Blogs from Chinatown, Singapore, Asia - page 2

Our gateway to South East Asia was the beautiful modern and cosmopolitan city of Singapore. One of the highlights for us was the amazing lights show at the Gardens by the Bay! Unfortunately a backpacker budget doesn't quite stretch to the Marina Bay Sands 5 star hotel (despite Mau's protestations) but we did manage to make it to the rooftop bar on the 57th floor where we enjoyed some Singapore Sling cocktails. We were both taken aback by the grandeur of the city. And also the expense! However we were pleasantly surprised by its character and really enjoyed strolling through the charming neighbourhoods in Little India and Chinatown. It's a city we would definitely come back to given the opportunity. Ideally having won the lotto first. ... read more

Singapore is the homeland of several interesting Amicus colleagues. It is also on the way from Darwin to Iceland, so stopping by for a quick visit was easy. Very easy. All signs are in English and Chinese and Malay and Tamil, so we could read. English is everyone’s common language, so we could speak easily to locals. There are many hawkers food courts and quirky vegetarian restaurants so the food was tasty, cheap and delicious (except for the durian). Lush tropical gardens are everywhere, cultural diversity is enshrined and Singapore is a clean, wealthy, modern country. We arrived for National Day Celebrations, so there were lots of exciting celebrations to enjoy. Caroline and Kevin were generous hosts – allowing us to visit a school, their home and a fabulous vegetarian restaurant. A fleeting visit, but informative. ... read more

Vom Flughafen in Singapur aus, ließen Lena, Dini und ich uns zu dem Hostel bringen, in dem sich Laura, Ronya und Steffi bereits befanden. Wir kamen erst um zwei Uhr nachts an, da wir uns jedoch schon über vier Monate nicht mehr gesehen haben, mussten wir erst mal eine ganze Weile quatschen. Am nächsten Morgen wollten wir aber trotz Müdigkeit etwas von der Stadt Singapur sehen. Mit der Metro ging es zum botanischen Garten, in dem wir einen schönen Spaziergang zurücklegten. Da das öffentliche Verkehrsnetz in Singapur super ausgebaut ist, fuhren wir wieder mit der Metro zu unserem nächsten Stop: das bekannte Viertel "Marina Bay", in welchem sich das gleichnamige "Marina Bay Sands" Resort befindet, sowie eine große Mall und das Riesenrad. Das Marina Bay Sands ist das berühmteste Hotel in Singapur, was auch ganz klar ... read more

We walked the shit out of the kids today. A little more than planned due to a couple of errors in navigation. Mixing up Harbourfront station nd Bayfront station cost us a few thousand extra steps (not to mention an extra $1.50 each on the MRT and an unnecessary and untimely visit to the ticket queue. That won't happen again...not on my watch!) And an upside down map sent us the wrong way down Orchard Rd. I blame Maggie for that one. ? Jules got us back on track by noticing the road wasn't called Orchard anymore. I'm glad she did (I would have realised at the next intersection for sure) as we were all hungry and Jules was getting Hangry! I waived the hotel breakfast option when booking. $33 a head? Tell 'em they're dreaming! ... read more

This being my final day in singapore I woke feeling a little deflated as have had a lovely time here. I headed out to get some pictures of china town after packing and having breakfast and then went to the Buddha tooth relic museum - yes really!!! Where, amongst a ton of Buddha's of all different sizes is none other than the emerald Buddha's tiny green tooth! ( its so high up in a glass cabinet its hard to see - but the emerald Buddha - which is tiny is housed in the grand palace in Bangkok and is the most highly worshipped.) After going here and deciding to spend the day local i went for a spot of lunch at Fatty Whens, an old and well known Chinese restaurant in Singapore right in the heart ... read more