We had breakfast in the hostel garden in malaysia (cheese omlette, fruit, toast and coffee) then got the bus to the border where we went through customs with our very heavy rucksacks (my back is bfeeling the strain already!). Singapore is very modern and vibrant with lots of proffessional people and a great sense of fashion! It is expensive here though (80p for a choc bar, 5 pound for a beer!). Gem and I explored amd had lunch (baked rice with vegetables in a cheese sauce) and looked round a couple of shopping malls before meeting up with our group for dinner at a nice restaurant where i had chilli crab with king prawns (the local dish and very yummy apart from seeing the live crabs in the tank near our table- i resisted naming my crab!) we also tried octopus legs which we nice but chewy! Then we went to boat quay by the river and everything was lit up and people were eating and having drinks by the river. Some of us went back and chatted in the hotel room till late and then checked out in the morning we checked out, said goodbye to our group and attempted to find ournext hostel which was a disaster as we got lost in the heat with our rucksacks and ended up sitting on theedge of the curb disheartened that we would never find it! it turned out we had done a complete circle and eventually found it near little india. It is a nice hostel with free internet and tea and coffee but we are in a dorm for the first time which means sharing with 5 other strangers, some of them big 50 year old biker men which had me frozen to my bed waiting for them to come in and hopefully not murder me! It's just me and gem on our own now apart from laura, a girl from sunderland who is checked in to the same hostel. In the afternoon we met donna and mickey, a couple from ireland some friends we have made since thailand and the four of us worked out the tube system and made our way to the night safari- singapores number one attraction. It was fun we watched the creatures of the night show seeing wolves and some other animals i didnt even recognise so it wasnt just like going to the zoo. Then we watched the tribal dancers show where they were breathing fire before it startede raing and we jumped on the camoflaged tram for a trip round the rainforest in the dark looking at the animals in thier natural habitats including lions, tigers, deer, hippos, hyenas and my favourite were those giant guinea pig things and the ones that have the body of a pig and the face of the anteaters haha they were really cute and came close to the tram but we wernt allowed to touch them. It was great fun but some of the animals were sheltering from the rain so we didnt get to see them all.

The next day we had a picnic on the roof terrace of our hostel and played in the mini waterfall and in evening we ate outdorrs whilst watching an open air concert. We shard two dishes 1. carrot cake, not the one we know back in england, its a svoury dish made like an omeltte with chillis and radish. 2. murtabak, an indian dish like a pancake stuffed with onions and mutton- very tasty!. Afterwards we walked along the quay looking at singapores skyline all pretty and lit up against the night sky. We decided to to walk to raffles, singapores famous luxurious hotel where the singapore sling was invented in 1915, not knowing if we would get in die to the very strict dress code and residents only sign! On the way we saw the largest fountain in the world which was shaped as a space ship and represents wealth and happiness likeverything else here! We confidently marched into the raffles hotel and took photos, it was spectacular and posh with rolex and gucci shops inside and decorated to the highest standard with spiral staircases and chandeliers. We tried our luck in the very famous 'longbar' within the hoteland got in! There were monkey nuts all over the floor which didnt fit in with the rest of the spotless hotel but apparently its a long tradition and respresnts the plantations many years ago in malaysia and singapore. We ordered our long awaited singapore sling cocktail and it was worth the wait as tasted like nectar, i cherished every sip as it cost us 25 dollars (10 pounds) but it had to be done whilst in singapore and i reall yenojyed looking round this hotel, i hope one day i can stay here maybe on my honeymoon!!

The next day we wnert shopping on the famous orchard road round all the malls, we didnt buy anything but tried on the dresses we couldnt afford which was fun! Thenwe met laura for tea and had a doughnut from sprinkles' doughnuts (i chose 'pinklady'- naturally!). We have mastered the mRT system now which is the underground transport system in singapore and its so much cleaner than the london underground its actually a pleasure to ride! On our last day which is today (18th) we took a boat ride along the river where we saw all the modern skyscrapers contrasted against the older parts of the city, its so muggy here i wanted to jump in the river to cool off but i didnt of course! I liked the merlion stature (half lion half fish) with water spurting out of its outh and is an easy meeting place for people in the ciry a bit likke the fountain in york is! Afterwards we loked round the bustling markets as i drank a freshly cut coconut and used a spoon to eat the flesh- very refreshing and natural! Now we are spendng the afternoon in the hostel killing time before our flight to aussie tonight! hope evetyones ok! i loved singapore and would like to emigarate here in a few years! you up for that andy? haha xxx