Hello and welcome to The Travel Diaries Season 7! I’m starting this season with a Destination Special mini series - three incredible destinations, all on my travel wish list, with some great celeb guests and destination experts helping us bring them to life, and today is no exception. 

We are heading on a journey to South East Asia, to a small but mighty thirty mile long tropical island, surrounded by sixty two smaller islands, with Malaysia to its north and Indonesia to its South. It is of course Spectacular Singapore. 

Beyond Singapore’s picture-perfect skyline and bustling city centre, there’s so much about this country to explore and I have two fabulous guests who will help us do just that. 

First, Michelin-starred chef, tv presenter and author Tom Kerridge returns to the podcast. When he joined me be back on Season 2, he picked Singapore as his all time favourite destination, and so I thought who better to come back? Food is so important in Singaporean culture that a common greeting is "Have you eaten?” 

And then we’ll be joined by novelist, editor and travel journalist Annabelle Thorpe. Annabelle spent six years on the Times Travel desk, before becoming deputy travel editor for Express Newspapers, and then taking the same role at the Observer. She has a particularly spot for Singapore which she has visited and written about many times. She shares her insider tips and expert knowledge, and so many recommendations if you are planning a trip to Singapore - which I hope after listening to this episode you will be inspired to do. I know I certainly am!

Destination Recap:

Tom Kerridge

• Marina Bay Sands Hotel
• Hawker food stalls
• Restaurant Zén

Annabelle Thorpe 

• Singapore Botanic Gardens
• Gardens by the Bay
• Sentosa Island
• Jurong Lake
• Bukit Timah Nature Reserve
• Ann Siang House
• Raffles Singapore
• Capella Singapore
• National Museum of Singapore
• Fort Canning Park
• Fullerton Road

If you’re inspired to start planning your trip to Singapore, head to visitsingapore.com and check out your favourite newspapers and travel magazines which often have detailed destination guides.

If you’re enjoying the podcast, then it would be wonderful if you could leave a rating or a review on your podcast app - it really makes a big difference because it helps other people to discover the podcast. 

And to hear future episodes as soon as they’re released don’t forget to hit subscribe or “follow” on your podcast app of choice.

To find out who’s joining me on next week’s episode, come and follow me on Instagram, I’m @hollyrubenstein - I’d love to hear from you. 

If you can’t wait until then, there’s always the first six seasons to catch up on, with guests from Sir Michael Palin and Jo Malone, to Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Raymond Blanc .

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