Singapore

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The alarm was set for 7.30am for another early start, so much for this being a holiday! The plan of attack today was the Botanical Gardens, Orchard Road, Clarke Quay, China Town, Little India and the Night Safari. This was to be the only full day we had in Singapore so we had to make the most of it! We had booked tickets to the night safari the previous evening, so we definitely had to be in Little India at 6.30pm to catch the excursion bus.
Jane woke completely covered in her rash and was feeling extremely rough again today, but this wasn't going to (hopefully) deter her from the plans. Jane had breakfast, tea and toast, at the hostel. We then made our way to Farrer Park MRT station, with a quick stop at a bagel café for Ange to have some breakfast.
We took the MRT to Orchard station and then got on a bus that took us to the gates of the Singapore Botanical Gardens. The gates to the gardens were very impressive, grand and beautifully carved. Beyond the gates the grounds were just as spectacular. As we had lots of other plans for today we had decided that a couple of hours at the gardens would suffice, even though we would only see a very small section of the gardens that cover 74 hectares, are open from 5am til Midnight and have free entry! With such little time we visited the ginger garden, rainforest, swan lake, symphony lake and the most impressive orchid gardens. Although there was a small entrance fee to the orchid gardens, it was well worth the money. The amount of orchids they had on display was truely amazing, we could have spent all day there. The two hour time limit we had placed on this excursion was well overlooked! Jane couldn't stop taking photo's and was completely overwhelmed by the amount of different orchids there were. Ange eventually persuaded Jane, with the help of a promise of an iced coffee, that it was time that we made a move to our next planned attraction. So we left the orchid gardens and headed straight to the cafe for the promised coffee, just what the doctor ordered in this sweltering heat and it was still only 10.30am!
Next on the agenda was Orchard Road, feeling lazy and a little bit overcome by the heat we took a taxi. Orchard road is a the retail and entertainment hub of the city. There are many different shopping malls along the street, we visited Lucky Plaza which mainly sold electronics and tourist tat!! We enquired about the cost of an under water housing for our camera, which started off at a ridiculous price, but within 30 seconds had become half of the original selling price! The shop assistants weren't taking "no" for an answer and told us to name our price; our price was to walk away as quickly as we could!! Well we didn't need to buy anything, we only had our backpacks and they were full to the brim so with that in our minds and the thought of being hassled every minute we decided to make our way out of Orchard Road, sooner rather than later.
Our next stop was to be Chinatown, using the MRT to get us into the centre in no time at all. This would be the last public transport we would use today, the next 7 hours would be spent walking around looking at tourist attractions before our organised trip to the night safari. Chinatown was a bustling area, with many tourists, temples, restaurants and market stalls. Whilst in Chinatown we took plenty of photo's, which included the, The Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's oldest Hindu temple and The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, a Buddhist temple. Finally it was time to leave Chinatown and head towards Lau Pa Sat for some long overdue lunch. We decided not to eat in Chinatown as it was far too busy, noisy, commercialised and we just wanted somewhere we could sit for a while and chill.
Another 30 minute walk in the extreme heat and we were at Lau Pa Sat, the first thing to be ordered was a jug of beer! We enjoyed an Indian meal from one of the hawker stalls followed by an ice-cream sundae, delicious. After sitting, eating and resting for an hour or so it was time for us to move on. Jane, feeling extremely energetic today, decided it was time for another walk, to Clarke Quay.
Clarke Quay is a historical riverside quay encompassing a fantastic mix of modern and traditional. Now an entertainment area with restaurants, bars and shops, this was originally Singapore's commercial centre. It is a very trendy and expensive area, neither of which appealled to us, so we decided not to stay too long. After a quick walk along the quay side it was then onto our next destination, Little India.
We headed for Serangoon Road the main commercial thoroughfare in Little India. As the name suggests, this area is strongly influenced by Indian culture and is highly recommended to visit by the Lonely Planet. The area was just as busy, if not busier than Chinatown. The central streets of Little India were packed with stalls selling all sorts of Indian goods and flowers! Just before our visit it had been Deepavali, a major Indian festival, celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs as the "Festival of Lights". The whole area was transformed into a fairyland and decorated with lights. We visited the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple, a Hindu temple located in the middle of Little India and then decided it was time for munchies. Using the Lonely Planet once again, we decided to try the recommended Komala Villas (vegetarian Indian restaurant). We arrived at the restaurant with only an hour to go before we caught the tour bus to the Night Safari, so unfortunately we didn't have long to soak up the atmosphere. The meal was amazing, several different curries, steamed rice, and various sauces at an unbelievably cheap price!
Finally we were on the way to our last destination of the day. We had to catch a tour bus that would take us from Little India to the Night Safari. We were told to wait outside a hotel from where the bus would pick us up. We waited 10 minutes and asked several bus drivers if they were going to the Night safari, to no avail. We weren't entirely sure where we were supposed to be picked up from as the hotel was situated on 3 different roads, so everytime a bus stopped we would run over to ask the driver where they were going. At last, 20 minutes late, our coach arrived!
Everthing we had done in Singapore so far had either been free or at a minimal cost, so we decided to push the boat out and pay the expensive entrance and coach fee to the Night Safari. The Night Safari is the world's first nocturnal zoo. It currently houses a total of 1,040 animals of 120 species, of which 29% are threatened species. It is an entirely open-air zoo set in a humid tropical forest that is only open at night. It is divided into eight geographical zones, which can be explored for nocturnal animals. The park can be covered either on foot via three walking trails, or by tram. There is also a "Creatures of the Night Show" which is a performance presented by the animals which is set in a forest clearing, this 20-minute animal presentation introduces you to animals of the night! We arrived at the park just too late to go to the first Creatures of the Night showing so we decided to take a walk along one of the trails, which was a liitle disappointing. It was just too dark to spot any animals! After a 20 minute wait in the queue we managed to make it into the second Creatures of the Night show. This too was very disappointing, apart from when a keeper pulled out a snake from under one of the spectators chairs! After the show we decided to take the tram around the park, which stops occasionally to allow you to look at various animals which are invariably sleeping in large enclosures. Highlights of the Safari included winged squirrels flying directly overhead and giant fruit bats sleeping on trees within touching distance. We left the Night Safari a little disillusioned and dissappointed by the whole experience; not many animals spotted, not allowed to take any photographs with flash, and too dark (yes I know it is called the Night Safari!) At 11:30pm we decided it was time to leave the park and catch the penutlimate bus back to Little India. It had been an exceptionally long day and we were glad to be heading back to the hostel.
Arriving back at the hostel we decided to have a quick beer in the restaurant just opposite, just what the doctor ordered after such a long day. Getting back to our room we didn't even manage to reminisce about the day, our heads hit the pillow and before we knew it, it was time to wake for the next day ahead!

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