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Singapore
Believe it or not I made it to Singapore all by myself with no problems! The plane journey went really quickly (considering I was slightly hung-over from the free champagne night and had to get up early to pack). I sat by a really interesting woman and we somehow managed to talk for the whole 4 hours from Darwin. The hotel I booked turned out to be lovely and I met a couple of English backpackers there and went out for food with them. On my first proper day in Singapore I wondered round and tried not to get too lost (I seem to have a problem with block systems) just getting familiar with the city. I had arranged to meet Andy at the airport but a slight mishap meant I was late so we missed each other (it had absolutely nothing to do with me discovering Topshop and River Island in a shopping mall). Luckily Andy found his way to the hotel and all was well.
We spent four days in Singapore and managed to pack in quite a lot although it was extremely humid (more so than Australia) so we tried to take it easy. The weather was quite strange in the city, it would be sunny and humid all morning then pour with rain for an hour or so in the afternoon, the go back to being humid. We did all the usual things in Singapore; went shopping on Orchard Road, walked round Clark Quay, visited Sentosa and went to the zoological gardens.
I really liked the river areas in Singapore (Clark Quay, etc) although they were very touristy. All of the buildings were lovely and I couldn't get over how much of a contrast everthing in Singapore is; it's a complete mix of modern and traditional. Our trip to Sentosa was quite interesting. It's a little island off Singapore, linked by a bridge and seems to be completey for tourists. It has an artificial beach complete with oil tankers in the not-too-far distance and all the usual touristy attractions. One we did like was the Sky Tower which is the tallest observatory in Asia and gave incredible views over Singapore and the surrouding islands. We weren't so keen on the giant Merlion statue though!
The zoological gardens consist of Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari. Unfortunately it was pouring when we reached the zoo so we didn't see much for a while. When we finally made it in we were amazed by the variety of animals there and also how thoughtfully the layout of the zoo was, very spacious areas for the aniamls and moats instead of bars. We saw all the usual animals but the best part was a covered enclosure where the animals were roaming free. We got really close to flying foxes, monkeys and sloaths. The Night Safari was absolutely incredible. We ate our dinner while watching a traditional dance and fire eating display then went to an animal show which was in complete darkness apart from spotlights, where animals crept out from everywhere, including our seats. We then walked and took a tram ride round the safari where all the animals were in a half-light so acting more naturally. The lions were roaring lots and the clouded lepord was beautiful.
On our last evening we went to Raffles for a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar! It was very elegant but the drink was a bit rubbish! We also bought a camera from one of the cheap electrical stores so spent a lot of the evening taking many many pictures!
Next stop is a border crossing into Malaysia!
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