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Published: December 1st 2006
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Sir Stamford Raffles
The man who started it all, standing proudly at the spot where he landed in 1819 Yes, it's our last stop in Asia before we jet out to Australia, and what better way to spend it than a week on the island city state of Singapore.
As most of you will know (if not you're in trouble!) it was Joanna's birthday this week, so James treated her to a 'Birthday Brunch' at the famous Raffles Hotel. Our initial plan was to go there for high tea or a Singapore Sling, but we got drawn in and had four course brunch in the Bar & Billiard Room instead! It was definitely worth the money, as we tucked into roast beef, fresh seafood, barbequed fish, homemade pasta, crisp salad and the most amazing desserts we've ever seen! Sadly James got defeated early on (before getting round to dessert in fact) but Joanna solidered on, I'm sure most of you will be familiar with Joanna's sweet tooth and her love of chocolate! It was also our first taste of wine since we began our adventure (its pretty hard to get hold of in South East Asia) and it went straight to our heads! We have to admit that the rest of the day was spent, rather pathetically, recovering and
Raffles Entrance
The famous Raffles Hotel, can you believe they let us in? watching DVDs!
The following day day we went on the Singapore Night Safari to make up for our lack of adventure the previous day. This place is really impressive and we'd suggest anyone going to Singapore should put it second, after the Raffles Hotel, in the order of things to do here. The Safari is set in the North of the island in a preserved area of jungle, which Singapore was originally covered by, with the safari trails zig-zagging their way through the centre. The animals are kept in natural enclosures with large open spaces, kept from escaping by moats rather than bars. The safari can be seen by foot or by tram, so we did a bit of both - the tram is really worth paying for as the guide helps you spot all the animals (its quite dark, of course) and gives you all the information. Our favorite animals were the Ant-Eater and the Clouded Leopard, the scariest were the bats, we ran through that part of the trail (a bit too close for comfort)! Sadly we can't post any pictures of the animals, with it being at night you aren't allowed to take photos, for obvious
Raffles Lobby
No shorts or sandals allowed in here! reasons, we did however manage to get Joanna among the stuffed toys for your viewing pleasure and kissing a totem pole!
When Joanna wasn't looking, James managed to buy a toy Ant-Eater as a birthday present and hide it until we got back to our room. The Ant-Eater has been christened 'Raffles' in the great Singaporian tradition and can be seen in the photos below snuggled up in bed (Joanna gets a bit over-proctective of him).
The rest of Singapore has been a blur of first-class museums, shopping malls and coffee shops. It's so humid here we, like most of the locals, spent most of our time in air conditioned sanctuaries. The MRT takes you anywhere you need to go in the city (the cleanest underground we've ever seen!) and you always appear on the surface in a shopping mall - even some of the paths are air conditioned, linking malls together! How we ever coped before, we'll never know! One place we decided didn't warrent our attention was the over-hyped Sentosa Island (the playful get-away for Singaporians, or so we are told) which our fellow travellers told us was pretty disappointing. The man-made beach in particular was
Raffles Courtyard
Full of the 'Singapore Slingers' as we call them. We're brunchers - far more important. a let down for two girls from England who told us it had 'more cranes than Southhampton docks' (the port is right next door)!
Our spookiest Singapore moment was yesterday in the Battle Box Museum at Fort Cannings Park. This World War II bunker housed the British Command during the Battle of Singapore, until the Japanese caputred the island and sent them to POW camps. The bunker has been restored to its appearance in 1942 - complete with amazing anamatronic British Officers having virtual arguements about whether to surrender to the Japanese. Sadly after its fall, the bunker was used to imprison and torture allied soliders and as our guide (an eccentric 70 year old survivor of the battle) claimed there is a 'presence' down there which remains even today! If anyone has seen the excellent WWII film 'Downfall' then that's exactly what it was like - the exhibition even simulated the Japanese bombing using sounds and blackouts, which were not for the faint-hearted! Once our guide left us to look around on our own, we kept getting lost in the maze-like tunnels, getting terrified whever we ran into the incredibly life-like model soliders!
Our overall impressions of
Raffles Bar & Billiard Room
Joanna, up for more chocolate and sorbet... again. Singapore are quite mixed, we loved the museums and the colonial grandure of Raffles and it certainly is clean as people claim (no chewing gum on the pavements here!) but its definitely a place for people with money, which sadly we don't have all that much of! Perhaps we'll come back to Singapore on a city break and sample a bit more of the nightlife - but we still won't be visiting Sentosa Island!
As we are now leaving Asia and feel like we are starting a new leg of our journey, we'd like to thank everyone for posting comments and getting in touch thus far. We will probably have less opportunity to blog as internet connections cost more in Australia, but we promise to keep you updated on broken toilets and animal attacks as often as we can! Speak to you soon!
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wendy
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Au revoir
Not adieu as i'm sure you willl get back to Asia one day. Raffles is so cute - will he get the correct diet in OZ? Hotel brunched looked amazing but surprised that James gave in first as Jo usually wimps out after 3 mouthfuls! Had eyes tested by Alexa's sister this morning. A is settling into job and already planning next year! You lucky people will hear about Test match cricket in real time - how exciting! Off to walk Barney now. XXX