Singapore Slingin’ It

After spending the best part of 2 and a half weeks travelling between Thailand and Malaysia, we reached the last stop on our tour of South-East Asia – Singapore. We had heard sooo much about this place before we left and weren’t disappointed, although note; for those of you who haven’t been before, you definitely need a huge pocket full of cash to take full advantage of this place! Cheap Chang beer and cocktail buckets were no more…

Our first hostel in Singapore was top notch, well classy place with a nice roof-top terrace to lounge around on and you get free internet here! The things you take for granted back home. Plenty to see and do, even for the budget traveller if you plan ahead carefully. We had a Singapore Sling cocktail at the Raffles hotel – which was very posh, the drink cost 27 Singapore dollars (about £13) though, so you had to savour every last drop! We also took a walk along Clarke Quay which is the hub of activity in Singapore; hundreds of bars and clubs, place was packed over the weekend and we also visited the usual tourist sights, did a night safari at Singapore Zoo (well recommended, although you aren’t allowed to take pictures, as the flash frightens/angers the animals), walked down Orchard Road (shopping district) and got pics of the Merlion (half lion/fish thing) which is a national emblem here. There was even a Hooters bar, which Bryan was pleased about. Sadly our tour came to an end after spending two days here and we said our ‘goodbyes’ to some of the people we met, hoping to keep in touch with most of them though.

Bryan and I had booked a few extra nights in Singapore and moved to another hostel in Little India – definitely a lot cheaper down there and although we’ve never been to India, it gives you a good idea of what it would be like. We visited Sentosa Island for the day – definite must-see, although we got well-burnt! They are in the process of building a Universal Studios Resort over here and it looks like its going to be massive. Our last day in Singapore was on my birthday which was nice to be away for, but a little strange all the same not having family and friends around. The best and cheapest way of getting around here was using the MRT (similar to London underground) – so efficient and fairly cheap too.

So there you have it that about sums up our goings on in Singapore, would recommend this place for a stop-over for a day or two in order to see the main sights and be able to splash out a little. One thing to note though is that you get fined for everything here – jay-walking; not using pedestrian crossings to cross the road, eating and drinking in the MRT stations and chewing gum in the street, unless you have a medical reason to do so, madness! With the South-East Asian leg of our travels complete, next stop Down Under!!!

To view some pictures from our trip through Singapore CLICK HERE