Mainly for our respective families and because I've heard of stories of people losing their journals, here's the Asian Adventure highlights part one (of many parts I expect and hope!):
Stepping off my second 7 hour flight, I was probably not feeling as fresh as I thought I would be. “I don’t really get affected by jet-lag” I stated so easily to someone on my flight; famous last words as I spent the next two days falling asleep by 4pm.
First impressions of Singapore: well, I expected huge skyrises from the plane window, not vast jungle and muddy waters. The taxi ride into the city also failed to meet my metropolis expectations. Where was the skyline I was hoping for?! One hostel check in and a ride on the fairly empty and uncomplicated MRT later, I finally saw the Singapore I’ve seen pictures of: huge high rise office blocks and hotels, amazing feats of architecture like the Marina Bay Sands hotel mixed with the colonial British empire still visibly marking it’s territory. Unbelievably clean and incredibly affluent, Singapore is the most sanitised and expensive part of South East Asia and a somewhat nice opening for the virgin Asian traveller, just as long as you know not to expect the same standard elsewhere. The colonial buildings are glorious, the most famous being Raffles where a sneaky peak through the windows took me back to the 19th Century. A drink in the Long Bar, famous for the invention of a Singapore Sling left a nice little hole in our pockets but the entertainment was amusing and the novelty of eating monkey nuts and throwing the cases on the floor ticked an experience off the list, although not much to be said for the Calpol tasting Sling! We managed to coincide our visit a day before Formula One started so we got to experience the bright lights of the track – it would be amazing to see it but at $700 a ticket, I think we’ll leave it for this year.
Rucksack Inn kept us cool and well informed for our stay, with cleanliness the hostels in Australia would be envious of and brand new Mac PCs for internet browsing (that I couldn’t use as I’m an uncool Windows girl). Everyone in Singapore had some type of iPhone, I daren’t have taken my Nokia brick out in public as there was probably a law against it. Singapore is hot on it’s laws - eating, drinking and smoking is banned in a lot of places. As is chewing gum which I accidentally forgot to declare but I promise I didn’t chew any.
A full day’s walking round the city took us from the delights of China town into Little India. I did my first of many temple viewings, in awe at seeing Buddha’s tooth (yes, an actual tooth), and gawping at the Hindi temple, finally viewing a Mosque just a little further down the street. This truly is a country of diverse faiths. We watched a highly skilled food trader make noodles which Jon later enjoyed whilst I had fun working out what foods were gluten free – ahh rice, my good friend. Little India was exactly the contrast you’d expect from China town. With upcoming Diwali, the streets were intensely decorated and flower garlands sold everywhere. Of course a food tasting was in order, this time a huge lentil pancake called Dosa, although I think I may have been lost in translation so any clarification gratefully received as I really want another one. A long walk later through a giant department store that quickly gave Jon a headache, it was time to venture out on a Night Safari.
The infamous Singapore Night Safari, is one of the must do things in Singapore. I think the makers of it watched Jurassic Park and wondered how they could do minus dinosaurs. It’s slick, entertaining and really worth a visit. In the environmentally and ecologically sensitive night show, we saw performing beavers, civets, and even a hyena, though slightly disappointed they couldn’t make it laugh. A tram ride around the park took visitors close to hippos, elephants, hyenas, lions, numerous deer I’ve never heard of, sloth bears, bats, flying squirrels (beautifully jumping off branches in front of you), cheetahs, porcupines, wolves, cattle with huge horns, rhinos…basically your usual zoo animal list with a couple of extras thrown in because, quite simply, Singapore has the money to do it. The noises you hear whilst walking around in the dark were a little frightening, especially while viewing some animals that seemed just that bit too close to the path with not much of a moat in-between.
Final words on Singapore: very similar to how I had imagined it, easy to navigate, interesting mix of cultures and somewhere to be if you have some serious money to spend and want to enjoy some of the finer things in life. An easy start to Asia.
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