Hall-Reppens in Singapore: Shopping at Paddy's Markets

Going to Paddy's Markets is like going to a giant flea market where all the merchandise is new, and most of the items are of the souvenir variety. I bought lots of koozies, or stubbies, to keep our cans cold when we went down to the pool. For as hot as it is in Singapore, I have not found can insulators here. If we sit out by the pool, and enjoy a beverage, we have to drink it quickly, or it's warm! I figured those were cheap AND useful gifts. They also had many beach towels that were selling for 3/$21. These were very similar to the towel that I had bought for $30 at Bondi Beach the previous day. I considered getting some more beach towels, but they are very heavy in your luggage. I wouldn't want to pay more for a "Heavy Bag" due to my bargain beach towels. Erin and I looked for items for family and friends, and nixed ideas because the item had to "say Australia to you". It didn't necessarily have to have the name "Australia" or "Sydney" on it, but it had to remind a person of Australia. At the time, I thought I had done a good job of shopping for those at home. But now that I'm back in Singapore, I wish I had spent more time there. But, of course, Erin was starving, so we had to find a place for lunch.

We stopped at a little cafe that had seating inside and outside. We ordered paninis and iced tea. Both Erin and I chose mango iced tea. It was not what we hoped for. We were amazed that iced tea, which is an American staple, is so hard to find in Singapore and Sydney. Both of those places have the British colony influence, and they serve hot tea, but iced tea is totally foreign to them. Amazing! Anyway, what was lacking in the iced tea department was definitely there in the paninis. They were delicious! And we had a beautiful sidewalk view of people hustling and bustling to downtown Sydney on a beautiful Fall day. It refueled us, and enabled us to return to the hotel, with our bags of treasures, and get ready for our next adventure.