Singapore

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When we got to Singapore the four of us (Gordon, myself and the two Finnish guys) headed to the Cosy Corner hostel in town. They had no rooms left but they did have some beds on the roof! As long as it didn't rain we'd be fine so we said we'd take it - only 10 singapore dollars (5 euro) a night each. Singapore immediately reminded me of Hong Kong because of the skyline, great subway and number of Chinese people.

Singapore definitely has an unfair reputation as being very expensive for travellers. We found it really cheap. The posh restaurants certainly are expensive but we found cheap places to eat all over the city - right below the hostel it was 1.75 euro for rice and chicken and there are lots of cheap places in Chinatown where you can get HongKong noodles for the same price. Drinks are expensive in the fancier places but you can get a Tiger beer in the foodhall in Little India for 2.50 euro.

The first night we wandered down to Clarke Quay which is the trendy downtown area. The streets in that whole area are covered by a perspex roof designed like an umbrella so it's pretty unique. The next day the four of us walked all over the city and saw the sights including the Merlion statue (a ridiculous looking cross between a lion and mermaid) the Durian building, Sentosa Island and monorail, Orchard Rd (the shopping mecca), Fort Canning park, Chinatown and more. The Lonely Planet says that that drinking coffee and shopping are the main passtimes of Singaporeans and it wasn't hard to believe. There are cafes and huge interconnected shopping malls everywhere. Even during the middle of the day when you'd think people would be at work, they all seem to be busy!

That evening Gordon and myself headed to the New Asia Bar above the Swiss Hotel at City Hall. We'd heard about it from a couple we met on Ko Samui who said we had to go there. We weren't disappointed. The bar is on floor 40 something and has great views over the city. It was the first Guinness we'd had since Beijing so it was long overdue! Later on we met up with some friends of the Finnish guys and went out to Clarke Quay for student/backpacker night at one of the clubs.

The next day we did a small bit of electronics shopping at Sim Lim Square (my ipod had just packed in), got caught in a huge electrical rainstorm and then headed to the airport for our flight to Perth. We'd had a great time in Singapore and could easily have spent more than two nights there.

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