and clean.  In fact, Terminal 3 was empty.  People were waiting to serve passengers in

restaurants and shops, but there was not a soul around. It really was quite a strange feeling.  Eventually, we went for a cuppa and I treated Andy to Afternoon Tea for his birthday (all very civilised) and we sat and waited for our flight. Finally, time to board and we waited, and we waited, and we waited then, just what you never want to hear.  There is a problem with one of the seats in the cockpit and we are going to disembark all the passengers, give you $20 (approx £10) and hopefully, hopefully, we will be off in three hours.  Now the problem with all this is many fold. Firstly, it turns into a scrum with people getting off; secondly you are really limited with choices of food left at an airport at 10.00pm at night and thirdly and most importantly, what is there for me to eat?!?!?  I had to, reluctantly, revert back to vegetarian and had a some slices of luck warm pizza which has resulted in me wanting some chewing gum, which is, you guessed it, a big no no in Singapore.  You are not allowed to chew it and can be fined on the spot.  So here we are, sitting at a table waiting to see if our flight will leave at midnight.  The joys of travelling.

I just started to put together my Ocado order for when I get home and they call the flight; of course they do!  Back on at the same plane I would like to say we were off; of course we were not as people are stupid and we had to wait ages

for people to get back on because they had not paid attention.   We took off and the crew, who I must say were of an age, my kind of age, come round with the dinner.  Now look at me, do I look like a woman who does not eat?  I did not eat this. It was terrible. Soggy pasta with peppers and black beans! I mean, really. I started to watcher Spiderman again (this is the third time of watching it) and soon fell as sleep.  I sleep better on planes than I do at home.  They come round with 'breakfast' which was a vegetarian croissant and coffee and then we were told that there would be a delay when landed as a crew member had become ill and the the biohazard/quarantine team had to come on first to check it out.

Finally, some four hours later we got off the plane, got our cases, cleared customs and went to get a taxi.  Even that was an experience. It was filthy 
and in my opinion, it did not look even road worthy!  Andy is convinced he was driving us round in circles as he was tracking it on his phone.  We had arrived at our AirBnB.  It is fine.  Plenty of space, could do with a proper clean in my opinion, but fine.  We had landed.  We dropped off our bags and went to get some bits from the local deli.  Beautiful food but as I had expected, quite expensive.  Australia is not cheap, I know this from my previous travels.  They had given storms for this afternoon, but nothing has happened yet.  We have both had a shower and are chilling and I suspect that is what we are going to do, just have a quiet night then be ready to go tomorrow.  

As always, with my love x

Day Three - Singapore

I slept like a baby and was awoken by the 6.00 calling to prayers from the Mosque but soon went back to sleep.  We decided to have quiet morning and

went for a walk to a neighbouring district which was very Arabic and also home to a huge Mosque (not sure if they are the ones waking me up every morning).  Found a lovely Swedish restaurant for some amazing breakfast.  I thought the vegan quest was going to be broken today but no, quinoa and kale salad, which was delicious.  The boy had meat, eggs the lot.  I spent the morning typing up my blog and then it started to rain outside; and I mean rain.  But only for about 10 minutes then it soon dried up. That is Singapore.  

We had a look around this area.  Singapore really is a 'strange' place.  Don't get me wrong, I like it and if I did my could I work here,

could I live here, would I come back here test, the answer would be yes.  We took Betsy May Jackson (my Mac) back to the hotel and then we were off.  The nearest tube station is called Jalam Basar but I call it Justin Beiber, just makes it easer to remember.  We caught the tube down to Marina Bay Area as today we were going to explore The Gardens in the Bay.  I had high expectations of this and I was not disappointed.  The weather by now was very wet; however so warm!  The flowers and shrubs in this kind of them park come conservation area are amazing.  They are from all round the world and they have done it so well.  It was the ideal place to spend the day due to the weather.  There were so many different types of orchids and other amazing

flowers.  It was all done very well.  Once again, it was spotlessly clean and it reminded me of Disney resort.  Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus the night show, when they light up all the gardens and trees, has been cancelled.  It is really interesting as once again, this venue was so quiet and we did not see any other western faces.  It is as if they have all left town.

