It is a typical Copthorne international hotel with enormous reception area, lounges, restaurants, outdoor swimming pool and garden, and even a few shops. Overall the arrangements with Austravel worked very well. We used the shuttle bus service from the hotel to Liat Towers on Orchard Road. Orchard Road is a wide street of luxury hotels, eating places and shopping malls. We headed in the general direction of the waterfront, and found a MRT Underground station.
Fares are cheap and the stations are exceptionally clean, as well as being air-conditioned.
We alighted at Raffles Place, and then began a walk through Chinatown. Chinatown Redevelopment and restoration work of what is now called Far East Square was completed in 1998. The area is between China Street in the west, Pekin Street in the north, Cross Street in the south and Telok Ayer Street in the east. The Square has four Gates - the Metal Gate, Water Gate, Wood Gate and Fire Gate, and the Pavilion which represents Earth. The Heritage Trail is based around the Fuk Tak Chi Museum, which was the first Chinese Temple in Singapore built in 1824.