One night in Bangkok and Singapore

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Thanks for being patient... I've been having so much fun, the thought of sitting in an internet cafe for more than 15mins was just too much to bear. I understand that I have a duty to all you avid readers to forsake an hour or two of sunbathing and let you in on my Asian adventures... so sit back and if you're reading this on the tube (Louise) I recommend you try and move from under someone's armpit... you won't be able to hold your breath long enough!

The flight from Hamilton to Bangkok was pretty mundane - I sat in one place - then it was time to move and sat somewhere else. This pretty much continued all day, not exactly enthralling reading and absolutely nothing at all interesting happened en route... except that my bag isn't coming with me to Bangkok... its heading straight to Singapore - lucky bag! Its a good job I'm into the wash 'n' wear wardrobe change these days! The 9 hour flight passed via a movie marathon - thank you Emirates for having such a wide selection. I chuckled at Madagasgar 2 and Step Brothers, was bored to tears by Bangkok Dangerous (although it seemed appropriate watching at the time!), turned off Open Season 2 (I was hoping for something light but got total rubbish!) and finally rode the emotional rollercoaster of my second viewing of Slumdog Millionaire - oh I love that movie.

On arrival at Bangkok I was delighted and relieved to see a smiling face of a tiny Thai lady holding up a card with my name on it. She was very sweet and guided me to my private transfer to my hotel. Its 2.30 in the morning and 23c and very humid. The journey to the hotel was astounding. The first 30 mins was on the motorway - however there are definitely signs that I am in a very different land! A pickup full of about 15 Thais speeding at 70mph certainly signaled that things are done a bit differently around here! I had expected to see sights like this in rural areas but never on the motorway.

The arrival into town is signaled by a complete change and an overload to the senses - everywhere I look there are people doing what they do at 3am on a Thursday evening - which looks like eat, drink, socialise and shop! The streets are packed full of traders of every kind. Couples on mopeds weave in and out of the traffic every which way regardless of the direction of the flow of traffic. Stalls pack every inch of the pavement selling clothes, DVDs, and all sorts of unknown delicacies - steam rises from huge woks. My eyes and nose can't take it all in! And amidst the throng of shoppers and diners there are a huge number of ladies all dressed up and looking like they are ready to party - not jumping to conclusions, but they may have been street walkers! I know... shocking!

Just as a guy rides past on a bicycle pulling a cart of dried fish hanging from a rail, we turn into a side street - to be honest I'm a little worried what sort of hotel I am booked into tonight - but as is the way with Bangkok (and Asia in general I am soon to discover) nothing is ever as it seems. My hotel is stunning! Just a minute away from the hustle and bustle of the night market I am stepping into the marble floored, air conditioned lobby of a hotel that would easily compete with the best in London. Phew!

I am sure that when I am with the group, I will be happy to stay in a whole range of places, but while I'm on my own - I am at home in luxury accommodation - it helps me sleep. Well - it should do, except after just a few hours I am awake... too excited! I hope this isn't a trend - if I don't sleep every time I get to a new place I will be sleep deprived in a week!

As its early, I make myself a nice cup of tea and take in the view of an awakening Bangkok from the balcony from my room (oh yeah baby). From the 11th floor, my view is of lots of rooftops, a train station and... the hotel pool! It looks really inviting but my swimsuit is in my bag in Singapore, so I'll have to make do with a swim in the shower!

After checkout I am collected and driven to the airport. The journey back was crazy - so many mopeds and motorbikes, looks like a kawazaki convention! People walking between the cars at the traffic lights selling food and garlands its all mad mad mad.

The flight to Singapore was uneventful - the only film I could find to watch was 'When the Earth Stood Still' with Keanu Reeves... who makes a very convincing alien without really trying too hard! Missed the end because the flight was really short - shame ;-)

I landed at 8pm local time and it was 28c and very humid. My bag was the last one out... but out he came - oh the relief!

My escort to the hotel was lovely - very chatty, and all the way to the hotel he told me how to keep myself safe. He was the first of may to show surprise that I am traveling alone for my first visit to Asia.

My hotel is very luxurious and I am going to make the most of this as I suspect my next 2 weeks of accommodation may not be quite so opulent! I skip dinner in lieu of minibar shortbread biscuits and a cup of tea (sorry Mammy).

I slept all night - woohoo! Within 10 mins of waking, the beautiful sunshine has given way to a bit of a shower... which lasted about 2 hours! I enjoyed a very leisurely breakfast from the biggest breakfast buffet I have ever seen (and that includes the one in Barcelona Sophie). There was American, English, Indian, Chinese, Thai and Continental to choose from. There were waffles, french toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs cooked every which way, baked beans, noodles, chicken porridge, tom yum soup (hot and sour prawn), salad, popadums, curry, make your own muesli, fried rice and loads of fruit - fresh, poached, dried in all shapes and sizes! They describe it as an International Buffet and I think that just about sums it up... as I said, quite a selection! I stuck to Continental and English for now... don't want my tummy to get culture shock!

After breakfast I book myself on some trips... this afternoon I have a tour of the city and this evening I am going to go on a Night Safari at Singapore's famous open zoo... i.e. no bars! This morning I aim to see the open markets but can't find them (despite instructions that I can't miss them... well, I did!) and end up at Suntec City - which is a huge shopping mall. The main attraction of this place is the air conditioning - I have no idea how anyone can walk around here without sweating... I am losing water faster than I can drink... mostly out of my head which is seriously unattractive. Hey ho.

