Chalk and Cheese

Last week I had the opportunity to spend 5 days in Singapore for work. It has been over 10 years since I was last there,  (apart from  stopovers at the airport en route to Europe) so I was interested to see how the city had changed in that time.

Boy,  was I impressed. Last time I was there (again for work) I was not that impressed with Singapore, it just seemed a crowded, hot city.  Although first impressions are usually sound, I must say on second look Singapore had a lot to recommend it ( for me at least).

My big love is architecture and Singapore does not disappoint. Unfortunately I did not get much time to take photos,  but on the way to the office each day on the bus I  got to see lots of interesting and forward thinking designs so I have put a couple up here for your consideration.

Now,  fast forward to the following weekend and we took our new kayaks out for a paddle. We are lucky that Kangaroo Valley is only 20 mins from here and we have access to a national park, Morton National Park via Tallowa Dam and into the wonderful Shoalhaven Gorge.

This time I had my camera and managed to get some pics, but what really struck me was the difference between where I had just been, Singapore  (only 36 hours before) and now.  I was in an area which looked almost untouched by humans.

My Kayak heading towards the Gorge 

Entering the Gorge

wonderful sandstone surrounds you on both sides

looking further into the gorge

Significant Other in his blue kayak

My selfie!

Our  speed, not bad!

 We paddled an hour up the gorge and then an hour or so back, just a short kayak as I was still a bit tired from the flight home.  We are planning to do a proper trip up the gorge where you can camp overnight as soon as the weather is consistently warm enough,  so stay tuned!

So,  I think that both the city and country can offer something for all our senses, which is your favourite?

viva las vegas, and the rest!

Still not taking my own and others advice and have had a sav blanc here tonight, I can't believe how inexpensive alcohol is here in las vegas! Anyway that's another story for another day.

What have I been up to, well....
been to Palm Springs, and loved it! If you love mid century architecture and especially desert modern this is the place to go. We had a blast, although some of the more famous houses are very hard to see, they have their own private roads with security and gates. It is very apparent that there is a recession on here, the shops are empty, there are a lot of empty shops and not many people around.

we went on the Aeriel tram, which was quite fun, you catch this cable car which rotates 360 degrees while you are ascending and descending and takes you to the top of Mt Joachim national park a full 8500 feet, (2.5 miles I am told) where you are greeted with snow, ice and searing cold! I was dressed for the desert and found it very chilly!
Here is a video I made from my i-phone

BUT!

when you get to Vegas it all changes!

there are people everywhere, with drinks in their hands! People of all types, ages, ethnicity and sizes! I find it hard to believe that brand names like Vuitton, Chanel, Dior et al can find enough customers here but a lot of these brand names have stores in every hotel complex, so something must be working for them!

anyway it's Saturday night in Vegas, and I have a date with a hot ( insert whatever you are thinking at this moment!)  pillow, still not over my jet lag and can sleep at the drop of a hat.

Anyway thanks for reading and will post something again soon.

new modernism

Am on a bit of an architecture high after the last 2 days in LA. Pictures will come later but we have trudged all over the downtown area ( the oldest part of LA) braved the metro to get to LAX to pick up a hire car and then we did the FABULOUS tour of silver lake, a mid century modern haven.

Then I took the wheel as achey breaky has never driven on the other side before and head longed it out onto the interstate highway spending a good hour in the LA rush hour traffic ( you can't pay for an experience like that) and then cruising at around 80mph (I didn't see any speed signs, and that is my excuse officer!) and this evening arrived in Palm Springs, the play land of the rich and infamous and for the next 2 days the poor and notorious of Glenquarry.

I can't make any judgements yet as it was night when we got into town, but is has a great deal of mid century modern houses etc so I can bore you silly with that on the next blog.
You will be pleased to know the weather has cleared, and has been quite sunny about 16degrees C and only need to wear a long tee shirt.

talk to you again soon.
GG