I've Arrived!!!

Hi Guys, well after god knows how many hours waiting in airports and flying I have finally arrived in Singapore!!!! My flight was fine, long but it was not too bad. I think 13hrs is my max!!! You definately need to stop off at least for one night doing this journey!! The entertainment system on the plane kept me occupioed as everyone has an individual screen and can program what you want to watch or listen to and stop / play / rewind etc etc. Food was good and although we did pass through quite a few thunderstorms there was only a little turbulance thank god!!

Well......whoever said backpacking was easy???
I am questioning whether having a backpack was the easiest thing to travel with, it is sooooooo heavy. I weighed it in Manchester and was 13.5Kg and with my extra backpack which also attachs I think it would be about 17Kg - try having that strapped to your back, it's like carrying a baby elephant!!! I look like such a plonker walking with it as I can't stand up straight. I started worrying when my dad strapped me up in Manchester with it but you have no idea what it felt like after all that travelling and no sleep! I got off the plane and collected my bag, at first I was so relieved it had arrived after Louises bag was lost when she travelled to Singapore. I can tell you the relief didn't last long when it took 3 attempts to try an throw it over my shoulder though, I had to bend down and basically reverse into it in the end. In Singapore the MRT (similar top the tube) is underground and there are escalators in the airport to take you down. Well I got on the biggest escalator I had ever seen and nearly toppled over with the sodding thing on my back, that was scary!

As I was trying to figure out the correct platform for my train I met a girl called Saskia from Amsterdam. My first travelling companion!!!! Turned out she was on my flight and we had lots in common and was the same age. We decided to meet in the afternoon (after a little sleep) and do some exploring and go to Raffles Hotel (the one thing I really didn't want to do on my own). Poor thing, her bags HAD been lost at Heathrow. I think Singapore is Jinxed lou!!?

Got to my hotel and thought I had to wait for a while for my room so I decided to drop off my big bag and go for a walk. I couldn't even manage that. It was so so hot and only 10am! The humididy is phenomenal and it really takes away your energy even just walking. I walked to the front of the hotel where there are quite a few bars and restaurants. The menus included "Skinned Frog Porridge" and "Fish Head soup" and I was getting a bit worried about my food options!!! I turned back after about 5 minutes and decided to wait until my room was ready in the luxury of an air conditioned bar!! It turned out he had found me a room when I got back so I was lucky. Nice room, nice place, good location. Saskia was staying in a hostel in the Little India area so I caught the MRT later that afternoon and we met and we had the bestest Indian meal EVER! We then decided to go to the main shopping area - Orchard Rd for a look round. We also then went to Chinatown later in the evening and had a chinese from one of the street stalls. There were about 10-15 of these stalls and they just plonked tables and chairs in the middle of the street, while we were deciding which stall to buy from we met 2 american guys from Florida & LA. They were happy to show us which the best stall was! They were nice guys and had been travelling for a while, doubting they will be returnin tp the states. Both were steachers and wanted to stay. We invited them to join us at Raffles later on. We took a man on a bike while they walked. The 15 dollars for the journey was worth every penny. This guy had massive speakers on his bike and played loads of cheesy tunes which we felt obligated to attempt to dance to in his side car. Hilarious, got dropped off at Raffles on a bike, ha ha. He must have been knackered!!

We had a Singapore Sling and then the americans lads joined us. 27 dollars it was and didn't even taste like there was any alcohol in it. Not worth the money but at least I can say I have done it I suppose. After that I left in a taxi for a well deserved full nights sleep. Off to the post office tomorrow to ditch some weight from my bag!!!!

xxx

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