First stop: Singapore

A city state on an island, about the size of Greater London, with an all year round temperature of 28C along with 85 per cent humidity - that's Singapore. Very hot and very sticky but with the kind of ferocious air conditioning that you sleep at night under a thick quilt.

Chewing gum is banned. You can be fined for not flushing a toilet. Eating or drinking is banned on public transport.

There are huge skyscrapers everywhere including some really weird structures - this monster has a park in the shape of a boat surmounting its three towers:

Singapore also includes the amazing botanical gardens (a world heritage site) with its virgin rain forest, Sentosa Island (a kind of Disneyland, together with tropical beaches (see below), Chinatown (where we stayed), the colonial splendour of Raffles Hotel,  and Little India, all of which greatly add to the architectural diversity of this amazing city.

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Chinatown

Raffles Hotel