Happy Birthday

 We both had terrible sleeps last night and didn’t get out of bed until around 9.00am so by the time we went for breakfast it was closer to 10 - hopefully last night was just an outlier.

We walked into Orchard Rd to go to the flagship store of a chain that Sherry likes and spent sometime there before carting the purchases back to the hotel. As we had been in 4 of that chains stores in Singapore (and in India and London) and we know of a fifth it made me wonder how many stores they have in Singapore - Mrs Google tells me 29!

That number makes me reflect on the Singapore we see.

 A mass of high rise buildings many interlinked shopping malls - it seems, in Orchard Rd, you can enter a mall at the start of a block and stay in multi- storey malls and exit at the end of the block and most probably having passed by a MRT station within the building all without going out onto the sidewalk.

If you love shopping then Singapore is the place to be.

If you love eating then Singapore is the place to be as there are an endless number of cafes, restaurants and other outlets selling food of every description and I suspect some that I can’t describe.

Getting around is simple. If you like walking then it’s flat but the heat does wear you down and if you don’t have the energy to keep walking then you simply jump on the MRT which is a super efficient system with 143 MRT stations over 6 lines and a train coming about every 7 minutes.

Having walked to and from Orchard Rd and starting to flag we then took the MRT to Little India to return to a shop we were in yesterday but returned by foot to the hotel before go out again to the the mall across the road for dinner.

Singapore became independent, from Malaysia, in 1965 and on Sunday (9th August) it celebrates its 61 year of independence which accounts for the numerous flags and other material including retail shops advertising discounts to celebrate National Day, all around the city - so it’s Happy Birthday to Singapore with regrets that we won’t be here to celebrate with you as we fly out tomorrow and back home around midday on Saturday.

Going from 30C to 15C is going to be a real shock to the system but while we might mutter under our breath we have no complaints as who would have thought that you could have a 43 day holiday mainly in Ireland and only have to endure 1 day of rain!!

Looking down on the intersection with a mall across the road from our hotel 

The iconic Raffles Hotel

Only in Singapore perhaps 

People you meet

 Whenever we have been in Singapore Sherry has gone to the same hair salon for a cut and blow wave so this morning we set off to make a booking for her for later in the week.

We arrived at the salon only to find it was closed for renovations so we found another in the same area and  made the booking for the day we leave. 

While in a clothing shop in the adjacent complex (Suntec) Sherry asked a lady who was trying on a jersey where in the store she had located it. While we were by the rack the lady came over with a friend to find another garment and a conversation was struck up.

She and her friend were on their way back to Dunedin having been on a golfing holiday in Phuket in a group of 8, 6 of whom had been struck with stomach issues!

We told them where we had been and as they had been in Ireland 12 months ago highlights were shared. 

Of interest was the fact that one of the woman was a teaching golf pro and on their Irish trip one of her pupils, Joanna Ke, had won the under 9 year old Girls World Champion of Champions Golf tournament by 8 strokes over the 27 hole tournament which she had qualified for by finishing 2nd at a tournament in Australia. On return to our hotel Mrs Google revealed that the coach was Shelley Duncan.

In Shelley’s bio it shows she represented NZ, had a college scholarship at University of Oklahoma, won the Oklahoma State Amateur Championship and also played in the Us Women’s Open - a career not to be sneezed at.

Walked over to Little India, as we hadn’t been there for some years and was surprised at the number of goldsmith shops one after the other for more than a block - not sure how they compete as the jewellery is not shown as having a sale price but it shows the weight of the gold and a board in the shop shows the current price of gold per gram, so those two attributes seem to be fixed.

The Hindu temple at Little India, Sre Veeramakaliamman, which we remembered as being worth a look unfortunately was closed for renovations 

Intended to then walk to the Muslim area but the oppressive heat got the better of us so we headed for the nearest Starbucks where we sat next to a young Singaporean man who lives and works at a Methodist Health Care facility where he assists in the Mental Health unit and that his long term intention was to train and become a pastor - a pleasure to talk to.

We then returned to the hotel and had a cooling swim later walking over to Clarke Quay area for a meal in a riverside restaurant to finish a rather good day

At the entry to Little India

The Temple as it used to look

Joanna & Shelley

Joanna and trophy

At dinner alongside the river

One of the many bumboats with passengers on a river cruise

The environment around Clarke Quay after dinner 

On the move

 Left Belfast at 8.30 and without incident arrived at Dublin airport approx. 11.35am.

Passed the vehicle back into the hands of the rental company, with not even a blemish, having driven 2999kms - geez if only we had taken another wrong turn we would have clicked over to 3000+.

Our flight out of Dublin is on a different ticket to our flight from Heathrow to Singapore but having done our research I had found that you could ask the checkin desk to do a “manual interline” so that we didn’t have to pick up our bags at Heathrow and then go through customs etc. and then checkin again.

So at the checkin desk I asked, she looked blankly and then went away to ask someone else - long story short she said they couldn’t do it and we would have to go through the rigmarole at Heathrow. Having stood in the checkin line for 45 minutes or so it was a tad disappointing to be told no can do as we could have saved that time by doing a self checkin and bag drop in 5 minutes.

