Our driver was very informative, telling us about the various tourist sites and the history behind some of the buildings. However, he was pretty useless when it came to trying to find our hostel. He drove round and round the same spot so we told him to drop us at a station and we would make our own way which proved to be much quicker!
Our hostel has been pleasant - very clean and friendly. Great location too. It was right in the middle of the market place but wasn't noisy. In Asia it is custom to remove your shoes when entering a home so we did so - putting our shoes with the many other pairs on the rack!
Our first day and, after having some of the free breakfast, we have a look around Chinatown and walk up one of the main roads where all the shopping malls are. Becky buys a new bag as hers has a whole in it and I buy some shorts and a new pair of flip flops. We visit Bugis Street - Singapores largest flee markets with 600 stalls.
At lunch we find a Hawker Centre - this is basically a complex full of various food markets that cost between S$3-S$5 and you get a whole plate of food - works out to be about £2!
As the population in Singapore is predominantly Chinese at 76.7%, alot of the food is Chinese which suits me to a T! It is best to eat with your right hand for eating and shaking hands, not your left. In many Asian countries the left hand is thought to be used for toilet business!
The afternoon is spent looking around and we come across the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple where there are plenty of flower stalls all around. Singaporeans are buying flowers and insense and then praying in the temple
We spend our evening in Chinatown, wandering around the markets where we buy a couple of things. We also grab some dinner from the street carts. This is a little more expensive at S$8 but it tastes really good! The markets are all lit up with chinese lanterns of red and gold.
The next day we decide to jump on the City Sightseeing Tour which takes us all around Singapore. We go past the Marina Bay Hotel which cost over US$2 Billion to create, the Singapore Flyer being the equivalent of the London Eye, and we get to see some of the roads the F1 takes place on.
We carry on and come into Little India where we get off and have a look around the streets, markets and mosques. This area is so vibrant with an array of colours, nationalities, traffic - its memorising.
Back on the bus and we are soon travelling towards Arab Street. We go past Thiefs Market - a second hand market which gets its name as nobody knew where the goods actually came from! We are off the bus again at Kampang Glen and have a look around the area seeing another Mosque and a Wholesale market that sells dried fish.
We also walk to the Golden Mile Complex and book our bus ticket to take us to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday. We pay S$28 (£14)!
Back on the Sightseeing bus and we pass the Raffles Hotel, Raffles Hospital, the cricket ground, the Botanical Gardens, through the expensive housing estate and on to Orchard Road. Orchard Road is reknown for its shopping so we take a look!
In the evening we hit the Hawker centre for our dinner - I have sticky rice, barbecue chicken and salad. Is tasty! We wander around the night markets where we both buy a couple of things.
Wednesday morning and we wake up to the pouring rain. This doesn't dampen our day though and we are off out to do a bit more of Orchard Road. We missed the expensive shops the day before so we go and do a bit of window shopping until the rain eases off.
Soon after we decide to go to The Raffles Hotel with the idea of having a Singapore Sling. The hotel is rather posh with various boutiques set around the grounds.
We find out where the Long Bar is and proceed most willingly! It is here that the Singapore Sling cocktail was invented back in 1915 by Hainanese Chinese bartender Mr Ngiam Tong Boon. In the bar they provide monkey nuts and you have to throw the shells on the floor. So, as you walk in, all the shells crunch under your feet. We enjoyed our drinks although our bill came to £38!
After dinner and having a little rest we go and catch the MRT Train to Ang Mo Koi and then jump on a bus to take us to the Night Safari. We arrive there at 8.30pm, just in time to watch a fire breathing show. We jump on a tram that takes us around the park where we get off half way and walk the walking tracks around the lions, leapards, tree cats and many other random animals that i've never even heard of!
Back on the tram and we see the rest of the safari, viewing the elephants, giraffes, rhinos, buffalos, deer and hippos. By this time it is 11pm so we decide it is best to get going especially as we are up early the next morning for our bus. However, when we come to the exit we are informed that the last train back to the city is at 11.30pm and the bus takes 35 minutes to get from the Zoo to the train station. So we have to buy a ticket from a tour bus (same price as what we paid to get here) and then we get dropped off at Dhoby Ghaut and have to walk 40 minutes back to our hostel. We don't get into bed until just before 1am! Not bad for our last night in Singapore!
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