Girls just wanna have fun!

Mary-Ann arrived on March 16th bringing sunshine (at last!) and her sense of humour.  I was rather concerned about meeting her at the airport since there are two exits, and although I had specified exit B, I noticed that her baggage claim was close to exit A.  There I was, frantically running from B to A and back again, when I finally spotted her (at exit B).  We started laughing and hugging right away, and that's the way her visit continued.  Our first big giggle occurred when we arrived at Hong Kong Station, passed through the turnstile, and were on our way to the taxi stand, when I suddenly realized I had left my tote bag with my books on the train!  The staff let me run back to fetch it, leaving Mary-Ann stranded in the station wondering if the train would start again with me on it!  Happily, I found the bag, and got off just in the nick of time before the train started moving again.  Phew!

We spent the first weekend of M-A's visit shopping and eating.  Pearls, jewelry, handbags, local markets, shopping malls.  I think I now know every store in HK!  On Saturday night, we "dined" al fresco in the Temple Street night market.  In the photo on the left, M-A is displaying the fancy "napkins" (toilet paper roll) that are provided on the plastic tables.  The food is great, not so sure about the decor!  The next day we headed off to Stanley Market with hoards of locals, and enjoyed lunch with Joan, Ron, and Eloise (their poodle).

Dark and early the next morning, we shuffled back to the airport to board an 8 a.m. flight to Singapore.  Cathay Pacific has terrific package deals - airfare plus two nights at the swanky Conrad Hotel (including huge buffet breakfasts) = $500CDN per person.   Neither one of us had slept much the night before, but that didn't stop us from heading to Orchard Road to shop.  By 6 p.m. we were bedraggled and done, so off to the next adventure:  hawker food at the Newton Hawker Centre.  This outdoor food court is beautifully landscaped, like the rest of Singapore.  However, it's not nearly as cheap or authentic as the hawker food we ate in Malaysia.

We were well rested the next morning (our synchronized snores had lulled us through the night), and ready to do some touring and exploring.  Dressed in our lightweight dresses, we closed the door to our room and headed toward the elevators.  Oops!  Mary-Ann was still wearing her slippers!

First stop: Little India.  Guidebook in hand, we wandered through the colourful streets, looking at temples, mosques, and small jewelry shops.  While we were bargaining for bangles, I noticed a group of Chinese students and their Indian teacher.  The teacher was giving them a cultural lesson about Indian food and dress.  Our bangle salesman explained that in Singapore, it is mandatory for children to learn the customs of the major ethnic groups in the country.

After a delicious lunch in Little India, we headed back to the hotel to relax, but on the way just happened to walk through yet another mall where we found the most comfortable sandals ever made - fitflops!  They're not especially "pretty" (especially in size 9 1/2), but I can walk for miles in them without any discomfort.  Mary-Ann and I laughed at how they were packaged - they come with their own feet!

Before dinner, we taxied to the Marina Bay Sands hotel/casino.  On my previous trip to Singapore, Jeff and I didn't have time to take in the view from the top of the hotel (shaped like a surfboard), but on this trip, Mary-Ann and I had a grand time taking photos from the viewing deck.  Note the modern theatres on the left and the soccer stadium in the middle of the river - cool, eh?

Two more original buildings:  the world's largest free-standing Louis Vuitton store in the world (retail therapy for the super rich - my idea of retail therapy is a $5 scarf at H&M) and Moshe Safdie's ArtScience Museum, where we saw an excellent Andy Warhol exhibit.  As my friend, Joan, says, Warhol and his friend Truman Capote have withstood the test of time.  They are still revered as important artists in spite of their beat beginnings.  The Warhol exhibit will reach HK later this year, and I will definitely revisit it.
M-A and I dined at IndoChine on the waterfront.  Unfortunately, her delicious dinner arrived twenty minutes after mine.  We were less than impressed with the service, but we did enjoy our table by the river, and the view of the brightly lit restaurants of Clarke Quay across the water.

No trip to Singapore is complete without a visit to Chinatown, so the next morning we took the subway there and wandered through the shops and crowded (tourists!) streets.  I took Mary-Ann to the Buddha's Tooth temple which Jeff and I had visited last year.  My favourite part of the temple is the rooftop garden, which also has a beautiful prayer wheel.

We girls had fun the rest of the week in HK, including an AWA event - an architectural walking tour of the historic buildings in Central.  The tour was led by Jennifer, a self-professed "expert".  I was the co-ordinator of the event, responsible for not losing anyone along the walk!  At one point, I whispered to Jennifer that time was running out (we had a group lunch reservation at noon), so perhaps she could skip the end of the tour visit to the Asia Society.  She glared at me and said "Tell the women to walk faster!".  Chutzpah personified.  The porthole building on the left is Jardine House, Mary-Ann's favourite.

Thank you, Mary-Ann, for coming to visit, and happy special birthday on July 3rd!