The Esplanade

The Esplanade complex is located bang in centre, close to the CBD or Central Business District (they absolutely love acronyms in this place) and is really easy to get to...this is when it is not pouring bucket loads and when one manages not to hop on the wrong bus.

There is a theatre, a concert hall, an outside stage and other bits and pieces. When we first saw the theatre and concert hall the person we were talking to referred to them as "the porcupines" for their oval shape and spiky exterior.

I must confess that after my first visit to the wet market, and a very close and uncomfortable

encounter with a Durian fruit, I thought the buildings looked a bit like said fruit but not wanting to offend anybody I kept my big mouth shut. In the meantime I have discovered that the buildings actually owe their shape to the Durian fruit so I was not that daft after all.

Inside the Concert hall there are a couple of music shops and some restaurants and bars so once I dried out after the near doom's day miss, Max and I decided to treat ourselves to a luxurious ice cream. Considering we have been eating nothing but chickpeas lately - not literally but almost due to our imminent purchase of a home- we thought that a chocolate and hazelnut ice cream, with roasted nuts, whipped cream and a dark chocolate sauce was only fair and a testament to our sacrifices.

We then moved to the hall which is very grand, with wooden, honey coloured vertical beams that give the sense of height and a ceiling rose that connects all the beams together. The seats are large and very comfortable and we were in a good position, quite central.