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Published: September 21st 2007
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Building in the foreground is the Singapore Cricket Club. First let me say that there are now 4 videos for you enjoyment on the last Bali blog. Trust me you will laugh very hard!!
Well we nearly didn't make it to Singapore!! Upon packing our bags in Bali I discovered that I had lost my passport..... I had it when we checked into the accomodation but now it was nowwhere to be found. We turned the room upside down, I searched the village in case I had left it in the internet cafe when we booked our flights but it could not be found. Just as we had 3 members of staff helping me lift up the bed to look for it a cry from outside "I've found it" - Vicky had it in her bag!!!!
After that it was all plain sailing as we flew back to KL had a day stopover to get some supplies and then caught the overnight train down to Singapore. The train journey was ok although it did involve having to get up very early and pack our bags in order to leave the train, exit Malaysian customs and go through Singapore customs all under the scrutiny of armed guards and sniffer
dogs!
As we only had 1 night in Singapore due to its expensiveness and our time constraints we decided to treat ourselves and stay at the Raffles Hotel!! Well it wasn't actually THE Raffles but a newer Raffles that they have built to deal with those who can't afford $600/night!!We had managed to time it well so that we arrived at 8.00am on day1 and then didn't have to leave for the airport until 5.00pm the next day, giving us 2 full days to explore Singapore. Needless to say we did not see everything but luckily the City is not huge so we did get a lot done.
We were blessed with some very good weather on the first day and so managed to explore the colonial historic centre on foot in the morning and then head out to the famous Orchard Road (shopping central) via Fort Canning Park. The colonial centre of Singapore has some stunning buildings and fascinating history. The city is as clean as everyone says and there are a plethora of signs giving warning to what you cannot do and the appropriate fines if you cross the law!! One of these laws includes the
illegality of chewing gum!! Some of the highlights of the colonial district were the Singapore Cricket Club (est 1852!) and there was even a match going on as we passed, the old courthouse and of course the waterfront where Raffles himself landed.
Orchard road is a stretch of street approc 2-3miles long lined with shop after shop and a few shopping malls in between! This proved quite handy as we were after an underwater camera housing for vicky's camera to enable us to get some pictures when we reach the Great Barrier Reef. It took us a while to find one with various answers being given as to why people didn't have it in stock and at one point as Vicky was buying the housing a nearby tailor offered me the chance to join his illegal betting syndicate and showed me his picture of Michael Owen getting a suit from him a few years back!!
Singapore is certainly a very cosmopolitan place with a Chinatown, Little India, Arab Quarter and just about everyone else inbetween, it was a very friendly place and I should imagine a lovely place to live if you can afford it, a beer was
about 5pounds!!
On our one and only evening we decided to see the city by night and take a cruise on the river. First though we paid a visit to the world famous Long Bar at Raffles. We did indeed partake in a Singapore Sling and munched on some peanuts, throwing the shells on the floor in true Long Bar tradition! The river cruise afterwards offered us some splendid views and a chance to see those areas that we hadn't during the day. The main waterfront and Marina is wonderfully lit up at night and there is even a huge statue of a lion spitting water into the harbour!?!?!?
On our second day we were met in the morning by the skies opening and so a day long downpour ensued. We took this opportunity to send some post home and do some emails and blogging before heading to the airport in the afternoon for our flight to Australia. Some of you may be aware that we had originally hoped to get to Australia via a container ship. It unfortunatley worked out at too much money (our flights were cheaper for 2 of us than 1 fare for the
boat) so we have decided to fly into Darwin and set off from there on our campervan adventures.
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Karen
non-member comment
I'm amazed they let you stay at such a posh hotel looking so hairy! Who was Raffles anyway? Are you really going in a campervan? I'm jealous.