Sunday 3rd October

The day was mainly spent getting ready to leave Singapore. We booked our flights, hotel and spent most of the day sat in the launderette watching our clothes spin round and round. We ventured after to sample some of the local dim sum which was very good but not a bit vegetarian. Luckily they managed to rustle up TJ some egg fried rice after lots of pointing and hand gestures... Not everyone in Singapore speaks English!

That evening we'd planned to head out to the night safari, we had heard good things and were looking forward to seeing some of the animals of the night. The trip to get there was a bit of a long one and once the bus rolled into the park we had been traveling for a good hour and a half. We hadn't known what to expect but we were not disappointed, the park was very well designed with low lighting throughout and felt like an animal sanctuary rather than a zoo. The enclosures were big, open and considerate to each animals needs, you could make your way around on foot or on a safari tram. We used both seeing the bigger animals from the tram and venturing off on foot to see the smaller shyer animals. It was interesting seeing the nocturnal animals so active going about their nightly routines. The highlight was definitely the bat enclosure, a huge netted area that was open for you to walk in amongst the bats. It was fascinating seeing them flying around your head in complete silence, they were hanging in the trees close enough to touch. In fact more interesting was seeing TJ's reaction as she clung to me in complete fear, shuddering every time one flew near to her.

We also caught a couple of shows, one envolving different trained animals which was quite uninspiring, the other a native flame wielding dance that was entertaining. The last animals we saw before leaving the park was the elephants, here their enclosures seemed more bare and zoo like, indeed one of them was rocking from side to side as if mad. The driver insisted this was normal and said it was to do with keeping their muscles fit or something but it left a rather sour taste in our mouth. We hadn't witnessed anything like that on our safari and was a stark reminder that the animals should be out in the wild not in an enclosure and that we had been very privileged to have seen them in their true habitat.

Monday 4th October

Our last day in Singapore, we checked out of our room a little late, of course TJ was ready on time and was sat waiting for me to sort myself out... As usual I had left everything until the last minute! We once again hauled our heavy packs on to our backs and made our way to reception, we had forgotten just how annoying it was carrying your every belonging on your shoulders.

We left our bags with the Regin and made our way into the city to meet up with Lin for the last time. She met us by City tube station in her swish car and as usual she was being fantastic and dropping off a friend. She had our afternoon all planned out and had brought a picnic basket for us to have a fair well lunch in the delightful surroundings of Singapore botanical gardens.

On route to find supplies we stopped by a small church, Lin explained that it had been turned into a bar/club, the inside still had all the original features but it's new use gave them a new contemporary twist. The entrance to the bar was through a wonderful bamboo tunnel which proved inspiration for some interesting pictures. Unfortunately the bar was closed but we could appreciate it's quirkiness through the huge patio doors. Inspiration came to Lin as we returned to the car, be it divine or not, she stated she knew a great place to get some Indian food.

What an idea! When we arrived and saw what was on offer we abandoned the idea of a picnic and immediately got a table for three. We all went up to the counter to choose our dishes and not long it came served on huge banana leaves, washed down with some of the best lime juice we'd had. The food was superb and came with as much rice as we wanted and a selection of vegetarian dishes, we were absolutely stuffed by the end. After dinner we waddled to the car sweating from the intense heat and the new size of our bellies, we decided that a sit and a sip was in order so still headed to the gardens.

In usual Singapore style the botanical gardens was a beautiful spectacle of colour, from the most delicate flower to the towering trees everything was in immaculate condition and well organized. We briefly looked around the indoor gardens providing information on the sheer diversity and fragility of nature before heading to the gardens. Chuckling on our way as the attendants stapled leaves and vines into the desired position. We found a perfect spot under the shade of a colossal tree, unrolled our blanket, uncorked the wine and relaxed. We were soon joined by a large group of young adults who started to play games sat in a circle, intrigued, we watched soon discovering that they were a young church group. It was lovely to see everyone having fun and getting on, soon the guitars were out and they sat singing and praying together, it was an inspiring sight.

As the church group started a game of football it was time for Lin to leave, lecture bound we said our sad goodbyes. Lin had been the most amazing host we couldn't tell her enough how much we loved our time with her (I hope when you read this Lin it will remind you of our amazing week and just how wonderful you are... Thank you :-p... We can't wait to return the favor in London!) she left us to explore the rest of the gardens which seemed to get better and better every different path we took. Time was getting on by the time we left so we headed straight for the nearest tube and the way back to our hotel, picked our bags up and for the last gimp caught the tube to the airport.

We had both loved Singapore, from the perfect Orchard Road to the grimy Red Light District it was a city of adventure, style and fun far removed from it's sterile reputation. As our plane took off we knew that we would miss both Lin and the city but we were excited about the prospect of continuing our adventure, our next stop Malaysia and the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Mark & Tejal x