We found somewhere for lunch and then had a look in a couple of shops not thinking too much about the time but a glance at the watch just before 2 and then a check of the departure board certainly caught our attention as the board was showing “final call” “gate closing at 2:05”. We were at least 10-15 minutes away from the departure gate so we scurried off and got there after 2:05 but before they closed the gate and boarded with only two people behind us - disaster averted.

A quick flight through to Heathrow - flight time 50 minutes - and on landing wondering how this was going to play out, went to the baggage reclaim, waited around 15 minutes for our bags to be available, walked out through customs (no check of passport, no check of visa, no nothing) took the lift up to the departure level, straight to the Singapore Airlines check in desk which had just opened, checked in, walked through the fast track departure area with a scan of our boarding pass, had our personal baggage X-rayed as you do and through to the airside. It can only be described as efficiency personified.

We now have 3.5 hours to kill before boarding but there are no complaints (yet)!

The Last Day

 This morning we went to the Botanical Gardens close to Queens University, we arrived before some of the indoor displays were open and even after they were in truth they were disappointing as the hot houses were in shabby condition and quite a few of the plants/shrubs appeared to be in poor condition with quantities of dead leaves throughout.

Perhaps the highlight was watching a squirrel climbing multiple trees and lying splayed on a branch.

Flagging that we crossed the road to a cafe but on entering there was a sign “cash only” and we didn’t have any so we flagged that and drove to a retail park on the outskirts of the city to find that illusive coffee.

Commonsense would dictate to drive into the city centre instead of the outskirts of the city but starting this morning there is the biggest festival of Irish music and culture being held in the city with multiple road closures and diversions and unfortunately someone had forgotten to code our GPS with those closures and diversions so we took the more sensible option and stayed outside the centre.

This afternoon as we returned to Belfast following our lunch date from the motorway we saw a large carpark adjacent to the O2 so we pulled off the motorway and parked up in the hope of hearing some of the advertised music.

There were plenty of people moving around but apart from hearing a young girl playing the violin we didn’t get to an area with the Irish music so a coffee in the O2 and then back to the car and we were away home - so the day was topped and tailed by “disappointment”.

However the middle of the day made up for it as we made the 75km drive to Cookstown to met and have lunch with Janet’s parents, Joe and Muriel who we had never met but whom we knew quite well from conversations with Janet.

We had an enjoyable hour and a half in their company discussing life in both countries and perhaps giving them reassurance that all is ok with their daughter.

Today was our last full day in Ireland as tomorrow morning we drive to Dublin to get a flight to London and in the evening another to Singapore arriving there about 9pm NZT on Tuesday.

We have thoroughly enjoyed Ireland, the people are super friendly, the cities are vibrant, the scenery is stunning particularly around the coast, the food is fattening with the cream and butter used (not helped by the quantity of Guinness consumed) and luckily the weather was not traditional Irish.

We have some great memories to look back on and thankfully these posts will refresh a lot of them for us.

Nearing the end

 Today Saturday is our second to last full day in Belfast (and the UK & Ireland) so to a certain extent we are winding down.

This morning we walked back into the city for some final shopping stopping en route at the market we went to yesterday.

On the walk back and one street away from where we are staying there was a wall covered in murals supporting the “Protestant” side of the debate. Despite thinking it was/is a Protestant v Catholic fight one of the murals stressed that “they” weren’t anti-Catholic but were anti-unification.

After lunch we drove east (or I think it was east) to the Stormont Estate the home of the Northern Irish parliament. The estate is a large expansive area with the Parliament building sitting impressively atop of the hill with well manicured grounds - it was an impressive sight from the main gate as the building was approximately a mile from that gate.

After walking around for sometime we then went to Ballyhackamore for a coffee but also to find the restaurant where we dined tonight with Neil and family, Neil being the son of friend John mentioned in yesterday’s post.

It was great to catch up with Neil who we last saw in NZ late last year, when he came out to visit John, and also to meet his family for the first time

As we have driven through the island of Ireland there have been a lot of place names beginning with Bally…….. (e.g. Ballyhackamore, Ballymena) which made us Google to find that Bally is derived from the Gaelic “Baile na” and means “place of”.

Tomorrow we have a day trip to Cookstown planned.

From where this photo was taken it’s a mile (or 1.6kms) to the building 

We love the flower displays we have seen all around the north & south

At dinner with Neil and family

Lily and mum

A quieter day ends well

 A quieter day today though there was a lot of walking around the city.

Our first port of call was to the St George’s Market to have a poke around. What we did notice was that the standard of the craftwork was of a higher standard than we are used to seeing. If you want to make good money at these markets bring along your food truck as food stalls are very popular!

From the market we then strolled around the harbour in warmish sun but coolish breeze back to the Titanic exhibition the environs of which were starting to fill with tourists.

A sit in the sun on the pier before continuing our walk into the city centre where we lightened the pocket but put more weight into the suitcases.

