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For our departure from Kuala Lumpur we thought we'd explore the romance of the trains. Departing at 10.30 P.M. and taking what seemed like a lifetime, there was little romance. Paired with the inability of 90% of the trains passengers to close a door behind them meant Rachel and I, located by said door, felt none of the benefits of the sound proofing which leant itself wonderfully to a sleepless night. Of course the 6'1" bed didn't particularly help either! Anyway, grumble over - we got to Singapore.
Our arrival wasn't the grandiose affair I was really anticipating and if I'm honest, secretly hoping for. The station was fairly delapidated with no ATM and a remarkably scarce taxi service! The heavens had well and truly opened making our arrival slightly glum. Thankfully, we had learnt from our mistakes in Kuala Lumpur and pre-booked a hostel. The Welcome Inn was a bargain in Little India with a clean bed, warm showers and free breakfast and Internet.
The first proper day, sleep deprivation defeated, was spent doing my favourite thing in a new city. We went walking. I would love to tell you how far but Singapore subscribes to Asian map production:
1. There will be no scale whatsoever, you'll be lucky if the roads are even in proportion.
2. Landmarks will be highlighted along with some random hostels, shopping centers and restaurants even if this means sacrificing road names - they are after all surplus to general map requirements.
3. North could be any direction, in this case the top left hand corner.
4. Parts of the city deemed uninteresting will be completely omitted.
5. It will be pretty colours.
Regardless, we walked for a good few hours starting with a walk along the river banks which looped round into the Marina area which housed a great deal of malls and entertainment areas. It was awesome to see the CBD grow out of the horizon to dominate it's surroundings, the architecture around the entire area was very impressive - striking and worthy of any major city, that is of course if you stand with your back to their latest development by Sentosa island. A $5.5 billion dollar casino comprising of 3 very elegant towers...linked by a cruise liner on the roof - retarded isn't the word!
We also made a detour to see the 'Fountain of Wealth', the world's largest fountain...they forgot to switch it on! One upside to this disappointment was stumbling across Singapore's answer to the NEC in Birmingham, we wandered into every travellers dream - a food fair! Free food galore. Good times! The walk home become nothing short of an odessey, having walked so far whilst feeling failry perky, temperatures rose as energy levels fell! One bonus was that we found a food court - popular in Singapore, it's like a grotty version of what you may find at the bottom of most UK shopping centres but replace the massive chains with quirky independent vendors. This particular food court was home to a curry house serving what can only be described as the best curry I've ever had, 3 quid for the curry, rice and a naan plus an extra 2 quid for a beer. It was amazing!
Our next day was what Singapore was really all about - the ZOO! Shuttle bus there bright and early and we forked out $42 (SGD) - about 24 pounds which seemed expensive at the time but it was totally worth it and included the main Zoo, the Night Safari and the tram tour around the Night Safari. The zoo itself was amazing, the enclosures were beautiful and the animals looked happy. If you have ever been to an Asian zoo you'll know how much of a surprise this is! The whole layout was very open and put you very close to the animals. The highlight by far was the animal show - "The Rainforest Fights Back", we took our pew and waited for the show to start. A barrage of cheesey lines and corny acting opened the show which remained pretty constant throughout but it was a crowd pleaser. One of the tribal dancers made his way up to where I was sat and thrust his spear into my face, I reluctantly took hold and he led me down to the front of the auditorium - filled with around 300 people. I was then instructed to remove my top - done, they then gave me a shield and showed me some tribal dances - my turn! The only thing to do was get involved so I did, horrifically embarassing but hilarious!
Around 5 P.M. the heavens opened so we tried to find shelter. The zoo closed at 6 P.M. so we made our way to the Night Safari where we grabbed a bite to eat. I was gutted because my snappy happy ways in the Zoo had totally annihilated my camera battery - thankfully flash photography wasn't allowed so I wasn't missing much! Another animal show - "Creatures of the Night" (I managed to remain fully clothed!), there was real emphasis on conservation which I thought was really important. After this we took the tram tour around the park, I think this was more about the experience. The animals weren't all that spectacular, the bull elephant was impressive but they were pretty much the same animals from the main zoo in poorer lighting! The whole experience was creepy too, it was like Jurassic Park. All in all I had a fantastic day, worth every penny!
Our pentultimate day in Singapore was spent walking around 'Orchard Road', Singapore's main shopping district. It was a strange collection of budget sole traders and huge brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Seeing as both Rachel and I are on a budget shopping wasn't really an option so we head home via the MRT - Singapore's answer to the tube. I was blown away, punctual, spacious, air conditioned trains ferried passengers all over the city, very impressed!
The final day we checked out and arranged to meet up with Chris, Nicky, Mae and the Chubby One (Baby Lucie), they are friends from back home for those of you who don't know. A bit of confusion caused by the fact Nicky text me telling me to meet at the Banana Leaf Restaurant - not knowing there are about 30 restaurants across Signapore with a similar name! Thankfully we weren't that far from the correct one! Chris generously bought dinner and we ate like King's - the food was incredible and eaten completely from a banana leaf, clever name really! It was great seeing familar faces and finding out about the goings on back home. We parted ways around 6:30 P.M. and made our way to the airport - Singapore hadn't blown me away completely but I did enjoy my time there.
Whilst Singapore does present an extremely wealthy exterior, with an adequate understanding that pavements are actually walkways for pedestrians and not just storage areas for mopeds, bins or any other crap they don't want in their homes, the city still has a very Asian vibe. The Occident and the Orient have merged with a fairly strange outcome - a city lying somewhere between London and Shanghai!
