Slingin Singapore: a 'fine'city

Wow what a city!

Its been a hell of a journey so far but we finally made it to Singapore. Flight from Borno went smoothly and the bus transfer between malaysia and Singapore really quickly. Have had to be carefull checking our luggage over and over again before crossing the boarder as so many stories of drug plants and considering the death penalty over here its worth the effort!

After a little seeking we settled on a budget hotel near China Town and (funny enough) slap bang in the middle of the red light district! As we were walking up to the hotel you notice so many girls in very short shorts attached to some minging bloke! Surprisingly the prostitutes here are rather good looking unlike the rest of SE Asia and many appear to be very young. Seems a shame to me that some choose this proffession but so many have no choice!

But you never feel intimidated around this sort of area, not in Singapore.

Hotel is situated nearby the local MRT (tube/light railway) station and enables us to get around the city really quickly and efficiently.

First stop of the first morning we hit Orchard Road famous for its outstanding shopping. The place is constantly buzzing with people and its a really great atmosphere around. There must be over 50 huge.. malls down here... many way too expensive for us but some with your typical high street stores.. many of them UK based... Topshop, Mango, marks and sparks etc...

One of the first things you notice around the place is how unbelieveably clean it is.. its immaculate to the point where you can see your reflection in the heavilly buffed paving slabs of the pavement. This is also reflected in everyones dress sense. Everyone looks like they have just come out of a designer boutique so look the business... As you can imagine us backpackers must stick out like a sore thumb against these guys... well... Frances does, i like to think i can mix it with these smart lookin peeps!

In the evening we headed down to Singapores harbour to walk along the bridge and to get awsome views of Esplanade (theatre) and business skyskraper district. Incredibly the Chinese are (oh my god) still celebrating fliipin new year but finally being drawn to a close this weekend over a month later!!! Still its colourfull i suppose!

On our final day in Singapore we visited the Citys leisure island, Sentosa which could be reached by Cable car from the harbourfront. Great views can be had over the whole county as your propelled on a small wire bound for an island only 15 mins away.

Sentosa is a beautiful place but a little on the plastic side. By that i mean that everything has been sculptured and set into place. The beaches are stunning and incredibly clean but the man made sense around the place is evident. We spent some of our time on the beach before heading to Singapore's 'underwater world' , where you can see some underwater creatures.. Yeah i know weve dived with these guys in their natural habitat but it was interesting to see nonetheless.

As you can see by some of the pictures we were attacked by people offering strange creatures out to hold. The snake was bloomin heavy but really well behaved! I let Frances hold the iguana as 'jen; (its name) was getting a bit edgy. She seemed to calm it down straight away.

With such a diversly populated country as Singapore your always going to be in for a treat when it comes to top notch nosh. And as you guessed it much of our time was spent in 'Little India' where we had some awsome curry's. They seem to get better and better wherever we go and the people are so friendly in the restaurants.

At this point in time as well there was a hindu parade going through where men pierced their bodies and carried heavy weights above their shoulders... It werent pretty but amazing to see... such colour!

One aspect of Singapore being a fine city is that of its heafty fines for breaking the law, and its surprisingly easy to do. Anything from jaywalking to eating and drinking in public places are all banned in Singapore and the penalties are high. Although many people have complained that this strictness makes Singapore sterile, i for one would argue that it also makes the city a bloody nice place to live!

As already mentioned, the place is amazingly clean but also i never have someone smoking in my face on public transport, on street corners.. it doesnt happen! People are very friendly and helpful and it all seems to make for a great place to live. Sure you get the odd comments espesh from cab drivers of it being a bit restictive and i can appreciate that in the long term this may well be the case. However, for short term stayers Singapore must be an absolute blast.

The weather has been really nice while we have been here as well.. hot in the daytime but not too full on and at night time really cooling off... Thoughrilly enjoyed our time here and definitely want to come back!

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