Shopping and chili crab in Singapore

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After leaving Hong Kong, my next stop was Singapore. I only had one night there - it was meant to have been two, but the airline rescheduled my flights. I stayed at a place called Hangout@Mt Emily, which (rather worryingly) on its website described itself as, "We are hip! We are hot!". When I got there, it turned out to be neither (although I was very hot, not to mention sweaty, having struggled there with my big bag) but was a rather soulless new style backpackers. Still, it had a few extras such as a free decent breakfast and I managed to get a 25% discount with my YHA card.

Not wanting to waste any time, I headed out to have a wander round. I'd already been to Singapore once before, so I had a fair idea of what to expect. Unfortunately I made the mad decision to head down to Orchard Road to try to buy a couple of cheap vest tops. Being quite tired (I'd got up at 5am to catch the flight) I lost all power of decision making and ended up wasting nearly two hours on not buying anything at all. Realising there was no point continuing, I caught the MRT to Boat Quay and had a beer overlooking the Singapore River just as the sun went down, which was lovely. Unfortunately it was around about that time that I started to get a stinking headache. Pretending that I wasn't tired and that neither my head nor my feet hurt, I trudged on to Bugis to visit the night market. However, due to all of the above I only had the energy for a brief look before finally staggeriing back to go to sleep.

The next day my head was feeling only a little better, so I went back to the airconditioned comfort of Orchard Road - and was this time much more successful in my shopping. The retail therapy also seemed to cure my headache, too, so I think it was money well spent. After that, I went to a place called Katong which, according to the free guide I picked up at the tourist information, was meant to be renowned for its seafood. Thinking I could find some chili crab there, I set off. It turned out to be a long and sweaty walk from the MRT and I didn't find any chili crab. I did have a prawn laksa, though, which was very nice.

Following lunch I needed more airconditioning, so I went to the Asian Civilisations Museum - fortunately just in time to miss a huge thunderstorm. The museum was very interesting, but I don't think I took it all in. Still, it's good to have a bit of history and culture. After that, I only had a short time before I needed to get to the airport, so in a final attempt to have chili crab I went to Lau Pa Sat, a big food market. There I finally got my chili crab which was every bit as fantastic - and messy - as Sean had promised me.

So that was Singapore. Not long at all, but I enjoyed it. I found it a lot more accessible than Hong Kong, which was mainly because everyone speaks English. There are three official languages there, so everyone uses English to communicate with speakers of other languages...which is very easy for tourists. Next stop....Oz.

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Photos

Boat Quay
Sadly the only photo I took in Singapore. The view across the river from Boat Quay, where I had a beer as the sun went down

Comments

[sarah burke]

i always knew retail therapy was good for you!!!!