'Selamet Tinggal' from Singapore

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Our voyage of discovery leads us to our final port of call - Singapore and from here we take our leave of you. As we have journeyed through Australasia we have learnt so much and Singapore was not to disappoint us.


Singapore - very similar in size to our very own Isle of Wight, but that is where the similarity finishes, unlike the Isle of Wight with a population of 132,000, Singapore is home to 4,000,000 people! A country that was for just two years a part of Malaysia, but parted company in 1965 has flourished and still needs another 2,000,000 people to cope with the manic growth. It is a country full of high rise apartment blocks, building work evident on every street corner and areas of lush green parks and gardens to maintain a sense of balance.


To really enjoy Singapore you need to be a 'shopper'. Huge shopping centres and arcades line up along the streets, floor upon floor of bright lights and shop fronts tempting you to cross their thresholds. Our town map listed 74 different Plazas, Centres, Arcades and Malls. There is just so much to choose from and even if you
Shopping
were just passing through, in the middle of the night you can hop into a taxi (which were really cheap) and head to Mustafa Centre in Little India - a mega shopping mall which is open 24 hours and sells everything from electrons and jewellery to fashions and food (what a nightmare!).


Singapore's population is made up mainly of Chinese, Malay, Indian and European. All living and working together in complete harmony. Each having their own cultural quarter alive with colour and perfumes, music and food to suit all tastes and expectations.


We enjoyed a couple of evening meals out, one in a Malay cafe, HJH Maimunah, and the other in an the Indian quarter, Jaggi's. Both recommended by the Singapore Time Out Magazine and both very local. Along the lines of a school canteen under fluorescent lights we enjoyed creamy chicken curries and vegetables cooked in butters with hand pounded spices, and all for just a few Singapore Dollars - makes my mouth water just to think about it!


Having very little time in Singapore we opted to join a couple of organised tours.


The first was to cross the border
Botanical Gardens
into Malaysia to Johore. Many malaysians work in Singapore because the pay is so much better and the exchange rate enables almost doubles their buying power once back in their home country. It was very much an introduction to Malaysia, but a country we believe worth a second look.


The other tour we joined was to the Singapore Night Safari, the world's first wildlife park with a night view. The animals are bathed in twilight enabling us to view the nocturnal wildlife almost oblivious to our presence. It was a lovely evening and we were able to follow footpaths which took us quite close to enclosures - we saw animals that we didn't know existed - some very strange looking creatures. They breed rare and endangered species like the Malayan tiger, babirusa and the Malayan rhino, which is really good news.


We spent a day wandering the Botanical Gardens which were a real delight. Dodging the rain (we didn't see the sun at all in Singapore, but it remained very humid) we ventured round the various gardens and enjoyed the stillness and peacefulness of this open space. The sealing wax fern is very popular in Singapore,
Botanical Gardens-Sealing Wax Fern
it's red stems giving it a dominance in any garden setting.


But back to food. How can you have a visit to Singapore without a visit to Raffles. So on our last afternoon, finding refuge from the heavy rain we sauntered into the foyer of Raffles hotel and requested a table for afternoon tea. We were seated at our most properly dressed table and invited to partake of the buffet provided for high tea. Well, where to begin was my initial dilemma, then, was there room on my plate for everything was my next. Pastries of every flavour imaginable - curried, quiched, tarted, topped, tiny sandwiches - brown, white, topless, filled with fish, meat, pates, scones with cream, jam (strawberry and .... marmelade), cheesecakes, chocolate cakes, fruits - melons, grapes, starfruit, strawberries, aand so much more, there were also many local delicasies of which I wasn't sure, but they tasted devine. We could hardly move from seats by the time we had finished and definitely didn't have room for the Singapore Slings that we were then offered. What a lovely way to complete our last day in this busy, vibrant city.

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