Singapore 9th Jan to 12th Jan

After leaving Kuala Lumpur early we soon arrived at the border control in Singapore. Following the necessary checks we entered the country without quite knowing what to expect price wise in comparison to what we had been experiencing in other parts of Asia. Once the bus dropped us off we soon established where we were and made a bee line for a place called 'Little India', mainly as it appeared to have a lot of cheap accommodation. Once we arrived, covered in sweat (not for the first time), we took shelter in a smart newly designed hostel and embarked into our first 'dorm room'. After checking out the joint and no longer having the rucksacks weighing us down we went on a little exploration around the area. Granted, we wanted to have a little explore but we soon found ourselves wandering aimlessly down street after street through markets, fountains and herds of zebra crossings. This was pretty much a normal stroll for Rachel and myself and mapless and getting tired we eventually decided to stop and rest at a highly contagious coffee shop chain known as Starbucks. Later on in the evening we wined and dined at a small food stall, where we indulged in proper Singapore noodles with stir fried veg in oyster sauce, although the bill was a bit higher than recent outings. After the food we made our way back to the hostel where we signed up for free wifi throughout the city, and crashed for the night. The dorm, among fellow travelers, was OK although the squeaky bed was a bit frustrating.

The next day we had already decided to treat it much like a day off a cruise ship; hammer the sights of the city. We arose early to check out of the hostel, left the bags in storage and made our way to the city centre. Transport above ground around the city could work out quite expensive so we made our way down to the metro station. The state of the network was quite surprising, pristine clean carriages, not a piece of graffiti in sight which made London look like dumping ground. As the day went on we visited many sights including the WW2 Memorial Statue, the Singapore version of the London Eye and the Opera Houses along with many more. After taking more photos than there are minutes in the day we wandered across the river to a small cafe where I indulged in a prawn soup, literally made just from prawns boiled down to make a quite delicious soup, although not to Rachel's taste. With cloud building we wandered down the river bank and through the more expensive venues to Singapore Centre where Rachel's increasing fast food addiction continued with a monstrous Burger King.

As the sun set we retired to the Holiday Inn for a bit of luxury for the last couple of days in Asia. Allocated an executive suite we had the full range of sky channels including football and movies on demand, a bed fit for a king and a bathroom lined with gold plated rims; 'a back packers heaven'. For the evening we took the metro to China Town after hearing rumours of cheap food and intriguing markets. Everything we had been told was right, although for those planning a trip to Singapore China Town I would advise against travel on a Saturday evening during the Chinese new year, 'London Liverpool street 17.15 eat your heart out'. One bonus of the trip however was the Chinese sweets we discovered which are made out of rice and stuffed with different flavours; 3kg's of them was a tasty investment.

The following day we made our way to Singapore Zoo, renown for its work with Australia's zoo we knew we would be in for a treat. We caught the metro and bus to the outskirts of the city where the zoo was located and spent the day immersed in a zoo built around the habitats of the animals living within it. As we explored the park, monkeys skipped from tree to tree above, free to roam areas of the park while we also watched elephants bath and tigers prowl. In one section we entered through chains, doors and inside we were greeted by a number of rainforest creatures roaming around us as if we were not even there. The whole experience, some would say, is only a warm up to Australia Zoo but in comparison to what we're used to in the UK the whole concept of a zoo was turned on its head. Come evening time we just wandered around the corner to some food stalls where we enjoyed our penultimate Asian dish of stingray, noodles and oyster garlic veg, while surfing the internet and catching up with the parents. As agreed with the lady, midnight arrived and we headed back to the room to enjoy watching Man U v Chelsea, (my life felt complete again).

Finally the day had arrived to leave Asia and head for Australia. A bit of sorrow was felt but at the same time a new era in our trip had dawned. Our flight to Oz was booked for 21.55 so we did have one last day to spend in Singapore. We headed for the park where we found a place known as the Battle box, an old WW2 shelter occupied by the British during the war. We had a guided tour where we relived the last few days before it was surrendered to the Japanese back in 1941. The history lesson was interesting and something we had no idea took place. Chilling out for a short while afterwards we sat for lunch back at the food stalls of the previous night before heading back to the Holiday Inn to enjoy one last shower before departing for the airport.

The trip to the airport dragged up memories of our trip back from Paris with food posoning on a packed London underground as when arrived at the metro station at around 18.00 we found the place was packed and the trains even more so. After we fought our way onto the train for a little under 80 pence we were crammed like sardines in a tin, sweating more than ever in an air con carriage, while struggling to hold each other and two backpacks up. After what seemed like a lifetime the 30 minute journey ended and we arrived at the airport. Drained we checked in bang on time and headed for the rest area, where we enjoyed our last meal on Asian soil of roasted duck noodles. As the computer screen refreshed, flight JQ 58 was boarding and we scampered to the desk.

And that was that for Asia. Cheap food, accommodation and drink had come to a close and the tranquilty that Asia had delivered was over. The next leg of our journey was about to begin. Our flight departed on time and we arrived in Darwin a little before 4 in the morning where we disembarked for refueling before continuing on to Cairns where we arrived at 07.55 on the 13th January. We were ready and waiting to sample the delights of Australia.