Singapore

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Singapore was our last stop in Asia....

Whilst researching accomodation and things to do we soon found out that it did not seem to cater well for those on a budget....but always up for a challenge we set to work investigating and were soon proved wrong!

We found a hostel that had reasonably priced dorm rooms and when we arrived we were impressed with how clean and new it was. The location was perfect-right near Lavender MRT stop. The train system was set up just like Dubai...it was so easy and cheap to get around and it was really clean and air conditioned! We spent our first evening exploring what was near to our hostel....lots of little restaurants with plastic tables and chairs outside..they all seemed to be heaving with big groups of people.
There also seemed to be a 7eleven or other convienience store every 500metres or so!

We had heard that 'Little India' was close by so we attempted to walk there for dinner (without a map)...inevitably we got a little lost and ended up in an area that was strongly influenced by the Middle East. There was a huge, beautiful, gold mosque and the end of a road which was full of restaurants serving falafels, babaganoush, kebabs and sheesha. There were no cars, instead the road was filled with tables and chairs, and in front of the mosque a small dance floor. It was the Islamic New Year celebrations so the streets were busy and there was a band playing and people dancing in traditional islamic clothes. There were also lots of shops selling rugs, spices, sheesha and clothes! Everywhere we walked someone tried to lure us into their shop or restaurant. It was really hot so we ended up walking away a little from all the commotion and eating in a Pakistani restaurant which was really nice. Afterwards we walked around and watched some of the dancing.

On our first full day we went to Marina Bay-which is an amazing, huge hotel/shopping centre designed to look like a boat perched on top of two sky scrapers. In the shopping centre there was a waterway running through the middle, with little boats carrying passengers. There was an ice skating rink, lots of expensive shops (including Ferrari!) and hundreds of restaurants. The hotel was amazing to look at, even more so when we found out that the reclaimed land it stood on used to be the Sea!

For lunch we went to a food court in Chinatown. It was yummy and really cheap! ($3.75 each-approx. 1pound 75!) for a meat dish, 2 veg dishes and rice. I tried some fresh sugarcane juice which is really popular in Chinatown, it was so good! (Will hated it though!) The streets were filled with lanterns and there were shops selling Chinese souvineers like calligraphy paintings and traditional dresses.

Later on we found Little India, it was absolutely heaving!!! The festival meant the streets were full of people celebrating...the famous 'Mustafa shopping centre' was shut because there were too many people inside! There were lots of stalls set up, huge marquees with pop up shops inside and lights everywhere across the streets. There were so many people shopping, looking around, sitting on the grass verges or eating out. We bought a potato and cauliflower curry and chapatis! It was delicious.

The following day we went to the harbour front; you couldn't see much though because there was so much building work going on....(The view of the harbour when we landed in Singapore was amazing...so many boats!) We went to Chinatown again for lunch! The food court was really big and we spent ages trying to decide where to eat...before choosing the one we went to the day before...it was just so tasty and cheap and we had HUGE portions!

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Photos

First night
The mosque at night

Marina Bay
Inside the shopping centre.

Little India
Inside one of the huge marquees.