Raffles here we come

Helen: Is Charlie the only person in the world who hasn't heard of Raffles in Singapore? When I told him that we had to go there this evening to have a Singapore Sling he looked at me blankly and asked why. I tried to explain that Raffles is as famous as Harrods in London or like going to visit the pyramid hotel/casino place in Las Vagas...but he still didn't get it. Never fear though, I shall make him wear one of his two presentable shirts this evening (and I'm going to wear the dress I just finished making) and I shall go to the ball tonight whether he appreciates it or not!
So, now we're landlubbers again and struggling to come to terms with life when we have to feed ourselves and work out what we want to do for ourselves - it's a bit like how I imagine a caterpillar feels when it emerges from its cocoon blinking in the sunlight trying to work out how to use the new flappy things its acquired... It won't surprise anyone to learn that the very first thing we did when we got here was go out in the heat and have an argument! Yup, nothing like the tropics and busy streets to get us grumpy (but no raised voices in the street - not the done thing at all apparently. Canoodling (sic), jaywalking, not flushing the loo properly and eating with your left hand are also all out.)
We've only been here a couple of hours, but have decided there are lots of places we'd rather see on our tight schedule than a busy city, so we're heading for Umpa Lumpa tomorrow.
Lots of love
H&C

PS a few thoughts from the cruise:
- we were harrangued several times by Americans from the deep south who told us we should read the bible and carry guns
- C didn't win the boat building competition :( General opinion is that he was robbed though
- they have hand sanitizers everywhere and the staff won't shake your hands even at formal dos for fear of the dreaded lurgee - guess it would spread pretty quick
- the security guards were out in force when we entered Indonesian waters - on the look out for pirates we reckoned...
- Bali was wonderful (lots of Indiana Jones style temples and gorgeous fabrics) Java was mental (C said they drove their cars like they were motorcycles, often filtering on the wrong side of the road...) but we visited an amazing 8th Century temple and got some good karma from the lucky Buddha