The newspaper this morning in Singapore

is full of the aftermath of bombings and the fallout from the Spanish election, tells us that Indonesia, our next stop, has declared that its Dengue Fever epidemic is over – after close to 500 people have died. The paper also informs us that Singapore has been averaging 89 cases/week through 2004, although recently this has declined to an average of 81 cases/week. Deaths from Dengue in Singapore were not stated. We observe that insect repellent has replaced sunscreen since we got to Singapore. We also learn that the US NIH has committed significant dollars to finding a vaccine for Dengue, which has to be good news.

Every contact we’ve had with mother recently has included the advice to go to the Singapore Orchid Garden, and so we do. We take the MRT and then a bus and walk through the lush grounds of…