Singapore is a melting pot of Chinese, Indian and Malaysia culture with a British Heritage (they drive on the left and have 3 pin British Plugs, 240Vac!) but an American outlook.

I started out with a "Hop-Off, Hop-On" bus tour to try and get my bearings quickly. Although Singapore is a small country, it is a fairly big city (~5 million population). The buses help you get an idea of the various districts like Little India and Chinatown. What really blew my mind though was the Marina Bay Sands holiday resort. It is built on reclaimed land and consists of 3 tower blocks (casinos, accommodation, theatres, restaurants, etc.) with an platform that runs across the top of all three. But it is so much more that just that:

• The sides of the 56 floor towers are curved and somehow seem to lean to each other, and are also arranged in a curve on the ground

• So the platform across the top has to curve as well and is nearly 340 yards long with an observation platform jutting out 70 yards from the end tower.

• Also on the platform is a 150m swimming pool

Someone needs to give these Singapore guys a lesson in Architecture, because you just can't build something like this - except that they have. It is awesome.

From the observation deck you get great views over the city and see that it really is one of the biggest ports in the world. The bay is full of containers and tankers at anchor. You also get to see small sections of the F1 race track, and a soccer pitch in a lake(!). And they're not stopping there. There is still building going on all around. Financial Crisis, what Financial Crisis?

In the evening I went to the "Night Safari". This is unusual, but makes sense given daytime temperatures above 30ºC, the animals will want to sleep but will be more active at night when the temperatures drop to around 20ºC. However, as I started wandering around, I began to have my doubts. It can be hard enough in daylight to spot some of the animals and at night they can be practically invisible. I was wondering whether this activity was a dud, until I heard a lion roar nearby. Then I got it. It is not just about seeing the animals, but also about hearing them. Suddenly I felt that this wasn't a zoo any more, because I was in their territory. May be I was struggling to see them, but I'll bet they could see me just fine. The enclosures used things like ditches and moats to keep the animals contained, but the lack of bars help maintain this "in-their-territory" feeling. One section allowed you into a bat enclosure where all you could see was a flick of a black animal on a black background, may be catching an odd squeak as the flew around very happily with me in the dark. They were areas of illumination so that you could see many of the animals, but it was the rich jungle sounds that made this place unique.

I have also been checking out some of the shopping malls. I'm particularly interested in a new mobile phone, and prices do seem to be ~10% to 15% cheaper here for the model I'm looking at. However, "buyer beware". Some offers don't include any warranty with the product - bought as seen. Other times the seal on the boxes are broken and I am left wondering whether everything is in the box. Finally, although as a traveller I can get it tax free, there appears to be a 3 stage process to reclaiming the tax at the airport on the way out. All of this, and the risk of damaging it through the rest of my journey, has put me off.

Singapore is a place I could easily spend more time, but not on this trip. Tomorrow I head off for Bangkok, Thailand.