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Singapore, We arrived at the Marriot hotel at 9.00 and met Nana and Grandad. It was so good to see them and luckily we arrived on time. It took us an hour to walk from our hostel in Little India. They only had until 2.30 so everything was a bit rushed. We bought (well they bought us) Hop on Hop off tourist Bus tickets and we had a view of the city whilst chatting. We got off at Clark Quay but whilst I think this area is beautiful it seems desolate in the day. As I said in my earlier blogs no-where is really open until after 10.00am! This maybe because everywhere stays open till late at night. We walked along the empty cascade of restaurants and bars and eventually decided on a place that I think will make you laugh. Hooters! Me and Mike went there the day before and laughed at the thought of bringing my Nana and Grandad to a place like that! Where the girls wore tight hot pants, vests with wonder bra's etc! We said that there was no way Nana and Grandad would want to come here they would want to taste something cultural. But quite the opposite, all my Nan wanted was a cup of tea from Macdonalds as she likes her tea tasting very very hot and the polistirine cups keep the heat in! She just wanted western food and my Grandads favourite Fish and Chips. We reluctantly took them back to hooters! It was a bargain though we got a small soup, main meal with chips, soft drink, icecream and tea or coffee for $10 which is five pounds! ( I can never find the bloody pound sign on these keyboard only dollars!) We chatted some more and then walked around for a bit, stopped at a star bucks and then it was time to go! We queued up with them to get on there transfer coach to the boat and it was very very sad for me when they left. I immediately filled up my eyes with tears but blinked them away and carried on with our adventures. They gave us some money to have a night out in Singapore as we havent been out really since traveling not like me at all! I was really excited and we went back to our hostel bought some vodka, put on some tunes and started getting ready. We headed out at about 8.00pm. We though we would go to Clark Quay and go to the Clinic, a bar where you sit in wheel chairs and drink out of drips just like a hospital. We had already eaten something light so we would get a starter or summat there with a beer. Then we were going to go to the Ministry of Sound, acclaimed the biggest MOS in the wold but it had closed down! We then decided we would go to Zouk said to be one of the top 10 clubs in the wold! It looked very pretty with all lights and funky décor. We headed to the harbour and were shocked at the prices of the drinks! They were SGP15 - SGP50 for a drink! Thats 8 pound to 25 pounds for a beer! Well you know what i'm like with money, I always want the cheap stuff! I begrudged paying that. The Clinic drips that you drank out of were the most expensive. The meals were very expensive on the harbour too and Hooters had a huge queue. We went to a food court and got a basket of fried food which was not too good, but no-where sold beer. We were starting to sober up from our vodka so we bought a few cans from the supermarket and sat by the river muching on Fraro Roches (no idea how to spell them!) There were some locals flying these weired planes with lights on them which kept us entertained! We then found the cheapest place for a beer which was SGP7.50 about 3 pound 50. We sat there for a while and found out that Zouk cost SGP30 to get in which is 15 pounds. We decided to call it a day and go home instead! This was because Zouk was quite far away and we would have to pay for a taxi back to our hostel, pay the entrance fee and drinks in there would be soooo expensive. It was a nice night though sitting my the river and drinking on the Quay. Ooooooh I missed the main bit out! On the way to the Harbour we got one of those Trisaw things, were you sit in a two seat part and the person rides the bike for you to your destination, it had lots of pretty lights on and played some good music for us. It was a great way to see the city at night. That was most enjoyable as it was quite a long journey to the Quay. Next few daysWe did the night Safari which was good, you couldnt take pictures because you werent allowed your flash on and it was dark. We watched the Creatures of the Night Show which was good. Looks like they are just roaming free but there is an electric fence running around so they cant eat you! You travel around on a tram thing through the area with a commentator. Its funny because all the commentators in Singapore try to speak with and American accent! The lions were my favorite and they were roaring in front of us which was fascinating. The tiger came right up to the glass as well which was scary for the children! There were walking tracks as well which we did, bat caves, giraffes, water buffaloes', hippo's, birds etc. We missed out transfer coach back which I was annoying as we met them in the place specified at 10.00 and I was told they had left 10 minutes earlier so we had to pay for a bus back ourselves. It was only 3 pounds but thats not the point. We left the animal show early to get the coach so we missed the end. Oh well. We had a good night and that was that. The next day we went to Sentosa Island which was beautiful, we got the train to the harbour front then the monorail to the island as this was the cheapest and most efficient way of getting across. You can get the cable car but it is double the price. We went to Underwater World and watched the dolphin show which was good. We got to touch the sting ray and fish ugly looking things! We saw turtles and sharks etc. We walked to the most southern part in Continental Asia, so thats to go with the most Eastern Part of Oz, Most southern part of NZ! We arrived early to fill in our visa info to get the coach from Singapore to Malasia. The taxi driver ripped us off and charged us SGP 17 just to get into town. They charged us SGP5 just to book it and then 30% extra because it was after 7am, we were a bit annoyed but just paid it anyway. We could have got the bus but we wanted the stress away from carrying our bags and being on time for the transfer. Anyway it happens we werent on the 8.00am bus but the 10.30am bus! So they said we could get on this but we wouldn't have the meal so we agreed. The woman in STA told me it was the 8.am Coach not the 10.30am but to be fair I should have read the ticket as in black and white it did say 10.30! We ended up with a meal anyway and it was vile! Weired prawn cracker thing with luminous colours round the edge, fish bones, chicken wings and blue rice! The coach journey was very comfortable though, reclining seats, films, air con. We had to get off twice to go through customs, have our bags checked etc but all went smoothly. When I booked this transfer through STA in Pacifc Fair, Surfers Parsadise Oz, she was looking at flights from Sing to Mal, I read the back of one of their leaflets and said you can get a coach for a 1/3rd of the price! She appologised and said she didnt know about the coaches. The flight would have been 200AUD and a coach 60AUD! I was a bit annoyed as I could have paid over the odds! She had been to Singapore as well. I have since found out that you can get a bus for 2 pound from Singapore to Malasia! Oh well, we did go with Luxury Travel Tours but she didnt suggest anything I had to come up with the ideas, I bet there were cheaper transfers. If you want anything doing I suppose you just have to do it yourself and look at the Internet! They dropped us off just down the road from the Hostel which was great. Paradiso Hostel behind the Samsung Billboard next to Mcdonalds. It did not look like the pictures on the Internet but was clean, very friendly and you got free breakfast and Internet. Its full of English and has an nice living room area with DVD's to watch. The toilets are actually clean and I can actually sit down on a toilet for the first time in AGES! I would defo recommend this hostel to others. It was one of the cheapest and the nicest in its range. Okay thats it for Singapore! Over and Out
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