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We arrived in Singapore early in the morning after spending a rather uncomfortable night on a bus. Got straight on the wonderfully efficient underground (MRT) to Chinatown where we had pre-booked accommodation. It's very expensive to stay in Singapore so we decided to try out our first dorm room of our trip. We were kinda dreading it as Dee has stayed in some boggin hostels in Europe, but we needn't have worried.
We ended up staying in two really fabulous hostels. The first place was the newly opened A Beary Good Hostel (
) on busy Chinese market Pagoda Street. It was 3 floors of Ikea heaven complete with teddy bears, flat screen, wii, kitchenette and all you can eat/drink tea and toast! The dorm was clean and we slept like a log. The second place we stayed in was Rucksack Inn () right by Clarke Quay. Another very friendly, clean and modern place that had us thinking we were staying at a mates flat rather than a hostel. We made loads of friends, including a young couple from UK who swapped Shantaram (book) for a bottle of champers, which we then shared with Mum and Graham. Bonus! Thanks Gemma and Will.
So, after freshening up we made our way over to the Colonial District and the 5 star Stamford Hotel to meet Mum and Graham, who had flown in that morning. They bought gifts from home (Yay!) and we were very happy to see familiar faces again. We spent the next 5 days exploring the city and surroundings and trying to keep out of the heat (which was intense!). We browsed the shops in Little India, Arab Quarter and Chinatown and got some great bargains and window shopped on Orchard road. We visited Muslim Mosques, Hindu and Buddhist temples. We went for a walk in the rainforest around Macritchie Reservoir and had lunch with monkeys (well, long tail macques actually). We went to the Night Safari that was very busy but we got to see flying squirrels, leopards, rhinos, huge bats and hippos up close and see rare fishing cats hunting in a stream, which was brilliant. We went on a river boat cruise to see Clarke and Boat Quays, the durian shaped Espanlades Theatre and Merlion. We had Singapore Sling cocktails at the Long Bar in Raffles and threw monkey nut shells on the floor (you are allowed!).
Dee found a good outdoor skate park by Somerset MRT and had a good session despite the heat. We ate almost all our meals at local hawker markets where the food was delicious and very cheap (dinner for 2 quid each!). Our favourite was the Lau Pa Sat Market, a food court with every food you could think of set in a very smart 'Covent Garden' type building in the CBD and full of very smart business people. We found and fell in love with Kaya Toast.......green coconut jam on buttered toast, yummmm!
One highlight of our stay was Mum and Graham's hotel which had very lax security so anyone could walk in off the street and use the 8th floor pool........which of course we did. It was very luxurious and we especially enjoyed the fruit kebabs and cold towels that the hotel staff bought round for us. The view from Mum and Graham's balcolny was great but the view from the 71st floor bar was better so went on our last evening. Unbeknown to us, the rooftop bar was hosting a Thursday DJ night so the place was heaving with beautiful people and there was a huge queue
and guest list to get in. As hotel guests, Mum and Graham got priority so we snuck in too, avoiding having to pay $35 each on the door (17 quid each, yikes!). We got a table with a wonderful view and sampled a couple of cocktails. Brilliant evening, clearly the place to be that night. Loved the fact that my Mum took us clubbing!!!
With our time in Asia nearly at an end, we couldn't linger too long in Singapore so we said sad goodbyes to Mum and Graham and got an evening bus to Melaka in Malaysia. We really liked Singapore and spending time with Mum was great. Thanks Mum and Graham for paying for pretty much everything all week. Our backpacker budget really appreciates it too!! Miss you already. Thanks Jenny and Chris for our presents too!! Aren't we spoilt!
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Chris
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Number 9
Ferrari F430 Scuderia Spider in Rosso Corsa, incase you were wondering Dee!