As the night show had been cancelled we decided to go back to the tube and head for China Town on the assumption I/we would get something to eat there. However, all it reminded me of is the reason why I would never probably go to China.  There were bits of meat there, on display, that I have no idea what they were.  We decided, finally, on a restaurant and I was told that there were so many vegetarian dishes ........... there weren't.  In the end I had a bowl of white rice, some tofu, a bit of sliced carrot and a few florets of broccoli ...... yum!  I also had vegetable dumplings.  It was, surprisingly, filling.  Andy had sweet and sour pork and pork dumplings.  We decided then that we would go to the Seven Eleven and get some bits and just go back to the hotel and rest up as we have a busy day tomorrow.  It was interesting as we saw so many western faces in China Town; the most we have seen since coming here.  However, once we were back in our own little neighbourhood we were once again the minority; I prefer this.  

We found out that we can leave our cases tomorrow before our flight, which is

good.  We have decided that we go exploring locally tomorrow to get some breakfast then make our way to the airport as there are a few things there I want to take a look at. It has been another amazing day and it reminds me of how much I like the Far East and how comfortable I feel in this part of the world.  Singapore is a mixture of rich versus poor; its foundations are all over the place and I like that.  It is as if Singapore does not belong to anyone; it is what it is.  

Back at the hotel I had an 'incident'. We have a wet room.  Here there is a sink, toilet and shower and I had been to the toilet and hit the shower button with my shoulder and the shower, a cold 

shower, drenched me and my dress! I screamed then started laughing.  I swear Andy thinks what he has let himself in for travelling with me.  However, no one can ever say it is a dull moment.

I will leave you now and it may be a day or two until I post again as tomorrow we are on the move!  Exciting times.

As always, with my love x

PS the humidity is not agreeing with my hair!

Day Two - Singapore

When people say to me 'oh you are going on holiday' I always make it perfectly clear it is not a holiday.  I am on the go all the time and today was no exception. We were up quite late for us (9.00am), however I was awoken by the mosque calling people to prayer at 6.00am, but went back off again.  We had a shower and made our way out.  Found a little coffee shop kind of thing that was attached to one of the local universities.  We were scanned again for our temperature (something that has been a theme of this journey) and sat down to a cup of coffee that was so strong and thick you could have stood a spoon up in it, and a slice of sweetened bread (I always find the Asian break quite sweet) and gorgeous peanut butter!  It was funny, as for some reason, the peanut butter on toast come with a boiled egg (they do like boiled egg here but now know it is part of a traditional Singapore breakfast) which I declined.  They guy said to me 'no cow' which I guess is their way of saying vegan.  Made me chuckle.

We made our way to Fort Canning Park which was so beautiful; warm (around 42 degrees) but so beautiful.  It was split into different types of gardens/area and we spent ages walking around taking it all in. It is obviously the place

where the Singapore people spend Sundays as we saw so many groups of people, carrying their food, rice cookers, guitars into he park to make the day of it.  What did make me laugh was there was a huge church there that looked like a scene from contagion.  Red warning signs, people in masks, red tape - checking everyone in.

From here we made our way to what was, for me, living the dream.  We arrived at The Raffles Hotel.  This has been on my bucket list since I was 18 years old; to drink a Singapore Sling (cocktail) in the Raffles Hotel.  It was a moment. Also, they provide you with a little sack of monkey nuts to enjoy with your drink (I should think so at the prices they charge),

however, you just drop the shells of the nuts on the floor.  Something I did not find easy being a typical Virgo.  Two cocktails later and a pile of monkey nut shells I had lived the dream.  It really was worth it and I am so pleased that I have finally done it.  If you ever get to visit Singapore I would highly recommend the experience you can find at the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel.

Singapore is clean.  I mean, really clean. No little and I do not think even the birds poo as there is no bird poop anywhere to be seen.  You are not allowed to chew gum here (I knew this before I arrived) and they have strict rules that still impose the death penalty.  Something I shrugged with before I come here is how homosexuality is prohibited.  This makes me angry and smile as how can you prohibit something that is not a choice.  It is like saying because you have blue eyes you are punishable by law, and if you cannot understand

that, take cast your mind back to the Nazi regime and their views on difference! The alternative is to fly via the Middle East, which basically is no better (if not worse because at least Singapore is welcoming).  Singapore is a mishmash of cultures: Malay, Indian, Arab and goodness knows what else. We are staying in the Little India section of Singapore ....but more about that later.

