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| Outside Planet Hollywood in Singapore. | At a fountain on Orchard Road. |
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| Outside Planet Hollywood in Singapore. | At a fountain on Orchard Road. |
Before we know it, it's time for breakfast. We land at 3:45 p.m. local time, with a 6-hour time difference, and we all feel relatively flaky.
Singapore is a revelation. Beautiful, carpeted airport, superlative efficiency, and EVERYONE speaks English. We are staying at Le Meridien Changi, near the airport, and a shuttle bus whisks us to the hotel, which is beautiful, quiet and tropical, with a nice pool.
After a little rest, we venture into town by shuttle bus, to see the famed Orchard Road area. It's brightly lighted, dynamic, and full of huge indoor shopping malls which stay open late. The street is full of young people enjoying the evening. There are no drugs in Singapore (death penalty for drug trafficking...), no smoking in public places, no eating on the subways, etc. so it's a very clean, safe place. People working in store, hotels and restaurants are uniformly pleasant and courteous. We take an instant liking to Singapore.