So what and where’s Mustafa’s? For those who haven’t been in Singapore, Mustafa’s sort of a landmark in a country where shopping is sort of a national sport (next to eating, I think). Located in Little India (one of my favorite places in Singapore), Mustafa’s is a 24-hour shopping center, where you can just buy about anything (from digicams to underwear to canned garbanzos to jewelry) for reasonable prices. Perfect for those who are in retail therapy but don't have enough moolah to support their, uhm, "habit" . The downside is, Mu [View Full Entry]

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If ever I win a Noble Prize for pre-travel preparations, my thank you speech has to include an acknowledgement to two important things that allowed me to organize my travel itinerary even if I’m still tied to my workstation in Singapore, writing news stories that will be published by my soon-to-be-ex-media company. I would like to thank the guidebooks (Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Frommer’s), some of which I bought, others were borrowed from my friends for giving me phone numbers, websites and addresses of hostels, hospitals, travel agencies, book shops and vegetarian restaur [View Full Entry]

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Apologies if the nonsense to photo ratio goes to DEFCON III in this article - I just couldn't be bothered lugging my camera around Singapore. Lots of lovely photos of Bali and Lombok coming in the next report, plus the odd briny tale of adventure and derring do. To my recollection, which is not always the best, the only time I have been served a pint of foaming ale by a completely stark naked barman was in the Tumbledown Dick, Farnborough, Hampshire. I had just left college and was sharing a flat with two other young men of (fairly) like mind, [View Full Entry]

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The rain didn't put us off going to Sentosa, an island to the south of Singapore, even though we were planning to go to the beach, because there's plenty else to do (and we had our trusty brollies!) We caught the cable car over from Harbour Front (even I was scared it was so high and Pauline told us about the time a really tall ship broked the cable after we were in) and the fee to get onto the island is included. It's a crazy resort type island with lots of attractions and man made beaches. We went to the [View Full Entry]

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Had breakfast in Sandie's kitchen - melon, apple, rambutan, monkey banana and banana cake - very good! Sandie is actually crazy though - kept on talking about us getting Singaporean boyfriends and girlfriends - really nice guy though. And he has poodles! Pete met us and took us to get Ezylink cards (prepay for tube = octopus = lobster) and caught the tube to Orchard - the main shopping street - ipods are really cheap here but not sure I should be making large purchases till I have somewhere to live next year! Met Pauline and went to the Long Bar [View Full Entry]

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I was having trouble finding a word to describe Singapore until somebody told me that they found it to be 'sterile'. I like that word. Singapore is also described as a nanny state - it's illegal to chew gum and until recently it was also against the law to dance on tables in clubs (?!?). A plus point to this government hard line is that there is very little litter and the areas that we saw were very well kept. Although Singapore is very multicultural with friendly people, I felt that it lacked a real atmosphere, without being boring. If that [View Full Entry]

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Lie in, packing (again), lunch at Cafe Siam in Lan Kwai Fong - wonton soup - really nice though don't think it way very authentic - only had a spoon! Bought HP finally (dave hasn't stopped reading it since) and went to pick up luggage, catch the shuttle bus to central, check in at central (v handy), shuttle train to airport and fly United to Singapore! Browed pens to spend our last few dollars and almost missed the plane... i mean, timed it perfectly so we didn't have to queue :o). Arrived in Singapore to be greeted by Pete and Pauline [View Full Entry]

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The journey from KL to Singapore was yet another eventful one. Instead of bugs, we were joined by the family from hell who were sat directly behind us. They were kicking our chairs, peering over the top of the seats and staring at us like we were aliens. They really were annoying little sh*ts and the parents were almost as bad!!!! We crossed the connecting bridge from Malaysia to Singapore and through immigration which took ages. It was immediately obvious how different this country was to Malaysia- and we welcomed it with open arms! Firstly the people were really helpful and [View Full Entry]

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Our vacation always seems to start with a sigh... "how long is it going to take us?" However, Singapore seemed to be a natural choice ever since Michelle and Darren moved there beginning of the year 2005. July is normally not our month to travel, especially with knowing that it's going to be unbearably hot in Singapore; however, with our school schedule, we knew that if we didn't go now, we wouldn't be able to go anywhere for a while. We went to Singapore via Frankfurt. After first 7 hour flight, we were already beat. However, second flight from Frankfurt to [View Full Entry]

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Last stop Singapore :o( the 18 hour bus ride from Krabi to Singapre was a strange one. I watched Arnold schwarzenegger in Commando dubbed in Thai, i was treated quite badly by the Thai and Malysian passengers as i was the only white person (or 'Farang') on the bus i assumed they did'nt like backpackers travelling on their transport, and was ushered to an empty part of the bus and given cold stares quite regularly!! i frequently heard many of them shouting Farang, pointing and laughing out loud, a new experience for me!. Could'nt decide if they were racist or they [View Full Entry]

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