We made our way down the road the the sea and there, in front of us, was what we have called (up until now) The Boat aka the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  This

was on the list.  However, the boat, to me soon turned into either a flat cock or the bottom half of a chocolate eclair.  Once that thought was in my mind, that was it, that is all I could think of.  We paid our entrance fee $26 (roughly £13) and the lift took us up to the 56th floor.  The views over Singapore were spectacular and I mean spectacular.  It was amazing.  You could see so much. We saw what we thought was a Go Kart track which turns out to be part of the Singapore Grand Prix circuit.  However, it was the boats that amazed me. Out to see there were so many container ships, I am assuming waiting to come into port.  There were so many.  It really was breathtaking and reminded me how small we all are on this huge planet of ours.

That done, I was getting a bit tired by then. My average step count (with back issues) has been around 10k steps a day; yesterday I achieved 26K!! No wonder I was getting tired.  We waked around the bayside taking in the view then

caught the tube up to somewhere to get something to eat.  That was a challenge.  We arrived at Dhoby Ghaut and yet another shopping mall; they do like a shopping mall.  As you know, I did Vegan January and have carried it on but promised myself that I would not be obsessed with it on holiday as it can create challenges.  However, we found a lovely Thai restaurant and Anita the typically Thai woman (takes no prisoners) to us to our table and served us.

I could not believe it, on the table as a cloth was a glass covering of Bangkok's metro lines; I told you before I was missing Thailand and this just fed into my feelings.  The food was wonderful (of course it was) and vegan, well for me.  Andy is from the North so will eat anything.

Fed and watered we made our way, via the tube then bus to Singapore Zoo for the Night Safari.  We had been told by several people to do this activity and they were wrong.  The zoo was very well organised and clean, just like everything else in Singapore.  I had to laugh as by now I was using my stick to help me walk and they saw this and put as to the front of queue.  I told Andy, who Anita (the Thai restaurant woman thought was my son ....... sigh!) he would have to act as my carer now!  The tram took you trough parts of the Zoo to see the nocturnal animals.  It was so good, but what made it better was the fact that there was a baby crying at the back of our tram which alerted all the animals! The lions were very interested in the noise, followed by the hyenas, the crying baby added to the experience to see how animals in the wild would react!

After the tram tour we walked three trails to see other animals (avoiding the tank with the stingray in it ...... vile).  We saw huge fruit bats just hanging around, snow leopards, tapers which were so sweet, elephants, hippos, deer the lot.  It was a wonderful experience and very much recommended.  It was quite an immersed experience being surrounded by their world.  Also, like the day, it was very quiet.  I am not sure if it is because tourists are not visiting because of the coronavirus, but it has been very quiet.  We caught the bus and tube back to our hotel and were shattered.  It had been a full on day but we had seen so much and experienced some amazing things.  

Before I go I must mention Stacy and her friends.  Who is she I hear you cry?

On the tube there is a campaign that is #StandUpStacy.  Stacy looks like me, especially as I have a stick.  It should be #SitDownKaren or as I have been referred to lately #BitchWithStick.  The messages are all over the tube and I have shared them with you below ...... enjoy.

The Raffles Hotel

As always, with my love x

Some more photos of my day ...... enjoy x

The Long Bar - Raffles Hotel

Day One - London Heathrow Terminal 3 - Singapore

It has been a challenging week, in more ways than one.  It was so lovely last night hanging up my winter coat and scarf knowing that I am not going to need it for the next three weeks.  This morning has been spent packing as I had done absolutely nothing.  I am finally packed (well of sorts) and no longer look like Chewbacca!  Having to not shave your legs along with Brussel Sprouts are probably the only two things I like about Winter; oh and parsnips!  This Winter has been a long one.

So the Uber arrived at the flat, fortunately it was a big car so I could get in and out OK.  For those of you who do not know, I have had a very painful back

injury since 2 January 2020 and are still using a stick to walk.  Weekly visits (at a cost) to the Osteopath Simone have really helped and at least, with help, I will travel.  Hence the Uber to the airport.  Arrived at the Qantas desk and all checked in.  Through security.  Yet again the average traveller never ceases to amaze me.  There is a routine:  coat off, belt off, all electrical out of bag, no need to show passport or boarding card ..... just move yourself!!

