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Off to Singapore. Sri Lanka acted as quite a good buffer zone between India and Singapore - two countries that couldn't be more different. From multi hued Hindu temples dominating the sky line, to modern futuristic sky scrappers towering overhead. From being accosted at practically every turn in the road to 'come to my shop', a humble hole in wall, to a place built for shopaholicks, nearly every other doorway being a multi floored mega bucks shopping complex. From a place where street children wonder the rail way tracks collecting any rubbish they can make use of or sell, to a place where it's illegal to litter (which means any thing you do find on the floor has probably been dropped by accident - Ross came up trumps with a USB cable, a bracelet and $2, the only litter we saw the whole time we were there).
Singapore is uber modern, uber clean, ultra consumerist and surprisingly cosmopolitan. There were shopping centres and malls everywhere, appartment buildings sky high, wide pavements lacking obstacles, wide roads where vehicles know and obey the traffic rules. The metro system - the Mass Rapid Transit system - has a number of rules to ensure cleaniness is maintained. Such as banning the stinking durian fruit and probhiting all eating and drinking on board. This is in contrast to India where you are free to basically do anything you wish, eat and drink anywhere, spit, drive like a maniac, piss off the train platform and chew gum (another crime in Singapore). This is partly due to a lack of enforcement but all in all there is you have a, possibly unique, sense of freedom in India.
In terms of how far your money goes, we started to miss India! In 3 days we spent to same amount as money as we spent during 2 weeks in India. But there was a lot of sing-exploring to be done!
For starters us budget travellers checked into a 16 bed mixed dorm. There was a whole range of people from business men, to weekend party goers to fellow travellers, and a range of sleeping patterns to go with.
First thing we did was get swept up in the singapore swing of things, i.e. the need for material goods! Although just window shopping here was enough to keep you entertained for a few hours, we left with a new camera. We passed some grand colonial buildings and checked out the modern art scene at Singapore Art Museum. A school trip of 6-7 year old kids were there, each one equpied with their own high tech multi zoom digital camera. It was quite an unerving sight, this group of kids that barely come up to your waist listening to their teacher through the lens of their camera, snapping pictures of each other probably to put on facebook. Then we headed to Marina Bay to see some ever impressive architecture and walk along the water front. The sky line overlooking the bay was truely breathtaking, which I never thought I'd say about something so man made. Went for drinks at Clarke Quay, a hip happening snazzy up market collection of bars and restaurants along the river. Everything was out of our price so we settled for '1 for 1' beers (as they called it here).
The following day we went to Sentosa Island - a theme park type attraction built on the last remaining bits of rainforest with a beach where the sand is actually imported. Here we tried out the Luge - a down hill free falling go karting experience; we saw some pink dolphins at a sea life centre; and Ross accidently took a mid afternoon shower fully clothed after pressing the wrong button whilst attempting to wash his feet. And finally, it is here in singapore where i discovered the joys of wasabi mayonaise. God i love that green goodness. A combination of my two favourite condoments, goes well with chips, I might write to the continental section of Sainsburys, well the people in charge of it anyway.
We got a sleeper train from Singapore to Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia. Another stark contrast between India and Singapore. Where in India you pay next to nothing for a horizontal plastic covered raised platform to sleep on, here we enjoyed an, albeit expensive, comfortable bed with 2 pillows, blankets and even gold curtains to draw around your
bed so you can sleep without the worry of waking up with a strange guy gawping at you. We only spent one day in KL but were set to return many times on our travels (4 in totoal). We spent the day visiting Menora Kuala Lumpar Tower, majestically poised at a breathtaking height of 421m, the fourth tallest telecommunications tower in the world. The views from the top were great, looking out over the sprawling city. There were a few binoculars dotted around the top that provided pretty good close up views, a great snooping device i found out. I managed to spot a small private hotel pool with a family catching an early morning dip; a builder lying down on the job; and the best thing of all - a man standing in his appartment window with nothing on but a pair of tight red underpants - what a treat!
Ciao for now x
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