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Published: October 28th 2007
After a three and a half hour delay in Samui airport due to storms we finally took off and headed for Singapore. The flight itself was quite rough with a lot of turbulence but we finally arrived in a thankfully, dry Singapore.
We left Koh Samui in a bit of a rush and as a result didn't manage to get any accommodation booked in Singapore. So after we qued for what seemed like ages at immigration we got our bags and started looking for accommodation, with the waiting and the flight delay it was now midnight.
We managed to find a hotel booking agent in the airport who had access to over 100 hotels, unfortunately there were only 8 with vacancies. It would seem Singapore is becoming very popular and we have since noticed many more hotels being built or expanded. Anyway we took the cheapest room he had which was about 60 pound for that night. When we got there the hotel was really nice and our room was fantastic (we think we got an accidental upgrade) It was on the 16th floor and was a huge suite!
Unfortunately this wasn't to last. We asked the next
morning if we could keep the room on at the same rate and spoil ourselves for another 2 nights. The hotel unfortunately was full, except for a cheaper room they had available "it is smaller sir, with no TV or fridge but its only 90 dollars per night" (thats about 30 pounds). Bargain! We thought. The room however turned out to be as wide as a corridor with a shared bathroom, we took it anyway and set about exploring Singapore.
Singapore itself is really, really cool and is completely different to Bangkok (that's not to say we didn't like Bangkok). The city is so clean and modern other cities could learn a lot from Singapore. On the down side though, because Singapore is so modern and clean it lacks some character.
The public transport (MRT) is unbelievably clean, cheap and runs on time. The shopping here is also amazing. Orchard road is the main shopping street and stretches over a mile, it is lined with shops and shopping malls with every kind of shop you could imagine. Vicki now has a new bag (no surprises there).
The prices over here, although more expensive than Thailand, are no
more expensive than England except for one crucial thing...alchohol! Drinking over here is very expensive, probably because Singapore is full of rich business men and not budget travelers like us. To give you an idea of cost, a pint of draught lager is just over 4 pounds. Looks like an enforced detox programme for us!
Whilst using the MRT we have both had run-in's with locals. My incident happened whilst leaving a busy station. A man walked straight into the side of me to which I reacted "oi mate, watch where you're going" I then turned to see the man was blind and even had a white stick! Vicki thought this was hilarious, I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.
Vicki, whilst on a train, was standing without holding on when the train moved. She proceeded to fall with her hand out towards a little old lady who was about 4 foot tall and resembled Yoda. Very narrowly missing her, I could hardly stop laughing while Vicki was riddled with guilt! I don't think the old lady even noticed!
Whilst in Singapore we decided to go another island called Sentosa. Sentosa island is
a totally unique place, it's kind of half theme park and half beach resort based off the south coast of Singapore by the docklands. On the island we did a bit of sunbathing at cafe del mar, then afterwards we headed to the Carlsberg sky tower. The sky tower stands 130m above sea level and gives you amazing views over the city and islands. Although we both liked Sentosa, at times it got really busy with local business people and rich holiday makers.
One thing that has surprised us both is that the main language here is English, both menu's and roadsigns. We have even heard Singaporeans talk amongst themselves in English. This has meant instead of repeating ourselves several times, we are now down to once or twice!
Next stop, Bali...
Vicki & Paul
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big guns sean
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hey dudes !!!!!
hey there hows u both doing ? well all is the same over here gary has moved in his new house and cleg has a black eye (got beat up by some school boys ) glad to see u both look well and emma was happy to see the elephant is still alive take care and talk soon dudes sean the tripod jobson p.s. paul will u come on garys stag do ?(well will vic let u ?)