So after months in planning the day had finally arrived to go and meet Nat and Scott in Singapore. After finding out that Kuala Lumpar wasn't that far away we got up early that morning and hopped on yet another bus. Only 6 hours this time, a breeze! Well it was a breeze until we got to Singapore customs. We had previously been told how expensive alcohol was in Singapore and that you were allowed to take alcohol over the border as long as it was under 1l. We bought ourselves some little bottles of whisky and vodka and off we went. As our bags went through the scanners we got stopped and asked to get the bottles out. We were then escorted to a little office where a guard started filling in some forms, all this time we had no idea what was going on and were frankly quite scared, the idea of spending any time in an Asian prison did not appeal to either of us. After 10 minutes in one office we got moved to another where someone actually spoke to us! He explained that you can bring alcohol from anywhere else except Malaysia and we had technically broken the law (at this point I think it is safe to say we were both pooping in our pants). He said that as he believed we didn't know this then he would let us off with just paying the tax and not the fine or possible criminal record!! We paid the tax and they let us go, as we got out our bus driver was frantically looking for us as we had taken long. Not the most pleasant experience and definately not worth it for cheap voddy and whisky but hey ho, it's another story to tell!

We again got dropped off not in a bus station but just on a street, which is always helpful. As I was so excited to see them we just hopped in the nearest taxi to the hostel. As I expected they had gone for a nap so we just took advantage of the free wifi while waiting.

After kind of getting over their jet lag and having a bit of a catch up in the lobby we decided to head out and explore our new surroundings. Nat being the ever organised tour guide had already worked out that we weren't very far from Chinatown (yes, every city in South East Asia has a Chinatown) so we headed there for some dinner. We had noodles from a street stall which we were well accustomed to by now but it was a fresh experience for the newbies (I remember those days). Then we went and found what every traveller looks for, the cheapest beer! We took residence in what was to become our new local and spent the evening sipping Tiger, catching up and sharing our experiences, hopefully giving them a lot to look forward to in their coming months.

After deciding on a few things we all wanted to do in Singapore we rose early the next morning to really start exploring. The weather was a bit poop but off we went with our waterproofs. We got our tourists passes for the MRT and buses and roughly planned out a route. Some of it went to plan and some didn't but I think we did pretty well to say we were trying to use a transport system rather like the underground but in a completely foreign country.I struggle to use it in London!! We stopped of at many of the popular places, Raffles (which we didn't get too close to as we were all veryunderdressed in wet flip flops and anoraks), Orchard Road (way too many shops for a travellers budget), an art gallery, which despite the rain we ventured on to the roof and saw the Marina Sands Hotel building in the distance which we decided to go and find.We did find itafter a bit of wandering around in the drizzle and it was amazing. For those of you who haven't seen the pictures or heard of it, Marina Sands is a big hotel with 3 towers and a boat shape 'sky park' on the top.I'm not sure my description has done it justice but we were all in awe and decided straight away that we wanted to go up it. After enquiring it would cost 20 of our finest Singapore dollars, as the weather was pants we decided we would return the following night. So we went off to do a bit more exploring and ventured to the Botanic Gardens. Where we saw the biggest fish (some kind of cross breed between a giant and either a carp or catfish) that I think exists, it amazed everyone that saw, including a funny little Asian woman who just kept pointing and 'ooing' at the water. We then got followed around the edge of 'Swan Lake' by a group of hungry carp (at least that is what we think they were, I don't pretend to be a fish expert, as you can probably tell). By the end of all our adventures we were all pretty hungry and decided to give Little India a go for dinner. We navigated our way on the public transport (again, well done us). I think I speak for everyone when I saw that Little India was not what we expected, it didn't have the same tourist vibe that Chinatown did and in parts of it I think we all felt a little uncomfortable. That said we found a little restaurant and sat down to eat. The over helpful and a little pushy waiter took our order and slowly the food started to appear. Although they did forget half of Matt's, and for those of you who know Matt, you don't deprive him of food when he is hungry, especially not when everyone around him is eating!! After dinner we decided we would be happier in the comfort of Chinatown so headed back to our local to top of the day with, yes you guessed it, Tiger!!

Another early morning and another fun packed day. Today was Singapore Zoo Day!! After consuming about 4 pieces of toast each from the free breakfast at the hostel, we again worked out our route on the public transport and headed off. This was one of the best Zoo's we had been to, there was so much to see and do that we didn't actually get chance to do it all but we gave it a bloody good go. We saw penguins, white tigers, snakes, crocodiles, kangaroos, baboons, lions, zebras and giraffes. We also got a suprise from some giant tortoise when an unscheduled live sex show unfolded right before our very eyes, quite a shock! Mum, if you remember the hodgehegs, this was by far weirder!! I think the highlight for everyone was 'The Animals Take Back the Rainforest' a family show encorporating lots of the animals with a suprise guest appearance from our very own Scott Brayshaw! Scott was chosen by two warrior characters and taken to the front of the arena where he too became a warrior. He had to loose the top and join in their intro dance with his very own spear and sheild. While we all found this massively entertaining, I am not sure Scott did, something he will not be forgetting soon though. So, in due course we all got a bit zooed out and seen as we had our Marina Sands trip to look forward to we headed back to the hostel in an attempt to make ourselves look like we should be on the top of a very fancy hotel.

The view lived up to all our standards and more. It was amazing. You could see what looked like the whole of Singapore, all lit up and sparkling. We took lots of photos from every possible angle, had a wander around the roof and tried to check out the infinity pool. As we weren't paying guests it seems our eyes weren't even good enough to look at it, we managed to sneak a little peek though. Matt got chatting to a security guard and found out how much it was to stay there for a night. We had been guessing and were coming up with some astonomical amounts, we were in disbelief to find out that you can get a room for as little as $300 which equates to about 150 of our fine currency. This is obviously not for the pimp daddy suite with a private butler but more within our reach that we thought. Satisfied with all our pictures we started heading back for dinner in our beloved Chinatown. Walking along the river we saw a few people gathered on some steps, we followed suit and took a seat. Not long after a fountain display began, when this finished nothing else appeared to be happening and my tummy was rumbling. I was just getting up to leave when music started and another water display started. This one was different though, along with the very fine spray of water was a laser light show and various images projected onto the spray. Again I think my description is letting this down but it really was pretty awesome. We all sat silently glued to watching this incredible piece of work. At the end we all admitted to getting goose bumps and couldn't believe our luck in purely stumbling across it. We then went and had a lovely dinner washed down with yet more Tiger and reflected on our last couple of days.

I can safely say that this was a perfect ending to our time in Asia and we spent it with the best people. I hope it was a perfect beginning to Nat and Scott's adventure. It was sad the next morning when they departed but they were starting their travels and we were starting a new chapter in ours. Good bye South East Asia, Hello Australia.