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  Singapore, Singapore
Sunday, December 4, 2005

Thursday 1st December 2005
Perth to Singapore

When we woke up this morning it was already time to get up so a good sign of a decent nights sleep. We got ready and checked out of the backpackers and within minutes our taxi was waiting outside to take us to the airport. The shuttle bus was full to the airport but the taxi actually worked out cheaper anyway between us! It wasn't too long of a wait at the airport either and the flight to Singapore was 5 hours. The plane was top class with small screens for each seat and even games, I was really pleased with the movie choices but disappointed to find mine didn't work the whole time so I had to read the whole way there in between the lovely flight food! Anyway we touched down in Singapore just after 4.30 pm and thankfully no time change. We got another stamp in the old passport and passed through to the arrivals lounge. We didn't pre-book any accommodation as we thought it would be easy enough to grab a hostel when we got here...how wrong we were! We went straight over to the visitor information centre, the guy was helpful enough but wanted us to spend $200 on a hotel! I grabbed some hostel leaflets, a $10 phone card and used the pay phone to call them up. It took me about 1/2 an hour to work out how to use the phone, there are 3 different numbers which require 3 different codes, but when I'd finally got through all the hostels were fully booked, even the dorm rooms! One lady at the last hostel I called gave us a number for a 'reasonable' hotel down the road from the backpackers so I gave that a go and luckily they had room for tonight. We decided to take it and then we would work out what we were going to do tomorrow! It was really muggy, sticky and warm which didn't help matters! The guy at the hotel told us to catch a cab so that's what we did, I couldn't pronounce the name of the street and trying to communicate with the Singaporean guy (poor bloke!) was a nightmare! I saw the name of the street and he just pulled over, dropped us off and went off and kept the change! The road was Jalan Besar and it was long, but luckily there was the hotel right in front of us and what a dive it was as well! We couldn't stop laughing, our real taste of travel life! ha ha, right next to Little India.
The hotel looked like an old run down building above a couple of shops, it was nearly dark, there were people rushing around everywhere and it was really stinky so we went in. The reception was nice and cool from the air con. The guy on reception told us to check out or rooms first, we went up the bare staircase and it was a room, advertised as phone, tv, tea making facilities, ensuite...it was all of those but not like you'd imagine! We hardly had room to turn around or anywhere to put our backpacks, the tv was in a sawn off wardrobe and it stunk like a rabbit hutch! We just dumped our bags and went out to find some food, and an internet cafe to book something a 'little bit better'! We managed to find the 'Cozy Backpackers' so we booked that for 2 more nights and then went to eat, as we hadn't eaten for a while we went to McDonalds, not good we know but we were desperate travellers! The streets were lined with 'food stalls' but they were really grubby so we'll think about eating there another time! We walked as far as Bugis Village and saw all the night stalls lining the streets. It was soooo sticky and humid so around 10pm we walked back to the hotel leaving the busy streets and sticky heat outside!

