Blogs from Bugis Village, Singapore, Asia - page 8

After arriving rather late, I made my way in to the city on the SMRT (still the most efficient and user friendly train system I have ever used) to Bugis Backpackers. Here I learnt a valuable lesson: just because they have a sign at their door and at the reception desk that American Express cards are welcome, don't take that as gospel! The friendly old lady who greeted me would only accept cash in Singapore Dollars, of which I had very little. She directed me to a money exchange place around the corner, so I ran there only to find that it was closed. As there were no other exchange places in sight or in Bugis Village, I made a dash down into the SMRT station to withdraw some cash on my Travelex card. Another hurdle. ... read more

Now we're definitely abroad! We could notice it the moment we stepped out from the airport: the air is hot and humid, the smells are unfamiliar, we look different from everyone and we can't understand the language. I like it! The first night we stayed at Betel Box Backpackers hostel on Joo Chiat Road in a suburb somewhere in Singapore. Being exhausted after the trip we went out for a quick dinner(we had to point at the pictures on the menu because we couldn't understand it) and then straight to bed. I fell asleep the moment my head touched the pillow. And then at 3 am: I woke up and I simply couldn't sleep until about 8 am. The next morning we changed hostel to Sleepy Sam's Bed and Breakfast in Kampong Glam, the islamic neighbourhood ... read more

After a long flight and some jet lag, arrived in Singapore and despite being completely knackered, the excitement and hyperactivity kicked in and as soon as I'd checked my luggage into my hostel was out again exploring. Despite hearing that Singapore is boring, clinical, too clean, I love it here! Not sure if its the contrast from going from Africa to here but everything is soooooooo easy and civilised plus after walking around for a few hours still in African attire (ie covered up) i had my first halleleuija moment - I could go back home and change into some little shorts and vest top...such a good feeling to not have to wander around in heat covered from head to toe :) Its brilliant here, so much christmassey stuff - trees and decorations...some would call it ... read more

Well we got our bags packed just about and headed off to Manchester airport to begin our 13 hour trek to Sing!! wwwooooo so exciting! Of course we had to start of the journey in true style by having a beer in the airport... which turned into 2 due to the delay on our flight! After a speedy connection in Heathrow we arrived in Singapore...but our backpacks didn't! 70 quid richer (due to baggage delay) and quite happy as we didn't have to cart our backpacks around in search of our hostel!! we caught the MRT (aka the underground) to Bugis to find our hostel. After a couple of wrong turns, New 7th Storey Hotel was fairly Ok to find - need to brush up on those map reading skills but am sure we will be ... read more

Well... I didn't get a chance to jump on before I left, I don't think I physically stopped in the last 4 days of going. I arrived at Sydney airport on the morning of Tuesday 13th November, proceeded up to the line for people who have checked in online. Thank god I had, the other line for the ones that hadn't would have had at least 100 people in the line 2 hours prior to boarding. I think everyone was very eager to get their butts firmly planted into their seat on the new A380. I know I certainly was!!! I couldn't get over the size of this aircraft it was massive!!!! To walk through business class with their fancy little 'day beds', their little bottles of champers etc etc etc you almost had to turn ... read more