Our arrival wasn't the grandiose affair I was really anticipating and if I'm honest, secretly hoping for. The station was fairly delapidated with no ATM and a remarkably scarce taxi service! The heavens had well and truly opened making our arrival slightly glum. Thankfully, we had learnt from our mistakes in Kuala Lumpur and pre-booked a hostel. The Welcome Inn was a bargain in Little India with a clean bed, warm showers and free breakfast and Internet.
The first proper day, sleep deprivation defeated, was spent doing my favourite thing in a new city. We went walking. I would love to tell you how far but Singapore subscribes to Asian map production:
1. There will be no scale whatsoever, you'll be lucky if the roads are even in proportion.
2. Landmarks will be highlighted along with some random hostels, shopping centers and restaurants even if this means sacrificing road names - they are after all surplus to general map requirements.
3. North could be any direction, in this case the top left hand corner.
4. Parts of the city deemed uninteresting will be completely omitted.
5. It will be pretty colours.
Regardless, we walked for a good few hours starting with a walk along the river banks which looped round into the Marina area which housed a great deal of malls and entertainment areas. It was awesome to see the CBD grow out of the horizon to dominate it's surroundings, the architecture around the entire area was very impressive - striking and worthy of any major city, that is of course if you stand with your back to their latest development by Sentosa island. A $5.5 billion dollar casino comprising of 3 very elegant towers...linked by a cruise liner on the roof - retarded isn't the word!
The CBD and Singapore's Casino...?
We also made a detour to see the 'Fountain of Wealth', the world's largest fountain...they forgot to switch it on! One upside to this disappointment was stumbling across Singapore's answer to the NEC in Birmingham, we wandered into every travellers dream - a food fair! Free food galore. Good times! The walk home become nothing short of an odessey, having walked so far whilst feeling failry perky, temperatures rose as energy levels fell! One bonus was that we found a food court - popular in Singapore, it's like a grotty version of what you may find at the bottom of most UK shopping centres but replace the massive chains with quirky independent vendors. This particular food court was home to a curry house serving what can only be described as the best curry I've ever had, 3 quid for the curry, rice and a naan plus an extra 2 quid for a beer. It was amazing!
Singapore Zoo, awesome day out!
Our next day was what Singapore was really all about - the ZOO! Shuttle bus there bright and early and we forked out $42 (SGD) - about 24 pounds which seemed expensive at the time but it was totally worth it and included the main Zoo, the Night Safari and the tram tour around the Night Safari. The zoo itself was amazing, the enclosures were beautiful and the animals looked happy. If you have ever been to an Asian zoo you'll know how much of a surprise this is! The whole layout was very open and put you very close to the animals. The highlight by far was the animal show - "The Rainforest Fights Back", we took our pew and waited for the show to start. A barrage of cheesey lines and corny acting opened the show which remained pretty constant throughout but it was a crowd pleaser. One of the tribal dancers made his way up to where I was sat and thrust his spear into my face, I reluctantly took hold and he led me down to the front of the auditorium - filled with around 300 people. I was then instructed to remove my top - done, they then gave me a shield and showed me some tribal dances - my turn! The only thing to do was get involved so I did, horrifically embarassing but hilarious!
My tribal performance.
Around 5 P.M. the heavens opened so we tried to find shelter. The zoo closed at 6 P.M. so we made our way to the Night Safari where we grabbed a bite to eat. I was gutted because my snappy happy ways in the Zoo had totally annihilated my camera battery - thankfully flash photography wasn't allowed so I wasn't missing much! Another animal show - "Creatures of the Night" (I managed to remain fully clothed!), there was real emphasis on conservation which I thought was really important. After this we took the tram tour around the park, I think this was more about the experience. The animals weren't all that spectacular, the bull elephant was impressive but they were pretty much the same animals from the main zoo in poorer lighting! The whole experience was creepy too, it was like Jurassic Park. All in all I had a fantastic day, worth every penny!
Our pentultimate day in Singapore was spent walking around 'Orchard Road', Singapore's main shopping district. It was a strange collection of budget sole traders and huge brands such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada. Seeing as both Rachel and I are on a budget shopping wasn't really an option so we head home via the MRT - Singapore's answer to the tube. I was blown away, punctual, spacious, air conditioned trains ferried passengers all over the city, very impressed!
The final day we checked out and arranged to meet up with Chris, Nicky, Mae and the Chubby One (Baby Lucie), they are friends from back home for those of you who don't know. A bit of confusion caused by the fact Nicky text me telling me to meet at the Banana Leaf Restaurant - not knowing there are about 30 restaurants across Signapore with a similar name! Thankfully we weren't that far from the correct one! Chris generously bought dinner and we ate like King's - the food was incredible and eaten completely from a banana leaf, clever name really! It was great seeing familar faces and finding out about the goings on back home. We parted ways around 6:30 P.M. and made our way to the airport - Singapore hadn't blown me away completely but I did enjoy my time there.
Whilst Singapore does present an extremely wealthy exterior, with an adequate understanding that pavements are actually walkways for pedestrians and not just storage areas for mopeds, bins or any other crap they don't want in their homes, the city still has a very Asian vibe. The Occident and the Orient have merged with a fairly strange outcome - a city lying somewhere between London and Shanghai!
Location:Jalan Besar,,Singapore
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