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Asia » Singapore
January 31st 2010
Published: June 24th 2010
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Arriving in to Singapore late we headed straight to our hotel in the Geylang area of Singapore to get some sleep. We haven't planned to stay in Singapore too long so we decided to get up early and catch the MRT to the city where we got off at the City Hall, we had a stroll around the city taking in the colonial buildings, the Raffles Hotel, cricket club and St Andrews cathedral and the old parliament house before ending up down by the River walking along Clarke Quay and Boat Quay which are located right next to the cities highrise. Singapore doesn't feel much different to most modern cities, it was very clean and safe and has an interesting history. The weather has been humid enough but not too uncomfortable, we walked from the River to the Orchard Rd area which is full of shops and shopping centres lining one street. I have never seen so many, one after the other of shopping centres and really surprised at the number of high end shops, they were everywhere.
The city has a good mix of people, Chinese, Malays, Indians and its fair share of expats, everything has been in English and the people around the place have been very helpful, polite and the whole place has an orderly feel to it. We had a nice meal out on the keys before having a quick pint in an Irish bar which proved an expensive pint!
We had a great day at the Singapore Zoo as well, we have been to a few of zoos now in different continents so it was good to get to one in Asia to see the fauna from that continent. And we have to say the zoo there is brilliant, the best I have been to without a doubt. It is not overly large or has the most diverse range of animals but it is one zoo where you feel as though you are walking through the wild. The animals don't feel like they are enclosed. The tamarins as you walk in look like they could stroll out if they wanted to. The monkey enclosures are pretty free range and when you are walking on a platform they are at tree height right in front of you. We saw the Proboscis monkey or 'Long nosed monkey' compared noses and Deb says give me a few years and I will probably have a nose as long. But without a doubt the best enclosure is the Orang Utans, they seem so close, you walk around and they can climb above you, they were pretty lively so there was plenty to watch and a few times a day they bring food down and the Orang Utans come down. They are literally only metres away, they are so human like, we got our photo taken near them and the young one loved to move around. We watched them for ages before hoping on the train around the zoo to take some more in. It really was a great zoo, the highlight the Orang Utans. Deb just loved them and I think she would adopt one if she could.
The heat was beginning to exhaust us so we came back to the hotel to have a sleep before heading out in the evening to go to the famous Raffles Hotel, we walked around the brilliant gardens and rooms, you can really imagine what it must have been like in colonial times and the opulance the place personified. We headed to the Long Bar for the famous (and very pricey) Singapore Sling, with all the peanut shells on the floor, and old fashioned bar, even the old fans made of straw or wicker that move mechanically back and forth across the beams on the roof make it feel like you've stepped back in time.
Today we went to Sentosa Island, the place is unbelieveable, the optiomy of moderninity. A man made development of all things. The Resorts World, which is not fully completed has a Universal Studios, an exclusive casino (100 SGD just to play), high end shops, theatre, cinema and hotels. We hopped on the bus that took us to a few other parts of the island. Silosa beach which is a man made beach, we took the chairlift up to a lookout before taking a couple of rides down the luge. The island is well run, with shuttle services that take you around and to the mainland. It is a very different place to what we're use to seeing. Not everyones cup of tea but interesting to see none the less.
We jumped back on the MRT and headed to Little India, we have never been to India and this is probably as close as we are going to get for now. There were plenty of street stalls selling gold and Indian garments, women wandering around in their Saris and men doing plenty of staring. The Thaipusam festival was taking place with people going from temple to temple in different attire. We found a nice place in a sidestreet for dinner and Deb had a delicious chicken tikka massala and I a Goan fish curry which was lovely and to top it all off we had the tastiest and freshest naan we have ever eaten. We have enjoyed Singapore, it was different and well worth a visit. I enjoyed the history of the place and although I wouldn't holiday here it has been nice to stop over and take some of it in. Off to Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. One thing we have already found hilarious in Asia which we will no doubt find everywhere is the markets selling things which are an 'original copy' I love it!


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