Got to Singapore early Wed morning. After a 5 hr overnight flight from Mumbai, I was shattered as hadn't had any sleep but check in was at 3pm. I got some maps of Singapore from the airport and with a coffee poured over them. After getting some strength made my way using the sky rail btn terminals to the MRT station and took the train and a taxi to get to the Hostel.

Luckily they had the room ready and so I could check in. The Hostel is very nice with lots of chill ot space and free internet (which is fast!!!), so made use of these facilities, but succumbed to sleep. Slept for a few hrs and woke up, Liz (one of my room mates who'd arrived from Thailand that aft) had missed her pick up for the night safari so she was making plans to take a taxi, I joined her. We got there and watched the tribal dancing, it was Borneo influence, really good. Then we took the tram round the park observing the animals. We got off half way and done the walks, saw tiger, leopard, rhinos, porcupines, flying squirrels, walked through the bat enclosure- it was a different experience. Had dinner and got to the Hostel, that was my first day in Singapore, filled with excitement and anticipation as my solo travels really begin from here!!!

Day 2 - woke up quite early and had breakfast. Got ready and planned my day. Left the Hostel and made my way to Orchard Road. It is filled with malls and shopping centres, so popped in and out of them, they are really cool as were all done up for the Chinese New Year celebrations, the malls are really wierd as some are like huge dept stores and some are regular malls. Made my way across the road, and by that time it was mid afternoon. So I took the MRT and headed to Sentosa Island. As I got out of the station, the heavens opened up and it poured. I puzzled as to what to do for a while and ultimately made the decision to go ahead. I got the cable car into the island, the views were awesome. Due to the weather, I had the car to myself. Got there and headed to watch the Dolphin Show - they have pink dolphins. It was like most Dolphin shows but the novelty was the pink dolphins. We had to wait quite a while to see if the weather improved cos the show is dependant on the weather!!! I headed to the Underwater world - an aquarium, quite nice but nothing v different. I then went to see the Sound of the Sea show. This was amazing, it was a huge production water and light show out in the sea. From there I went on the luges, which are like tobaggons and go-karts which was really good. Took the cable car back to the main island, was really good to see the skyline at night. Got back to the Hostel totally exhausted, had 3 new room mates who'd got in from Wales and London that aft and one from China. Chatted to them for a few hrs.

Day 3- woke up and had breakfast. Went to Little India with Susanne, Charlotte and May. We walked up and down exploring the shops and the temples. It was eerily like being back in India except when looking at the prices of things, it was astronomical compared to India!!!! From there we made our way to Bujis Junction which is the largest outdoor market in Singapore. It was very lively, there was lots happening here for the Chinese New Year. We wandered through the market and got to the Fountain of Wealth which is the largest fountain in the world. During the day they have the water touching. We sat there for a while too exhausted to move. May headed back to the Hostel and we carried on, saw the War memorial, the Cenotaph, City Hall and into the financial district until we reached the Merlion park. We had to see the Merlion (half fish, half lion) proudly rising over the Singapore harbour greeting all who visit from distant shores. It was a spectacular sight with the Theatres in Espalanade in the background and the Singapore flyer (the London eye equiv). We were exhausted by this time as we had walked the full length of the island!!!! We made our way to the Hostel, changed and went out into Chinatown. The parade had started when we got there. They had cordoned off the street and had massive floats going up and down in celebration of the Chinese New Year. They had a massive firecracker display, firecrackers are banned in Singapore but they make an exception for the New Year and so happen once a year. Unfort we didn't know what time they were and so decided to go across the road to get a better view. To do that we had to take the underpass and halfway they started the display so by the time we got out we caught the tail end which was spectacular. We then went to Smith's Street where they have food hawker stalls. Couldn't believe how difficult it is to find vegetarian food, one of the ladies made me veg noodles and soup which was delicious. After dinner we went and saw the Shri Mariamman and the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Chinatown and took the MRT to Raffles Hotel. Got to the Long Bar and ordered 3 Singapore Slings (can't be in Singapore and not do the Sling at the Raffles) at SG$27 it was the most expensive cocktail I've had but it went down very nicely!!!!lol The plan was to go to the Loof Bar opposite the Raffles Hotel but we were too tired after having been out on our feet for over 13hrs, we headed back to the hotel.

Got one more day here before I head to Malaysia, the plan is to go to the Reserve where they have the rainforests and go along there. Afternoon, I have to check in to another hotel where I join my trekking group and evening hopefully go see the show at the Fountain of Wealth that's on at 8pm.

Day 4- Checked out of Hangout, went to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve with Charlotte and Suzanne. There are only 2 cities in the world to have rainforests within the city-Rio De Janeiro and Singapore. A train ride and a bus ride later took us an hour to reach the reserve. We followed the walking trails, it was beautiful, there was a steep incline that took us up a summit. The walks and the heat were intense, we made it to the top amazed at all the locals running up the path. Very few tourists present here. We did 3 different trails around the reserve and saw butterflies, lizards, a massive trail of ants and a lot of indeginious trees. We got back to the start point at abt half 3 and were exhausted so made our way back. Got to the Hangout,the girls carried on to the night safari and I made my way to the Perak Hotel in Little India to check in and meet the Intrepid group. Got a taxi there, was so glad cos they had this festival on and there were processions of ppl walking from one temple to another, carrying heavy loads of milk and offerings on their heads and off hooks on their tongues, backs, chests (something to do with offering thanks to the Gods after their wishes have been fulfilled or so we read!!). Little India was heaving and being a Sunday there is no construction which is what most of the Indians have been brought over for so it was even busier. Got to the hotel which was nice, met my room-mate and it was time for the team briefing. Our group leader is Scott from Oz and there are 12 of us in total from UK, NZ, Scotland, Paraguay and US. We had the briefing and form filling then we all went for dinner to an indian rest in Little India. After dinner everyone went off, ppl went to Raffles or to do bits of sight seeing. I went back to the Hotel to catch up on bits before leaving.