Days 16 - 17 Singapore and no shopping

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The next day I had a morning in Kota Kinabalu before my flight to Singapore, KK as it’s commonly known is the capital of Malaysian Borneo. It certainly isn’t a beautiful city and this is largely due to the fact that we bombed it to the ground in WWII when it was occupied by the Japanese. There is a new shopping centre which is a great escape from the heat and humidity and a good place to get some food. My brief stay here soon came to an end when I caught my flight to Singapore.

I would be saying at the Matchbox hostel in Singapore and instead of bunk beds they have capsules (see pic below) stacked on top of each other – far better and private than bunk beds. I had a bit of a bonus as when I arrived the staff said the booking system had fouled up and they had run out of single bed, so he said he would have to give me a queen bed instead – woohoo:-))

The hostel is in an excellent area, there are lots of nice bars and it is 100m from a hawker stall where you can find all the foods you like under one roof, it even has a bar. There are around 100 stalls selling various foods and drinks and all for a good price. There are lots of these places around Singapore and perfect for backpackers. There wasn’t much veggie choice though but I managed to find a Japanese stall and ordered some mushroom ramen (noodle soup) and a Papaya and soyamilk drink for lunch – yum yum. Most of the hostels are either I Chinatown and little India and having walked extensively round both areas I would definitely recommend Chinatown.

Once I had dumped my backpack I went for a walk round Chinatown, it was the build-up to the Chinese New Year which is like our Christmas and New Year rolled into one. There was red and gold decorations everywhere it looked amazing. All the shops had some kind of pendant or

banner emblazoned over it. Just down the road from the hostel was the impressive Buddha Tooth relic temple, as you make your way through the swirling smoke from the jos-sticks you are met with the sound of the monks chanting, it’s a marvellous experience. After giving my respects to Buddha I went and had a beer, giving a toast to the rotund, bald deity.

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After breakfast I set off on a long walk round the centre of the city, I finished off the areas of Chinatown I hadn’t visited, then North through the Colonial district and then walked by the bars and restaurants that fronted Singapore river to Merlion Park, The Merlion is the supposed offspring of a mermaid and a lion. I’m not sure why they come up with this combination, maybe lions have a soft spot for the ladies of the sea! As soon as I got there the heavens opened so I joined everybody else scurrying for shelter under the arches of the Esplanade bridge.

There is certainly some money in this town, I lost count the number of Ferraris, Porsches and the top of the range Audis and Beamers roared past me.

After lunch in a Chinese veggie café, surprisingly there are several of these in Singapore and in Little India there were loads of Veggie Indian cafes too – I was spoilt for choice!

I stumbled upon Raffles be accident and did venture up to the long room to see if they would let me in my dishevelled state but there was a huge queue so I gave it a miss. After walking round rain-sodden Little India I headed back to the hostel to dry off.

Later that night I headed off to the Marina Bay Sands to see the light show, the shows are at 20:00 and 21:30 and last for 15 mins. Lasers project images on to fountains of water, it’s a bit cheesy and they crucify Louis Armstrong’s it’s a wonderful world by replacing his voice with a couple of nobody’s, presumably to appeal to the younger audience, but was it really necessary – the horror, the horror:-)

The social life at the hostel took a significant nose dive from other places as most of the occupants were there to shop I didn’t see many backpacks, just suitcases, so I had to venture out for a beers on my own here for the only time on my trip.

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Photos

A little taste of home
British fine dining

Comments

[Smith Diano]

Where to Shop in Singapore
Chinatown is one of the most popular place everyone heard about it and your post is really good m enjoying while reading this post. Where to Shop in Singapore

[David on tour]

Orchard Road
I'm glad you enjoyed my waffling, if you have a large wallet Orchard Rd is the place to be:-)