Singapore, May 2010

Our first Singapore, back in May 2010: the Botanic Gardens, the lawn above the Symphony Stage, and a paper dosa that arrived longer than the table was wide.

Singapore and us go back further than the films do. We first landed in May 2010, travelling with a camera bag bigger than either of our suitcases, and we spent most of the visit in the Botanic Gardens.

Dileep with a camera in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, palms and a lake in the background
The Botanic Gardens in 2010, back when Dileep's camera bag was the biggest thing we travelled with.
Inga sitting on a wooden bench on the lawn above the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage in the Singapore Botanic Gardens
Front-row lawn seats at the Symphony Stage. No concert that day, so the palms performed.

The dosa hunt, which has followed us around Asia ever since, started on that trip too.

Inga smiling behind a paper dosa longer than the tray of chutneys under it, with a mango lassi on the table
Even in 2010 the dosa hunt was on. This one arrived longer than the table was wide.

Three photographs are all that came home, and they still make the case. It took fifteen years to get back, and when we did we filmed the whole weekend: Singapore, December 2025.