Good morning South East Asia

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We didn't sleep on the plane, the flight was only three and a half hours - two of which we were eating and watching the film (and enjoying the free beer and wine).

We alighted the plane and went into Sing airport only to find we'd fallen straight back into civilisation. Not only that, but one of the nicest airports with the best facilities of any we've ever come across.

We walked through marvelling at the restaurants, gawping at the décor and 'aweing' at the cleanliness of the place. After having a coffee in one of their fine, and most missed establishments (Macdonalds) we started the ordeal of finding accommodation. An ordeal it was not!

We went to a hotel desk at the airport recommended by a 'Travel Blog' user that suggests hotels in the area and price range you request. They porovided us with a reasonable hotel that was cheaper than any recommended by the Lonely planet. They also gave us options of how to get there, and how much each would cost. After being in India for over three months where buying a train ticket is a trial of will, determination and perseverance, this was bliss.

We opted for the MRT ('mass rapid transport' we think), basically a skytrain cum subway. Fantastic! Again, not being used to free flowing information, finding timetables, signs and information counters really providing information was a 'service' overload for us. One easy change and seven quick stops later we were at 'Aljunied' where the hotel (Fragrance Ruby) was situated.

The hotel was found easy enough - down a few streets like the lady had explained. It also lived up to and beyond our expectations. At only sing$26 (about 9 quid) we had a room with en suite, TV, coffee for the morning and air con - definitely more than we'd hoped. In fact a hostel for two people (shared dorm) would have been around $36. Although to fully explain the buget nature of the establishment - it was in the red light district. But if you consider that the red light area of singapore is better than a lot English suburbia it was a pleasant area!

We stayed in Singapore longer than we intended, partly from 'travel fatigue' and partly because we got the departing bus time wrong, but we saw quite a lot (of the cheap stuff) while we were there.

The city itself is spottless, but with heafty fines for littering and spitting it wasn't a surprise. With the MRT you can get aroung very cheaply and very quickly. The people are pleasant and helpful, and the facilities are excellent if not a tad pricey on occasion.

Famous for Raffles hotel (the birth place of the Singapore Sling cocktail) and more recently Nick Leason and Bearings Bank, Singapore is fantastic - if you have money. It's OK without - but on a smaller scale. We had to be very carefull of the restaurant prices - most with an added 5% government tax, and some with an additional 10% service charge. One caught us out by luring us in with a free drink and then charging us many dollars for the nuts, dip, and wet napkins they kindly 'gave' us.

The 'quayside' around the docks is a trendy, and pricey area but is lovely at night. In fact most of the city is very pretty at night - much of it lit up with flourescent changing colours.

Famous for its China town, we went to see the street stalls and the temples. The food there looked good but we didn't try.

We went sightseeing a number of days but ended our time there with an activity we haven't tried for ages but have been missing for months - crazy golf. It took us hours to walk there because it's out in the sticks, but we got to knock golf balls through many of the sights we'd already seen and some we hadn't. Not mentally, culturally or physically stimulating - but fun and relaxing!

After 6 nights in Lovely Singapore we headed off for Mersing, in penninsular Malaysia, where we could get a ferry for Pulao Tioman, an island (pulao means island) off the east coast. Only logistics and traffic - then the promise of golden sands and more.

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Photos

Sitting on the dock of the bay
At night

Night lights
Singapore's more colourful by night

Fountain of wealth (if you put your hand in and walk roud 3 times)
They believe this? (However we did it just in case)

Fountain of wealth by night
It's the biggest fountain in the world - so they say