The afternoon trip is not particularly exciting as it is such a small place. The first stop is a mosque which is preparing for a festival weekend. In the courtyard as we arrive the women are sitting around a huge table preparing huge buckets of vegetables. The men are preparing the meat. Its mutton and its strung up and being ceremonially slaughtered. Visually, obviously its not pleasant but what hits me before I realise what is going on, is the stench. Its like a combination of faeces and decaying meat and it really gets me. Hours later, and even now, I can still smell it and it makes me queasy - its weird how smells cam sometimes stay with you longer than other sensual memories.

After the mosque we visit a taoist temple - which is beautiful, but the heavens have opened up again but lightening, thunder and torrential rain only add to the spiritual atmosphere in this special place. After the temple we visit a gem factory where they cut and place semi-precious stones into pictures. The craftsmanship was very impressive, but I can't say I was tempted to buy anything for my wall.

Finally it stops raining just in time for us to join a cruise of the river. This was definitely the best part of the trip and it was really good to see the city from the river. The guy doing the commentary was really funny and I smiled for probably the first time today.

After the cruise I was dropped off at the Singapore Flyer, which is the 2nd London Eye. It was designed and built by the same guy as London's but this one is bigger. The pods are a different shape... I expect he wasn't going to make the same mistakes again. It is set in a really nice place - where there are plants representing the rainforest - personally I prefer this to London's setting (controversial I know!).

The guide to the Night Zoo is called Nancy - she seems very excited to be going there - which is nice, yet a little unnerving considering she probably goes every day! When we arrive, it does have a certain buzz about it... lots of animal lovers ready to watch them do their night-time thing!

There is a tram that takes visitors to see 75% of the zoo - the rest can be seen via short unguided trails. From the tram I see deer, giant rodents (I can't recall their name), wolves, anteaters, tapir, zebra, rhino, hippo (I thought of you Sophie), elephants and lions. Sadly no flash photography was allowed, so all I have are my memories and some very dodgy video footage which consists of dark moving blobs which I can assure you are a selection of the above... honest! Anyway, they are just the same as you can see at a zoo in the daytime - except you can see them properly...hmmmnnnnn how much did I pay for this?

The trails take me to see some of the animals I have already seen - except from a different angle, and some that I haven't. Again, no photographic evidence but I saw some cute cats, (so unlike any I've seen before...) otter, leopard, hyena and crocodiles. The highlight was seeing some giraffe relatively close up - again I have dark shapes moving on film as evidence of this special memory to share.

Sadly things went a bit mad after that last treat when I realised that I needed to make my way back to the coach. I had 40 mins, which (according to the guide) should have been plenty of time - (they said 20 mins max for each trail). As is the way when you are on a deadline it never runs like you expect. So I find myself, with limited time to get back, stuck in a people-jam in the flying squirrel enclosure. Honestly - it was laughable. If I hadn't been so hot, sweaty and frustrated I might have seen the funnier side, but as it was I couldn't give a monkeys if the cute thing was eating, doing tricks or singing the overture to Carmen (although when it was flying over my head it was kinda freaking me out) - all I wanted to do was get out!

I have no idea how I managed it, but I ended up walking (very fast) past animals that I'd already seen! (talk about value for money) So I saw more otters, cute cats, crocodiles, leopard, lions and wolves that were necessary or desired. I finally made it back to the entrance with literally 1 minute to spare so I grabbed a cold drink and jumped on the coach. Phew!

After all that excitement I slept well and after another yummy breakfast I headed down the street to visit the famous Raffles Hotel. Its very impressive. I had a wander around the public areas - full of luxury shops - Armani, Tiffany & Co. and sat myself down for a cold drink in the courtyard. Its lovely - there is a fountain in the centre and I am, surrounded by architecture that is amazing. After a big bottle of fizzy water to cool down, I order a Singapore Sling and sip it slowly, taking in the serene and regal atmosphere of this place.

After a visit to the souvenir shop I head back to the hotel and get a taxi to the hotel where I join the tour - the Royal Peacock. Am I glad I wasn't here for 3 nights! Its not very pleasant. My room is small, very tired and not what you'd call clean - all of which I could cope with.... but the smell... oh my... it is reminiscent of that in a residential home - a very human smell which has clearly been generated by many many many previous occupants. Euch.

The meeting is at 6pm and I am keen to spend as little time as possible in my room so I go for a walk. Nothing notable happened - just window shopped and got hot n sweaty... again! On my return my tour guide is in the lounge - she is called Wasa and she is Thai. The rest of the group arrives and is made up of mostly Brits: Holly, Catherine, Louise and Sarah are all school friends living in or around London and have been travelling together for a few months after quitting their jobs. Dominique also lives in London and is taking this trip as a holiday - the first since starting her job last June. Philip is Dutch as is also on holiday - he runs his own IT business and at 50 is the oldest of the group. Carolyn is Canadian, living in LA - she's also travelling solo and has just completed a tour of Borneo. There is one other member of the group to join and he will arrive later tonight.

The solo travellers head out with Wasa to a local restaurant and I order BBQ Pork with noodles and dumpling soup - its delicious. After dinner we try and find a bar to have a drink but have no luck. Lots of places look too seedy and the one we finally sit down in is really expensive so we just have a quick night cap back at the hotel and have an early night.... great, I get to spend extra time in my bug ridden bed.

You'll be relieved to know, although I don't sleep much - I do survive the night and thanks to my pastel pink silk bed sheet I am protected from whatever nasties were lurking in the hotel blanket.

Today we head across the border to Malaysia.....

M x

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