Friday 2nd December 2005

This morning we could no longer smell the 'rabbit hutch' smell but I think it's because we'd gotten used to it! We woke around 8am and didn't want to spend any unnecessary time here so after a quick 'warmish' shower and the capture of a nice cockroach we nipped next door where Dan wanted to print something off the internet, i called the 'Cozy Backpackers' to find out what time check in was. We took a walk down the streets near Bugis Village to see what it was like by day. We could smell the food being cooked and every so often you would get a strong waft of chicken or noodles. One street we walked down was full of tiny flower stalls selling fresh flowers, right next to a really nice temple, brightly coloured and decorated, the locals were taking insence sticks and flowers and going in to worship. After a walk we took our bags, only a 10 minute walk down the road to North Bridge Road, down the street from the famous Raffles Hotel. There was nothing 'cozy' about the cozy backpackers, we didn't even notice it at first! It was a hostel right above a food shop, all the locals were sat outside and we could hardly get past to get up the stairs! The staircase was like a furness! The room was windowless but had air conditioning and we both actually fit in there! It had one toilet to share between the whole hostel and 2 showers that were shared with the kitchen...nice!
We thought we could stick it out at only 6 pounds a night! but we decided to give breakfast a miss!
Later during the day we took a walk down North Bridge Road where the Lonely Planet guide said the Funam IT mall was, it was a huge department store, full floor upon floor of electrical goods, from laptop computers, tv's, ipod's and latest video games. Each time we walked into one of them, the people who worked there would be getting things out to show you to make sure you would buy something! After about an hour I'd had enough! We walked back down the road, past Raffles, we decided we would go there on Sunday for a Singapore sling! We walked all the way down to the beginning of Orchard Road, the main shopping district, checking out the side stalls which were cool. We found a fab electrical shop of which Dan purchased his PSP which he's pleased with. Opposite the electrical shop was the Somerset MRT station, we had our first experience here of the transport network! It is actually really easy when you suss it out. We had to press our destination which gave us the price and then popped out a 'credit card style' pass. We had to tap it on the top of the gate (we were looking for a slot for about 5 minutes!), the light goes green then you walk through, and after the journey you queue up again, put the card back in and get $1 deposit back! The city is so clean, you actually get fined if you are caught with chewing gum so the pavements are really clean. The MRT stations are prestine, the platforms are sealed off from the lines so when the train arrives, the 2 sets of doors open, even the trains were spotless.
Our train was to Lavender Station where we found the bus depot and booked our onward seats on a luxury coach to Kuala Lumpur for Monday morning, a 6 hour trip. We then caught the train back to City Hall, closest to our hostel, had just enough time to freshen up and book another night here before heading off to the Night Safari. We took the MRT to Choa Chu Kang, 19 stops from City Hall then took the 927 bus to the night safari. The journey there was an hour in total and by the time we reached it it was around 7.30 pm and already dark. Just outside the entrance was full of lifesize animals all lit up, they were fab but the pictures didn't turn out very well as it was dark. We took tickets for entrance to the safari and the tram ride round the grounds which lasted around 45 minutes. As we walked in, Dan gave a $5 donation so he could have his photo taken with a snake and a cat! We boarded the tram and it was fantastic, all the nocturnal animals came alive, we saw Rhino's, elephants, tigers, lions, hippos and all kinds of birds. We felt really close to them, Deer were roaming freely and we weren't far away from the rhino's and elephants. We drove silenty through the tropical rain forest and it's amazing what you can hear at night. We loved the night safari and it was definitely worth the visit. It was about 10.30 pm when we left and we thought the tube back would be quiet as all the time we've been rammed in stood up, it was actually quite busy...Singapore must come alive at night!
When we arrived back at the hostel it was late so we hit the sack straight away.

Saturday 3rd December 2005

As our window at the hotel was non-existent this morning when we woke up we realised it was already 10am and we'd kind of slept in! It was pitch black so we probably thought it was the middle of the night! We got up quickly as we'd planned to spend the day at Sentosa Island. Sentosa is an island away from the City full of all kinds of attractions. Today was going to be another muggy day! We got the train or tube whatever they call it over here to Harbourfront station MRT. You can get to the island from here by bus or cable car so we decided to take the cable car over and get the bus back. The cable cars were plentiful so we got to sit in our own which was nice after being crammed into the tube. It took about 8 minutes to cross the water to Sentosa. You got a great view of the city from here although the cranes from the building work spoilt it a bit. We arrived at Sentosa and paid $32 each which is just over 10 pounds for a fun packed day including the Carlsberg Sky Tower which we went on first, a rotating 130 metre tower allowing us to get good views of the City and the 'man-made' beaches of Sentosa...lovely (not). We then went on to 'Images of Singapore' a chance for us to experience the culture of Singapore! it was kind of like a film and then we got to walk around the exhibits and stuff, Dan especially liked it at the end when the lady in a short 'santa outfit' gave us some Christmas sweets!
Then we went onto the Merlion, the legendary sea monster where we watched the animated movie of why the symbol of Singpore is what it is today. We were given a 'lucky sand dollar' to pop into the Lions mouth of which we won a 'lucky prize'...a fan that looked like a table tennis bat! We then picked up a sandwich and iced tea from Delifrance also included in our cost for lunch and then went to sit in the gardens for a while. Afterwards we went onto the Butterfly and Insect Kingdom at which I didn't particulary enjoy as they were all fluttering and swooping for me! We got to see huge Rhino beetles and stuff that lives in Malaysia...not really my kind of thing, as I hate bugs!! Our last attraction was the Cinemania, 3d virtual reality cinema. It was like a simulator but a full size cinema with pods that you sit in, we got 2 shows, it was a bit tacky but fun!
After using up our 'attraction vouchers' we headed off back to the bus sweating again as the heat is so intense where we caught the free bus back to Harbourfront, it was nice to get back onto an air conditioned bus. From Harbourfront we took the MRT back to City Hall and stopped for some tea at a cafe down from our road, pasta and tiger beers for 3 quid! We thought we'd take a walk round Little India tonight so after a quick freshen up at the hostel on the way we took a quick look round Sim Lim Tower, a huge 7 or 8 storey electrical superstore, they are everywhere! Dan got himself a 2gb memory stick for his playstation. The foodcourts were heaving with people. We'd read in the Lonely Planet that there was a parrot that read your fortune on the corner of Dunlop Street so we took a walk to see if we could find it but no luck. It's amazing what we found walking down the back streets of Little India, it was great. The streets were bustling, small stalls of fruit and veg spilling onto the streets, food stalls sizzling away, mad drivers and cyclists ringing their bells, insence sticks burning away, music playing. We walked past a temple hidden behind railings, a beautiful temple, we stood to get a peek in. All the locals were worshipping with their shoes lined up in front of the temple entrance. We walked all the way to the bottom of Little India taking it all in. We walked back to the hostel around 9.30 pm back to some air conditioning!

