Arriving in Asia - 24 hours in Singapore

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Welcome to the final chapter of our world tour (albeit a chapter, that's split into about 7 countries and lasts for 3 months). For the final 3 months, we step out of our comfort zone and into the crazy culture shock of South East Asia. The first stop on our trek is Singapore. A city/state/country all of it's own, with a mixture of ethnicities, customs, and a nice shiny, western veneer.

We arrive at about 7pm and breeze through the customs (they've been a nightmare everywhere else). We immediately feel like we've stepped into a different world from Australia. It's strange when you suddenly feel like the odd ones out and despite how westernised Singapore is...it's still clearly different. This is exacerbated by the fact we are staying in Chinatown, which is at odds to the 'modern' part of Singapore.

It's the build up to the Chinese New Year and everyone is getting into the spirit of things on Saturday night, with markets, loud music, parades and bustling crowds. We push through the masses of people on our way to the hostel, which is tucked away above a Dim Sum restaurant. The hostel is called a 'Beary Nice Place' (because there's teddy bears everywhere - get it?!) and the owners have worked hard to create a nice welcoming atmosphere. Even though we're in a dorm, it doesn't feel too daunting. We go to bed exhausted (and possibly tipsy from all the free booze on the plane, god bless Quantas)

The next day we start off our 24 hours in Singapore with a trip to the Chinese Heritage Centre, which takes you on a tour of how Chinatown was 200 years ago, when the first settlers travelled from Hong Kong to seek refuge and start a new life. It's really interesting and we learn about everything from tailor shops to opium dens, everything is lovingly recreated with stories from locals who lived through it.

Feeling very cultural we set off to find a food court to have a cheap authentic lunch. Unfortunately when we arrive, the food on sale doesn't really do it for us - dishes like Fish Porridge and fried Frog don't get the taste buds going, so we find a street stall instead and have our first meal of chicken fried rice. Very tasty for about 80p!

We catch the MRT to the colonial district and take a look at Raffles Hotel. This impressive hotel was established in 1887 and harks back to the British colonial era, it's also where they created the Singapore Sling cocktail and Clio is keen to try one out. Unfortunately it's about $25 per cocktail...so we nip across the road to a bar where it's $12! I'm sure it tastes the same!

We spend the rest of the day sorting out transport for Kuala Lumpur and checking out the crazy skyline - one of the hotels looks like 3 towers with a boat dumped on top of it! If we'd had a bit more time I'm sure we would've seen a lot more impressive stuff but we're on a schedule. At least we got to enjoy a mix of old and new world, which sums up Singpaore nicely

Next stop - Kuala Lumpur (stick it up your jumper)

Ali and Clio x

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