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Singapore was fabulous - but absolutely boiling and really humid it was like walking through soup it was so warm and muggy. We stayed with Anne Marie (a girl I used to work with in Eddie Rockets when I was 16!) and enjoyed the expat lifestyle. She works for the Irish embassy so her place is all paid and it's amazing infinity swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi, gym, the works. We made good use of the pool at least, much needed after a hot afternoon of sightseeing in the heat!We had a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar in Raffles as you must! And what struck me most was the peanut shells thrown all over the floor - I guess as you can't throw anything on the pavement in Singapore it's a release for the locals to be able to do it here.The drinks were nice and the bars really quite cool, I loved the big old fashioned fans that fanned us from the ceiling.I loved the building we named the pine cone, which is actually an opera house on the seafront. The window shades are angled in such a way that it looks different from every angle you look at it.We spent some time wandering around Clarke Quay and Boat Quay - I really liked the atmosphere of Clarke Quay with all of its colourful buildings and cute shops and bars and we caught a boat tour from there to head out along the river and see the Merlion fountain.
The main thing that hit me about Singapore was its mixture of cultures and people from all different places, Chinese, Indian, Malay and European.We visited Chinatown and saw all the beautiful old buildings from when the area was a main trading area, the Chinese temples just like in mainland China and the markets too. Then we'd walk a bit further and visit an Indian temple dedicated to one of the Hindu Gods, Vishnu! That was one of the most beautiful and unusual I'd ever seen - the colours were so different to what you see in the Chinese temples, all pastels and really detailed and beautiful. The mixture of cultures definitely shows in the food - we ate all sorts for example the first night were there we ate hawker food in Newtown Circus market, we wimped out one of the days and had Starbucks for breakfast, but we also ate lots of great Indian (even chicken 65 and dosi for breakfast which was a bit strange!), Singapore Chilli Crab and amazing Vietnamese food overlooking the river in the sunshine.Plus we got a glimpse at how the Irish live in Singapore - similar to London I guess, we always gravitate towards an Irish bar when we're far from home. I guess the one difference, aside from never using public transport which just isn't an option in London, was that for some reason after moving to the sweltering heat of Singapore they all seemed to have taken up Gaelic football, hurling and even marathon running - crazy!But they were a lovely crowd and on our last day we watched a load of them run the 10k, half marathon and the full thing - I was exhausted just watching in the heat!Then we headed off for a champagne brunch in the gorgeous Fullerton Hotel by the river - a brunch like I had never seen before they had everything you could possibly wish for on the all you can eat buffets there and yes it was expensive but so worth it.Plus the champagne went all afternoon so we ended up getting on our flight out of Singapore in a lovely champagne induced haze - now that's the way I like to travel ;)
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