Week in Singapore

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On Friday I came back from my week in Singapore (well, about 5-and-a-half days excluding the travel). Lots of people told me a week was too long to spend in Singapore, but actually it was just right for me to see lots of things without rushing about. I really liked the city - sort of like KL but smarter. The streets are very easy to navigate and everywhere is easy to get to on foot. It's also one of the most un-touristy cities. And pretty friendly. It was hot but didn't rain too much too, which was great after all the rain and thunder in KL!

It was also nice just to have a little bit more luxury than at the project in KL! I was very grateful for my double-bed, cosy bedding, hot shower, air-con, free internet!

Of course Singapore is renowned for all its shopping, and even though I wasn't buying very much I spent more than a day of my time wandering through all the shopping malls on Orchard Road. I also spent time wandering round the buildings of the old colonial and civic area (lovely, and something that is pretty much missing from KL), around the river and quays, the financial district, and around Chinatown (a pretty rubbish market, and some quaint converted and painted shophouses in the little side-streets).

Two of my favourite things were the botanical gardens and the zoo. The gardens are walking distance from Orchard Road, and on Sunday evening were filled with people out walking, jogging or having a picnic. I also came across a free outdoor concert while I was there, and walked around the gardens, lakes and exhibits for about 3 hours.

The zoo is out of town but I found a minibus service that took me there pretty cheaply. If you combine a ticket for the daytime zoo with the night-time safari it is pretty good value too (S$40 including tram rides round the night safari, which is about GBP15). Mostly you can get pretty close to the animals (seperated from you just by moats rather than fences or cages). I got some great pictures of polar bears, zebras, white tigers, orangutans, probiscus monkeys, malaysian tapir etc! Although you can't take photographs at the night zoo it is also fantastic and well worth a visit.

I got back to KL on Friday in time to meet the next volunteer who was arriving. She is Fi, a 22-year-old from Northampton, and it has been nice to meet and chat to a new room-mate! Yesterday we walked pretty much all over KL while I showed her around, then walked to the market at Little India (actually very unimpressive!). Today she is off exploring on her own and we will probably go round Chinatown this evening.

That's all for now......

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