Sunday 4th December 2005

We got up this morning at 9.30 am after another lie in and went sightseeing Singapore!!!
We purchased the CityBuzz ticket for $5 each (about 1 pound sixty) for the whole day allowing us to hop and and off where we wished!GREAT
We quickly arranged our accommodation for our few nights in Kuala Lumpur as we leave tomorrow then took a walk down to Raffles to enjoy our $17 singapore sling! We have to do these things when we are travelling...apparantely it's a MUST and Liz got me mine for my birthday...cheers Liz! We also picked up some recipe cards so hopefully will be able to whip them up when we get home!
We sat by the bar and chinked our glasses, and I must say it tasted lovely! Dan actually enjoyed his too! Raffles is a lovely top class hotel filled with shops like Louis Vuiton and Prada etc, very very pricey mind! The sun was beaming down and it was nice!
Afterwards we waited outside the hotel for our first bus to Tang Plaza, this took us to the top end of Orchard Road, the main shopping street. It was so full of people it was like a swarm of bees! You couldn't move for people! As it's approaching Christmas, all the shops were decorated with lights and huge trees filled the main street. Literally every few shopping centres we walked past (yes shopping centres, not individual shops but like streets of 'department stores') we nipped in to cool down from the heat.
We stopped in one food court for some lunch and a rest which was nice.
After walking the full length of Orchard Road we hopped back onto the green line to the Esplanade then off again at Clifford Pier, known locally as the 'Red Lantern Pier' for the cruise boats and ferries. Here we saw the Merlion Statue, the half lion, half fish symbol of Singapore. We walked under the Esplanade bridge to the other side, we got some great views of the city from here and then hopped back on the bus at the 'Padang' where the City Hall and courts are located. The green was filled with white tents as this morning was the Singapore Marathon so empty water bottles were littered everywhere.
We decided to stay on the blue line, top deck at the front in the cool air conditioned seats and do the full loop from looking out of the window, we could see everything it was great. We passed the Sri Mariammam Temple which was a sight! and went through Chinatown (the largest Chinatown we've seen so far). The buildings and temples were fab colours and really big! We hopped off the blue line back at the Esplanade and took the red line through Little India which looked even busier than Orchard Road was, everyone was sitting around at the sides of the road and wandering the streets. We passed churches, temples and mosques. We also passed our lovely (not) hotel we stayed in on our first night here!
Across the road was packed with people so when we got off the bus we took a walk back to see what it was all about. It was kind of like a 'car boot sale' but without the cars! Sunday nights were market nights and as we passed through Bugis Village it was heaving, it was an indoor and outdoor market selling all kinds of things from fruit and veg, food and knocked off clothes! We walked around it for a while and then made our way back to the backpackers, again we couldn't get in the entrance! We had a nice shower and then packed our stuff for leaving early in the morning, it was midnight before we went to sleep.

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