All that done (swiftly by us) it was the usual trawl around the duty free perfume department.  New lipstick purchased, coupled with some perfume and numerous squirts of other perfume, it was time for something to eat and drink. The flight was up and all was on time.  I found myself doing my daydreaming thing again of looking at people wondering where there were going, what was the purpose of their trip.  Airports are a wonderful place for me, full of such hope and adventure.

The flight was amazing!  Qantas, as always did well and for once in my life I went up stairs on that Airbus 380.  I had order vegan food and it was really good. I watched Jo Jo Rabbit and would highly recommend it; such a good and thought provoking film.  I had a lovely chat with one of the stewardesses at goodness knows what time int he morning.  She was asking where we were going and when I told her she was so amazed and envious ....... more to follow on that!  They really were a good crew and totally looked after us.  She even said goodbye to me as we got off the flight and wished me very happy birthday when it comes.

First impressions of Singapore were very much what I thought they would be: clean, regulated, conservative.  The guy on immigration, like many other people, pronounced my surname wrong and when I corrected him and explained that everyone pronounces it wrong, he laughed and merrily stamped my passport.  We found our way to the metro and finally to our hotel.  All very simple and all very easy. 

The hotel is fine; basic but that is all we wanted. We are saying in the Little India area of Singapore and it is what it says on the box; very much how I imagine India to be; but cleaner.  We had a mooch around and found

somewhere to have some dinner, an Indian vegetarian restaurant.  We did not have a clue what to order so I did what I always do, looked to see what others were eating and ordered that.  Oh my goodness, what a treat.  It was plate of food with around 12 different curries, it was amazing. Along with that we were given a popadom and a bottle of water and the whole meal come to around £8 each!  The service was brilliant too.  Such a bargain.

What I love about travelling is the smell, the colour, the noise and people watching and I was doing all this. We went into the 7/11 to get some water and 

notice that the fridge containing alcohol was closed and locked with a chain and padlock as it is illegal to serve alcohol at certain times.  We also notice the price of condoms, as you do, and they were really expensive.  We went to a bar for a drink and had two lagers and that come to £5 each; compare to dinner for £8.  My conclusion is that any vice, will cost you a great deal of money in Singapore.  

We walked back to the hotel and had a shower, which was lovely and now, both of us are feeling very tired.  Not surprising really as we have been up around 30 hours. I did have a bit of a sleep on the plane but as we all know, that is not a good nights sleep.  

So that is day one in Singapore, more exploring tomorrow and it is supposed to be very warm tomorrow!

As always, with my love x

Bring It On ..... In a world where we are being told to be more kind today; I am working on being more selfish!

It has been a while since I had an adventure.  I guess my Masters got in the way, so this year, being a big birthday year, I intend to travel as much as I can. Approximately three years ago I watched Sydney's Mardi Gras on Facebook and told myself that I was going to go there one day.   Now as some of you will remember, I had been waiting to go to Australia since I was 17.  I finally got there when I was 52. Then passed through it when I was 57 and now going back in my 60th, yes 60th year.  Even though I still think I am 29.  I have decided to have an amazing year; do all those things I have wanted to do, and hopefully more.  It did not seem right to do this on my own, even though as many of you know I love to travel on my own.  

The only person I would even consider having a Thelma and Louise experience with is my dearest friend, Andy Murphy.  We have been through, thick, thin and you name it, we have survived it (at a price at times), so this seemed a great way to acknowledge the fact that both of us, regardless, are still here.  Here we are at London Pride 2019 and now we are travelling to the Southern Hemisphere, flying into the face of the coronavirus .... I mean, just bring it on!  What is a predicted pandemic for goodness sakes.  First stop, Singapore to knock another thing of the ever ending bucket list; a Singapore Sling at Raffles!  That has been on my list since I used to 'borrow' my dear old Dad's gin, and refill the bottle with water when I was 14.  But less of that, you can read all about it as we go along.  

As always, with my love x