I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honeybee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a-glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;
If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
‘ Or walk with Kings – nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling

Got up at 6am today so could only catch a few updates from North Korea on the news. After breakfast we took a taxi to Mount Faber where we got a cable car across the harbour to Sentosa, the island of ‘peace and tranquility’. (Singaporeans are amazing marketers, not only did they turn an ex-British fort into ‘Asia’s playground’ but they also breed hybrid orchids so they they can name a new orchid after almost every foreign politician who visits..). After arriving on the island we queued up for a go on the ‘luge’ which is basically like a to kart but instead of an engine you just use the gravity of a hill to give you power. It was pretty great, though in another clever marketing move ‘once is never enough.’ The luge led us to the most crazy beach resort ever. Though the sand was soft and the sun was hot there was still something strange about the Sentosa beach resort. I think it might have been than , when looking out to sea you get a great view of one of the busiest ports in the whole world. From oil tankers to container ships it was a ship-spotter’s heaven but though they were interesting the heavy shipping lane didn’t really sit that well next to a load of resort hotels.

From the beach we walked to the remains of the WW2 fort, the site of the biggest ever capitulation of the British army (Churchill’s words not mine). Not only did the Japanese beat the British with half the number of men but as a result 1/3 of the men who surrendered died as PoWs because of the terrible conditions. Looking round the fort was interesting, though the wax models of the generals were definitely the best (..and hilarious..). Dad stepped into a pool of stagnant water to much amusement, and I got the worst whiplash I’ve ever got by trying to use a water fountain as a hose to soak Ben. We had a quick look round the aquarium and then went back to the hotel where I had to rest because of my terrible whiplash. Went out for dinner in a wierd but not that great Singaporean place. Walked down Orchard road and noticed how well behaved everyone was- apparently all the police are plain clothed so you can never tell who’s watching. Pretty sinister.

Woke up really early because of the jet lag so watched the only English channel (BBC News) for a long time as they went on and on about the death of Kim Jong Il. As no one really knows much about him there wasn’t really any news, apart from the fact that everyone hoped there would be a ‘smooth transition.’ Went out to breakfast, and then to Singapore’s biggest attraction: the botanical gardens. Featuring an orchid garden, ginger garden and swan lake it was pretty exciting. However, due to the intensely white sky everything looked sort of dull and samey, nothing compared to Kew Gardens. It was pretty impressively clean and tidy though, and the path through the rainforest was amazing.

We walked back and then I went out on the MRT to try and find the biggest Buddhist temple in Singapore. I found it on ‘Race course road,’ pretty much the most English sounding road in the whole place, yet ironically it looked the most foreign as there were actually a few market stalls unlike everywhere else in Singapore. The Buddhist temple had a really big Buddha inside it, pretty standard, but I was told that I could go inside it and round the back you could step inside the Buddha and see another Buddha reclining before he died. (The story of the Buddha’s death is amazing, he had a meal given to him by an inn keeper, and then fell ill. Whilst he was really sick he spend most of his time ensuring that the inn keeper knew that it was not the food that made him ill but just that it was his time. What a great guy.) The person who looked after the temple talked to me, and told me that all the monks who were usually at the temple had traveled to Thailand to help rebuild a monastery after the flooding. He also asked a lot of detailed questions about the NHS, such as whether you could have a hip operation if you were not a citizen.

Had ‘afternoon tea’ and went for a swim at the hotel. Then went to the ‘nocternal zoo’ one of Singapore’s other MASSIVE attractions. It was a zoo, mainly filled with deer, that was lit with light that looked like moonlight. The fire show and the bats were a definite highlight. I literally saw a fruit bat hanging upside down eating an orange. It looked so happy, and I never thought I’d ever see a bat looking really happy in my life. Got back and went to bed.

What is nice about Singapore is that you never feel like a foreigner. Because there are so many languages spoken, all the signs and everything are in English. As well as this, because it is such an international place no one ever even looks at you like you’re a foreigner. However, though it is such a varied society there doesn’t really seem to be much culture– there are more Starbucks than temples, churches and mosques put together. And everyone here LOVES shopping.

Flew to Singapore at 11am English time on our way to Australia. Arrived and it was worse weather than England. Rain and no sun. It’s like being in a really mild tropical storm. Had breakfast and a sleep for three hours and then got the shuttle bus into town, straight into one of the million malls. Stopped in Starbucks for a coffee and the found the metro stop. The trains are exactly the same as in Japan apart from if you eat or drink on the train you’re not just frowned at but you get fined 1000 Singapore dollars (£500). Arrived at the city hall stop and walked through 3 more malls. The rain got heavier. Everything here is cheaper than in England, though I think it’s just because there is absolutely no tax on anything. There are also really big tower blocks but it is no way as built up as I thought it would be. After getting lost in a mall with a ‘fountain of wealth’ at its centre we got two taxis back to the hotel for dinner and bed.

Singapore is a strange place. One: all the signs are in English. Two: all the streets sound like Milton Keynes roads: orange boulevard, orchard way etc. Three: there appears to be no traditional religion here; there is only one church in the city centre. Money is sort of like the religion here but there is something that seems pretty vacuous about it, the only thing to spend your money on are western luxury goods like diamond encrusted Rolex watches. On flying into Changi airport there were so many ships going into the port, and it feels like a modern day Venice but devoid of any culture or belief about anything. I can feel a project about weird signs coming on too, some so far have been brilliant.

The mist is incredible, though I’m hoping that the weather tomorrow will be little brighter!