09 June 2020

Having had such a wonderful few days in Singapore and on Sentosa island it was time to catch the shuttle further north. We jumped on the flight for an hour and a half only costing us £30 each and landed in the beautiful province of krabi in Thailand. Short 30 minute drive and arrived at our hotel in Ao Nang, The Lai Thai. Very impressed....large lounge kitchen leading to balcony, large bedroom also with balcony and a dressing room leading to the bathroom. Comfortable spacious accommodation, home from home, nice swimming pool, spa, restaurant and bar plus only a short walk down to the beach, perfect. ?? Ao Nang is a super location to have great access To the wonders of this exotic location. à la cart peace and quiet or rock bands and a bit dancing, choice is yours and in abundance. Have a leisurely stroll down the main street to the beautiful beach or take a tuk tuk for a small price. The beach is lined up with longboats all ready to take you to which ever island you desire or maybe just a short trip around the peninsula to Railly beach £4 return trip. We took a boat to Raleigh beach, stayed there for the day, visited the caves, swam in the lagoon, ate wonderful food and had an amazing day. Hire a scooter it’s about £10 a day for a large bike with storage box! and we did. We explored many quiet beaches and found some wonderful quiet family run restaurant located on the beach where we sat back took in the scenery over a small glass of beer and Watch the sunset in the orange sky Silhouette? by the famous islands. We found an elephant sanctuary only 3 miles from our hotel we paid 300 BHT (£6) for cane to feed the elephants. you could wash them and swim with them too. The donations went towards caring for the animals so you can do this on a budget. We decided to hire the bike again for another 24 hours and travelled south to the marina which was beautiful we found lots of hidden gems off the main roads and felt totally safe. We went to a couple of the monasteries and seen the most amazing temples then settled at the harbour for a peaceful coffee....

27 May 2020

We started off with a nice easy 45-minute flight from Newcastle to Heathrow, into terminal 5 and a seamless transit through onto the beautiful Air bus A380 big bird. We were escorted to our seats in business class, a glass of bubbly in hand, sit back feet up with a menu to peruse. Now time for take-off. Should I have the steak! or should I have the seabass? What wine shall I have to accompany the meal? After my meal, coffee in hand film to watch what, will it be, the latest release or an old classic? A small tipple was required before settling down for an eight hours snooze. I woke up to the smell of croissants and coffee and a small fried breakfast too before touchdown into Singapore. This was one of our usual 2 centre holidays, this means that we can have the best of both worlds. I'm going to share with you the vibrant cultural melting pot that is Singapore in this installment, as well as telling you all about the second part of our stay in the Land of smiles, Thailand in my next blog. When you arrive into Singapore, the first thing you will notice is that the airport itself, is a small city oasis. The city overall is clean, friendly, compact, cosmopolitan, quaint, a million different expressions to describe a city of a million and more ways to stimulate your senses. Maybe you desire a Singapore sling in raffles or a picnic on the lawn at chimes. Why choose? We did both, sipping a cool signature cocktail before a lazy afternoon in the sun at Chimes lounging on bean bag with book in hand. We stayed in the park Regis at Clarke Quays, very central on the banks of the river a thriving hub of bars and restaurants to chill and take in the sites, try a bit of people watching over a coffee or a chilled glass of beer. Walking along Clarke Quay as it merged into Boat quay and onto the famous Fullerton Hotel. From there we crossed the road where the Singapore grand prix grid starts to be welcomed by the Marina Bay and the grandeur of the marina bay sands hotel. Worth a visit for a panoramic view of the city, and if you go late afternoon you get to experience day and night, a fabulous sunset plus the gardens on the bay with the light display. If shopping is your bag - then Orchard Road is the place to be, if you want to give your taste buds a run for their money then you want to make sure you cvisit one of the amazing hawker centres, you won be disappointed with the many flavours and all for a couple of Singapore dollars. Not only did we have an amazing 2 centre holiday in Singapore and Thailand - but Singapore has such choice and a vast array of areas to see, stay and play - that we even managed to 2 centre our stay in this vibrant city. After checking out we headed to vivo city a huge shopping mall a short walk from the Marina bay, jumping on the sky train for just one stop, which brought us to Sentosa Island. Whilst we are a couple in our 50's, this amazing island has something tfor everyone. from dips in the sea, cocktails on the beach, chilling around on iof the hotel pools or even spending time at the Disney theme park - with a wide range of hotels from family friendly water parks to adult only boutiques, this is the perfect place to spend time with your extended family of all ages - maybe for that special milestone birthday! 3 nights in Singapore, 3 nights on the beach at Sentosa I was already relaxed - but keep your eyes peeled for the next instalment - when I share with you the amazing Thailand where we stayed in the Lai Thai, Krabi and yet again, managed to add in an extra stay here too at the Beyond Krabi Resort just further up from Krabi- this next blog is not to be missed!