Mid afternoon just as we started our walk back home there was a 5-10 minute shower across the city but not of sufficient volume or time to cause us to shelter.

This evening we returned to the city in our more formal attire to enjoy a 7 course tasting menu in The Great Room at the 5 star The Merchant Hotel through the generosity of our very good Northern Irish (ex Belfast) friends John and Janet.

The restaurant has superb decor, the waiting staff friendly but very professional and the food as you would expect in a hotel of this status - an enjoyable night out in nice surroundings!

River Lagan 

Outside Titanic Exhibition 

Titanic Exhibition building 

Around the river promenade

The Great Room

Another history lesson

 We had a pre-arranged Black Cab tour of Belfast city and the Troubles areas today and at 9am we were picked up by John R in his black cab - not the traditional London Black Cab but a Mercedes people mover which now seems to be the vehicle of choice here in Belfast.

Throughout the tour John recounted names, places, dates etc. of “things” that occurred in Belfast over the many years that there has been division between the Catholic community, who seek unification of the whole of Ireland, and the Protestants who wish for the status quo, Northern Ireland remaining part of the UK.

Unfortunately there really was too much information given over the 3 hours we were with John that the brain began to swirl and now being early evening trying to recall all of what we heard isn’t easy.

What has stayed with us however is that at 8.30 each night the gates within the wall that separates the Falls area (Catholics) from those living in the Shankill area (Protestants) are closed so separating the two sides and aren’t reopened until 6 the next morning and this has been in existence since September 1969, almost 60 years.

The irony of that is that a person from the Falls could be working in the city with a person from the Shankill area 5 days a week but at night they are “segregated”. It was planned to dispense with the gate system in 2023 but as yet it has not happened as the city fathers have decided that there is more pressing problems in the city that need addressing e.g. better housing etc., and money for civic spending is tight.

After the tour we spent the afternoon looking around the city centre, an impressive centre in our view, as well as walking around the harbour to the Titanic exhibition building.

Tomorrow we will continue checking out central Belfast.

Shows that Hillary Clinton has been Chancellor of Queens University since 2020

Outside Queens Uni

Some murals in the Shankill area

Writing on the Peace Wall

The wall stretches for around 500m and is covered in street art and comments from people from all around the World 

On the Catholic side of the Peace Wall with cages protecting the house from petrol bombs and the like being tossed over the wall

Bobby Sands a hunger striker who has been immortalised around the world with streets and the like being named after him

A mural on the International wall

The Spanish galleon Andaluca near the Titanic exhibition hall

The shipyard where the Titanic was built

Not hard to determine whose side these residents are on

The last vessel the White Star Line (owners of Titanic) had in service

Seen on a mural but not captured in a photo was Nelson Mandela and alongside was written “in my country you go to prison first and then you become President”

A Dampish Squib

 We had today well planned thanks to a shop assistant we spoke with yesterday:

• Get up early
• Move car handy to apartment so packing up easier
• Breakfast etc,
• Get on the road by 8.30
• Stop at Binevenagh Lake
• Stop at Gortmore Viewpoint
• Visit Mussenden Temple
• Visit Giant Causeway
• See The Dark Hedges
• Call on a craftsman at Ballymena
• Drive through to Belfast

The first 4 were accomplished, in fact we were on the road by 8.00am however it was in persistent rain which stayed with us until 30 minutes or so after we arrived in Belfast at around 4.30

The GPS wouldn’t recognise a location called Benevenagh Lake as written for us by our retail friend so we had to cross that off the list - a pity he spelt it wrong!

We did stop at the Gortmore Viewpoint and climbed the stairs to the statue but other than looking at mist and rain there was no view to be had.

Pulled up on the road adjacent to the Mussenden Temple and took a photo from the car - at least we didn’t get any wetter there because we were saving that delight for our visit to the Giants Causeway.

Before we went on the Causeway we shared a seafood chowder for lunch- it was a large bowl accompanied by a couple of chunks of wheaten bread and between us we didn’t finish it. It was tasty enough but might have been more so if the had put some more seafood in it rather than all the potato chunks!

With umbrellas up we then walked down to the rocks at the Causeway passing big numbers of other bedraggled tourists coming back up to the parking areas.

Took a couple of photos and then returned back up to our car to get out of the weather - it was easy to make a mental comparison with this site and the Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki

Set the GPS for The Dark Hedges but it was still raining when we got there and no vehicles were allowed on the road where the hedges are so set off to Ballymena and knocked on the craftsman’s door, introduced ourselves, told him what we were looking for but alas it wasn’t something he made so it was back in the car 🚗 and we then drove through to Belfast in heavy rain to find our accommodation and as said above shortly after we arrived the weather changed and now the skies are brighter and the clouds are now devoid of moisture.

Yes, today was a bit of a damp squib but we can’t complain as we have been exceptionally lucky with the weather to date.

The Binevenargh Lake if we had got there

Gortmore Viewpoint statue

Mussenden’s Temple

Giant Causeway

The Dark Hedges - perhaps next time