What can I say about Singapore?  Yes, it’s squeaky clean.  But being able to drink the water isn’t all that bad! And I did get to visit the Long Bar of Raffles Hotel where I enjoyed one of their world-famous Singapore Slings ($18) accompanied by a little bit of brochetta (a mere $15 more!).

My "ex-pat" friends Pierre and Dawn treated me to a wonderful dinner and evening at their place not far from the major shopping area on Orchard Road where I was staying. Dawn mentioned that carpets are a good buy in Singapore, so of course I bit.  I ended up buying a carpet and lugging it all the way home.

Shopping in Singapore is unreal – there are stores from Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, North America, Europe, you name it – including all - and I mean all – the big name-brand fashion and jewellery / watch manufacturers!

The only problem is: I had to face the airline check-in counter when I left and customs when I arrived home!

From Singapore, it was on to Hong Kong once again for an overnight stop at the airport Regal Hotel and my return flight to Toronto the next day (December 12^th). 15 hours later I landed in Toronto, and it only took another 1½ hours and C$100 to get my carpet through customs!

Thanks for your interest.  If you'd like to explore the area I covered in a little more detail, the following might be of interest.  Bon Voyage!
Hong Kong:
http://www.hkta.org/home.html
http://english.hongkong.com
Bangkok:
http://www.bangkoksite.com/
Nepal:
http://www.travel-nepal.com/
Koh Samui :
http://samui.sawadee.com/
Singapore:
http://www.visitsingapore.com

And finally, for my trekking friends, a little remembrance to help make our every-day lives seem, in comparison, just a little bit brighter... (place cursor here).....:-)) ...