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Published: December 14th 2007
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We took a bus from Malaysia to Singapore, it was the most luxurious bus ever, especially after some of the other modes of transport we had experienced in our travels. There was only 26 seats on a big bus and each one was like a lazyboy with motorised footrests, pure luxury and this was the cheap bus!!!
It took about 3 hours to reach the border but it was interesting to see Malaysia outside of the city, its really green but every so often there are just estates dotted in the middle of nowhere all stuck up together. The road from Kuala Lumpur to the border is excellent so a very painless journey.
Arriving into Singapore you cross over a huge bridge to customs on the other side. You have to get out and the bus is searched and all bags x-rayed before you collect another stamp in the passport and get back on the bus. Originally Singapore for us was just a stop before heading to Australia but actually there was loads to do there and it’s a really cool city. Try not to turn up without accommodation booked though, we walked around for about 2 hrs before
settling on a dorm in Little India which ended up being perfect. Accommodation is expensive, infact Singapore was the most expensive place we visited. The first thing you notice about Singapore is its so clean, with lots of green areas along the road ways and so well organised with great transport links. Since we were staying in Little India we began our visit with a mouth burning tikka and a beer.
Started day one on Orchard Street the home of shopping malls, 40 line the street to be exact. Shopping hell or heaven depending on your perspective! You quickly realize you can actually walk around a lot of the inner city and never go outside, just through a/c undergrounds lined with shops and eateries, not a bad thing given the tropical climate. Orchard St was so expensive it ended up being more for window shopping than cash purchases. That night we visited the famous Raffles hotel, home of the Singapore Sling. The hotel is where the really really rich stay, like posh and becks, so the minute we entered the lobby, they knew it was the Long Bar we were looking for and pointed us in the right direction,
did we look that bad? We expected the bar to be one of those ultra modern posh ones with zero atmosphere. But it was a plesent surprise, really old fashioned décor and here is the cool part, on each table and along the bar were boxes of monkey nuts that they kept filling up and everybody just threw the shells on the ground, so it was covered in piles of shells, not what you'd expect given the surroundings. The famous Singapore Sling cost S$20 so hence you have to get a picture with it and eat as many of the nuts as you could! The hotel looked amazing, if you had the money you would never want to leave it, it had everything from a Tiffinys jewellers to a steakhouse. After Raffles it was off to the 5 towers of Suntec City, in the middle of which lies the Worlds Largest Fountain, there was a lights show on when we got there which was pretty impressive. It's called the fountain of wealth, probably because it cost 5 million dollars to build!
Lastly it was off to Clarkes Quay, the major night spot in Singapore, this is a really trendy
place. Its made up of about 2 -3 streets and they are covered in by a canopy and air-conditioned if you can believe that. Its all very new and each bar / club is really trendy and kinda themed like a fashion bar or the strangest one is the Clinic. This one had wheelchairs as the seats or hospital beds, the tables where steel surgical tables and the lights like those big surgical lamps. Then you could get your drink in an IV drip or they had one for charging your phone, that place was a bit too bazaar to be honest. At the end of the street was a reverse catapult and superman ride, so once you had built up the dutch courage you could have a go off that. Only problem was it would cost you about S$100 just to get tipsy in Singapore.
The next day we headed off to Sentosa, its an island just off Singapore but its just for resorts and entertainment, they are currently building Singapores first Casino on a huge plot there. Theres lots to do and you can get a combined ticket where you pick a few things. We visited the
Merlion, which is the symbol for Singapore, its a mix of a lion and a mermaid really weird looking and seemed to be invented in the 50's for the tourists more then anything, you can climb up to his mouth though for a good view of the city. Next we picked up some culture by visiting Fort Siloso which is the largest repositiry of WWII memorabilia, and details the Japanese invasion / occupation of Singapore during WWII. We also watched a film in Sentosa 4D Magix. For those wondering what the 4th dimension is, basically you get sprayed with water and gusts of wind and the seats move along with the story, it was actually pretty funny. Our final attraction was the Carlsburg Sky Tower. There is a glass unit, like a dounut that moves up the tower routating as it goes up slowly giving you a 360deg view of Sentosa and over to Singapore. The island would be great if you lived in Singapore as it had loads of other stuff like golf courses and man made beaches which were pretty nice. We headed back over to Singapore by a cable car running all the way across the harbour,
very high up and scary when somebody (Allen) keeps moving from side to side!! That night for dinner we swopped Little India for China town and the hawker stands. These are stands along the street with all different types of food, so you can pick out your different starters, mains, desert & beer as you walk up along and sit at the communal tables setup in the street, really excellent food too and cheap as chips.
Last day in Singapore we took the lazy route, the hop on hop off bus although we mostly just hopped on and stayed on. There are two buses one does a city route and the other a heritage route. The city route brought you around the shopping area and posh district, in Singapore you are really really rich if you have a house and a garden, because the country is soooo small its all high rise apartments to make the most of the space. But there are a few houses. The tours are really informative, they have a guide talking as you go along so its well worth doing to learn more about the country. Our last night in Singapore we visited the
Night Safari, I would recommend this to anybody ever visiting Singapore. It was also halloween weekend when we were there so that added to the atmosphere. Its like being at the Zoo but in the dark, with the minimum amount of lights so as not to disturb the animals. First you can take a guided tram around, then there are walking routes which are a bit spooky. Also they perform a creatures of the night show which is brilliant, one animal could even recycle glass, cans and plastic in a pile and put them in the right bins, so clever!
The next morning we got up early to head to the airport to catch a flight to Perth, Australia. Sad to say goodbye to Singapore, its a country that would be amazing to live in for a while.
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