Singapore home of the prestigious Raffles hotel, singapore slings and by far one of the most amazing places I have ever visited. Singapore has to be a stop off for any one doing a long haul fight as it is ram packed full of things to do. If I we were ever to move away from the UK this place would be a serious contender.

Apart from the small nightmare of finding some were to stay Singapore was just spectacular. Unlucky for us we arived just as the Indian festival Diwali was finishing and the Christmas boom was starting so we had a bit of a struggle to get a place to stay. Lucky for us we met a wonderful taxi driver who took us round all hostels and cheap hotels so we eventually found some where.

The most intresting thing about Singapore had to be the huge diversity of cultures infulenced by Malay, Chinese, Indian and English. The first night we headed to Little India in search of a tikka masala. Little India was very different than I expected and Andy also was pleasently surprised. I think it has a very strong Hindu influence with ladies wearing navel showing saharis jangly bracelets and bright colours. As it had just been Divali the streets were all decorated in lights and decorations with a party atmosphere. We thought it was going to be a bit like Rusholme curry mile in Manchester but it was nothing like and the food was fantastic.

Writting this I realise that I am going to talk about food alot but I just can't help it Singapore has the most amazing place to eat out as there is just such a diverse range of places and tastes.... and we ate and drank alot, it was too good not to. As soon as we got there we knew we was about to blow a massive part of our budget as Singapore is not cheap by any means. The China town is one of the best areas and we ate luch here all the time as it was not only delicious but pretty cheap by Singapore standards. We ate at a street stall on the market where a funny Singapore woman practically dragged us in stuffed us with Tiger beer and loads of food. I tried the famous Chilli Crab and it was really goodif a little messy and it took me about an hour to eat it all!

One of the best areas we had been told to go out in was Clarke Quay and we ended up here a few nights. Its a huge water front covered area full of bars and clubs. Some of the bars were so cool and others very original. We had to have a drink at the Clinic a hospital style bar with wheel chairs and hospital beds. I know it sounds morbid but it was such a laugh one of the drinks we had was 'Sex on a drip' and it came served as it says in a drip. We also went to the girly Head Candi bar to keep me happy and Andy was pleased to see they also had a ministry of sound so we had to pay that a visit.

Singapores main get away attraction is Sentosa island and we headed over on the Sky rail to have a look. Its a man made island and some of the features are better than others. We saw a 3D movie went to the butterfly park and the aquarian. It also has a man made beach where you can go for a swim its a bit stange as in the background its a really busy port. The main attraction for us had to be the brand new Cafe Del Mar situated right on the beach. Its pretty flash with Four poster bed style sun loungers, jacuzzi's, pools and a huge DJ booth. We watched the sun set over a bottle of wine and it was just the perfect way to spend the evening.

Obviousley we couldn't visit Singapore with out going to the Raffels hotel. We got dressed up as best as we could and went to the Writters bar were the likes of Joseph Conrad has sat and has a Singapore sling (Only the 1 we couldn't afford another!!) It was really special though as all the Xmas decorations had been put up and got us feeling very Christmassy. They don't skimp on the decorations there the whole place was full of huge trees and lights, it seemed strange to us as it was unbelievebly hot yet there was snow style decor every where.

I'm sure there is so much more I have missed out about Singapore as there is just so much to do and I can't emphasise enough how lovely the people are. We was even a little sad to leave but we hope to be back one day with lots of cash and an empty case : )