We started off in the direction of the Botanical gardens [beyond the end of Orchard Road] at a reasonable hour but I felt I had to pop into the camera shop to see what the deal on the table was. An hour of hard bargaining later (on reflection, I don't think he shifted -- all I did was add bits into the bag, eg. my existing camera battery died again on the way up so I decided I needed a new one) I walked out S$1515 poorer but with a bag full of goodies: a Sony DSC-P9 camera plus underwater housing, 128 MB memory stick and a battery for the DSC-P1. Of course we can't go round the gardens lugging a bag of electronics so it's back to the hotel. Helen suggests we forgo our parks and gardens and type up journals for the rest of the day.
First of all a bit of plugging in of new toys (sadly they require mains power every now and again) and reading of manuals. My camera makes a funny sound when the telephoto lens operates but I leave it.
We work quite well in the Internet shop before taking a break. We head into the nearby [underneath!] Meridien Food Court where there's a bewildering array of Asian foods being cooked with people queueing all over. It's not obvious where you buy anything let alone know what's for sale. We plump for some pasta which is very good indeed.
I decide I should take my camera back to the shop (ignoring the "no refunds or exchanges" note on the invoice -- they claim to be a Sony dealership) to see if it's OK but after packing it up and a fifteen minute trek up Orchard Road avoiding the meandering masses (and at 9pm it's like Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon - almost) the shop is shut. One of the few [to be closed, it must be said]. Helen later suggests they may be dining [out] on my gullibility. I suffer the madding crowd for the fifteen minutes back before we squeeze another hour out of the Internet shop before retiring.
Grand Central Hotel, Singapore N1.30137
E103.84187 Elev. 35m
Copyright 2003 Ian Fitchet. All rights reserved.