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We finally got through the flight, the Godfather 2 taking a 3 hour 20 chunk out of my boredom. Neither of us slept much, and we arrived in Singapore at 7 in the morning having left at 11.30. Both local time. Singapore got its name from the Sanskrit Singa Pura - 'Lion City' and was referred to as such throughout our stay. The first impression of Singapore was of how immaculate and well ordered everything was. The airport was spotless, the taxi rank informed us that it was illegal for drivers to overcharge.
We arrived at the apartment complex and were greeted by a hideously ugly, frowning security guard who turned out to be incredibly helpful. We walked past the pristine swimming pools and, with a few good guesses, found the right building. We were let in and went up to meet our hosts. Skevi was welcoming, and introduced us to her son Matthew (toddler). James was at work and Michael at school. Skevi pulled out a vast array of maps, leaflets and guide books and told us where to go in Singapore. Surprisingly, we remembered most of it and headed off to Little India, after a brief look around the old colonial area. Little India was colourful and chaotic, with restaurants and shops lining the streets. Most of what the shops sold (jewellery, shoes, mobiles, jeans, rucksacks and more jewellery) didn't interest us but we were starving and got some food. We went to a place called Marsala Hut, which was nothing like Pizza Hut and was delicious. We shared some Chicken Biryani and a mutton dish from nothern India and left full and contented. We had a wander round Little India before tiredness kicked in. After a beer (Tiger) failed to perk us up, we decided all was lost and headed back for a nap. It was impossible to keep our eyes open on the underground trip home, as Tom's photo attests (check our flickr page).
We slept until 6 and woke up to some delicious lasagne. After dinner, we had some red wine and got to know our hosts. The reasoning behind James's nickname (Bugs) was slightly disappointing, though his friend's (The Sheriff) was hilarious. It's a little crude and, as my mum is reading this, anyone who wants to know about it they should ask us in person. After a nice chat, we crashed out into a deep sleep.
Day 2
We woke up feeling well rested. Little did we know that it was actually 1pm and that the jet lag had hit us hard. We had some breakfast and decided to check out Chinatown. Going there, it felt like our first day travelling - we were feeling chirpier and had that excitement of seeing new places. Chinatown was brilliant, a real change from what we're used to. We stopped to get some food and were wandering between stalls in an effort to decide where to eat when an old bloke sitting at a table beckoned us over, pointed at the stall, then the fan, and told us to have a seat. We ordered sliced pork and herbal mutton soup, though something got lost in translation and we ended up getting pigs intestines instead of the herbal mutton soup! We ate them anyway and were rewarded as they were delicious. The old man kept us entertained, especially as we only understood half of what he was saying. He enlightened us on his exercise regime (standing wall pushes), which he said gave him strong shoulders when many of his peers were struggling with them. He made me feel his forearms as further proof, and I have to admit they were rock solid.
Next, we wandered round the rest of Chinatown and became a repeat target of suit makers. One pointed us to an article about his shop in the evening standard and when we said we weren't interested, told us to not go to the next shop along; the bloke was a joker. Anyway, when we walked past the next one, the owner accosted us and tried to get us to buy one of his suits. We told him what the first guy had told us and he replied "He knows nothing, that article is a fake." We laughed at the rivalry and headed down to the MRT, the incredibly efficient (and cheap) metro system, and headed home.
We were sweaty from our exertions and headed down to the pool at the apartment complex. It was lovely and we stayed there for ages. We had a laugh with some of the local kids in there and did some lengths before heading back up for a shower. In the evening we headed out with our hosts Bugsy and Skevi and were treated to an incredible curry at a Indian/Nepali restaurant in Little India. Stuffed, we moved on to the Prince of Wales, a hostel/pub nearby where their friend's band were playing. We enjoyed the music but it was really hot inside so we left and were pointed in the direction of the Clarke Keys area, said to be awesome at night. We got down there but fancied an explore more than a drink and wandered round the bay. Singapore is definitely a night-time city with the buildings looking so impressive. We walked for ages, drinking in the atmosphere. Eventually we felt really tired and stopped to get a bottle of beer which flowed down. We tried to get the MRT but it was closed and instead waited for a taxi in a queue outside a mall. We soon realised that the taxis weren't reaching the mall as there was a bar complex 50 yards up the road and everyone was getting picked up there, and so walked to the other side of that and got picked up straight away.
We'd had a great day with everything going to plan. It had clearly gone too well as we were hit with a curveball when we got back: the key fob was no longer in Tom's pocket. We had to ring the doorbell and wake up Skevi and apologised profusely.
Day 3
Again, we slept past 12. On leaving the block, one of the kids from the swimming pool stopped us and invited us to her 5th birthday party. Though flattered, we refused; this was made harder when her (much) older sister arrived, who happened to be incredibly beautiful. We headed into the centre, stopping for food along the way at the Clementi food court. We had the same dilemma as in Chinatown - all the stalls looked good! In the end we went to the one with an eccentric owner that beckoned us in. We were right to put our faith in him as the food was terrific. From here, we headed off to Sentosa Island, the place where the British authorities surrendered Singapore to the Japanese in WWII but is now a massive amusement island/resort with a variety of attractions. It felt a little contrived and forced, though we didn't have much time to spend there and really enjoy ourselves.
After Sentosa we headed over to meet Bugsy and Skevi for exclusive drinks on top of the Marina Sands casino (photo:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marina_bay_sands_night_skypark_2010.JPG), getting slightly lost on the way (we ended up in a spa) and stopped by bouncers when we tried to get in - we looked far too shabby but Bugsy came over to have a word and we were let in. 1-0 us. The hotel/casino is ridiculous, a effectively a boat on top of 3 towers. The Skybar comes complete with everything the local boozer doesn't, top of the list being the infinity pool. No beers on tap though. The next stop on our classy pub crawl was Raffles Hotel, where we had a Singapore Sling each in the famous bar. It was ridiculously expensive but very tasty, we made up for the price by eating our body weight in free peanuts, throwing the remains on the floor as is the custom.
From Raffles we headed down to Clarke Keys and joined in the local scene, where the younger people sit on the bridge and have a few drinks. It was really chilled out and we got chatting to an Irish guy who had been travelling through South America for the last 7 months, we heard one or two interesting stories! A totally unconvincing toothless transvestite arrived out of nowhere and wandered down the bridge, giving banter to the guys. When it was our turn, Tom told him/her that I loved her to which he/she replied 'I know you love me' with a wink. Soon after, we headed back to get some sleep before our flight the next day.
Day 4
We got up, had some food and said our goodbyes. We had a brilliant time in Singapore, which was largely down to the excellent hospitality of our hosts - thank you so much Bugsy and Skevi! We definitely owe you a few beers when you're next in the UK.
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