shari's parents are going to malaysia in june and will stop for a few days in singapore so they asked me for hotel recommendations. i was thinking rather of the duxton because they don't want to be in town/orchard ("because then it would be like being in montreal") and would like to stay in a smaller hotel, and if possible something unusual and "ethnic." also they said they prefer bazaars and temples and backstreets and walking and exploring, and they primarily travel in third-world countries. i was very amused and promised to try to come up with something suitably "third-world" for them to do. also amused myself thinking that a hotel in geylang or joochiat would probably do the trick (hotel 81!) - can't get seedier and more backstreet than that. red light district! hawker stalls! dirt and gris! seriously though, i was thinking of the duxton because it's in an old neighbourhood, and near enough both tanjong pagar and outram mrt to make travelling easy. duxton/maxwell area will have loads of good and cheap local food (gosh they will have the time of their life eating in maxwell market!!!) and the area is a nice mix of the very old and the very modern. i've always be fond of the duxton though. (just this january when i was home i walked past it with des and we went in to look at the l'aigle d'or menu.) here it is, though i didn't take the picture i swiped it off the net.

mmm. i am a sucker for boutique hotels converted from old shophouses - they have such a lovely colonial singapore feel - and i think i adore shophouse windows like that. (but not on the MITA building though, what in the world is that supposed to be?!) well the whole area is full of shophouses innit? the duxton/neil road area should be great fun for walking through, ang siang hill will have old singapore/chinese colour, it'll be near the thian hock keng temple at telok ayer and the sri mariamman temple is right down the road, so one chinese and one hindu temple, that's plenty of temples? i guess serangoon road/little india will have more temples, and there's the kwan inn temple at waterloo also, eh what other famous temples are there? i'm making a list. plus, if they get tired of local food there's there is the splendid l'aigle d'or downstairs! only the duxton could be rather expensive couldn't it?

well, suggestions from the sporeans? they don't want a very fancy hotel so nothing along the lines fullerton and raffles, not even say the likes of goodwood park, four seasons, pan-pacific. but of course not quite as bad as those along bencoolen street of course! personally i like the copthorne orchid because it's so pretty and secluded, but it's out of the way and not really accessible by mrt. i do love trader's hotel, and tanglin area is very nice, but maybe that's too "town" for them? near the botanical gardens though. but still expensive. ana? only problem, like traders, is that they'll have to walk to orchard for the train. maybe the carlton or the rendez-vous? would be on the edge of town without really being in town, near enough the museums and waterloo/little india to get in some ethnic, and they can easily take the train from city hall or dhoby ghaut. or is there still a hotel at robertson quay? though that might be too near the clubbing scene and they'll have to walk to clarke quay. actually, why do i mind so much that they have to walk? maybe it's just me and regarding having to walk in singapore as the ultimate evil. (i can give eddie coffin a run for his money when it comes to taking the shortest taxi rides in history.) hmm. send comments. they're visiting this weekend and i said i'll make up a travel guide for them by then.