Adventures in Singapore

Day 80 - Wednesday 19 December

Last night I thought I was staying in an ordinary hotel that just happened to be in the red light district. This morning I discovered I was actually staying in a brothel where most rooms are only rented by the hour. However with checkout in just under half an hour I was going to have to pay for another night anyway and it is very handy for the airport. It feels safe enough so i've decided to stay.

First stop of the day was the battlebox which was an underground bunker built into a hill and command centre for the British army during world war 2. You can take a short tour around which details the happenings here on the morning of 15 Feb 1945 when Singapore surrendered to the Japanese.

Early afternoon I moved into the shopping district and headed for the IT mall. I'm after some memory cards and if possible some cheap PSP games. After joining Russ and Par we had a wonder around. Although I got my memory cards cheap I was dissapointed at the electronics for sale. I'd expected advanced electronics at discount prices, however ebay and amazon back home have the same goods at the same prices.

After leaving Russ and Far to visit a night safari, I headed to Chinatown and spent a few hours exploring. I'd bought all my souveniers in Malaysia and was glad I had. Its cheaper in Singapore.

It looked like it was going to rain soon, so early evening I headed back to the brothel/hotel for an early night. It's four pounds fifty a pint here so i'm going to save going out until tomorrow my last night in Asia.

Even though the streets are spotless i'm not overkeen on Singapore, its too clean cut and has a western feel to it. Everything is also in English too but I suppose its a good place to come and start getting used to western civilization.

Day 81 - Thursday 20 December

It rained all morning which left me stranded inside the brothel. Unfortunately the walls are very thin and being on my own on my last day in Asia it was all too much. By lunchtime I had to get out so headed into the rain.

I met up with Russ and Par and headed off to Sentosa Island. Theres absolutely loads to do on the island its a bit like a mini theme park. Our first activity we tackled was the luge. You take a ski lift up a big hill then ride down a slalem path whilst sitting in a little buggy. Although the rain had stopped it was still wet so you had to be a bit careful. I dont want to brag but I did win the race.

We decided to then go to the 4d movie theatre. On route we walked through the gardens which had speakers hidden around playing acoustic romantic songs. I was envious Russ was with Par but enjoyed the walk nethertheless. After obtaining our movie tickets we waited for the next show. Unfortunately just as we got to the front of the queue we were told it was full and we'd have to wait for the next showing 45 minutes later. This would clash with our songs of the sea show so we'd have to return later.

So off we went to watch the songs of the sea show which is a water and light show on the beach. Wow it was brilliant and all for just $6 SD ( 2 pounds). I'll attach as much footage as I could film but unfortunately my memory card was nearly full so I couldn't film anywhere near as much as I wanted. We then raced back to catch the last showing of the 4d Pirate movie at a quater to nine. That was also really good fun. The lonely planet says Sentosa Island is tacky but I love this kind of thing, so would say a trip to Singapore is not complete without a visit here.

As the island was shutting down we went back to the city centre and went for a beer by the river. It was expensive at four pounds fifty a pint but sometimes you just have to pay the money. It will be a sad day tomorrow.

At midnight I headed back home. At reception at my hotel there was quite a few prostitutes sitting around. They totally ignored me and left me alone. I'm not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

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