Singapore

Thanks to a recommendation from my good friend Katie, I think we must have stayed in the best location in Singapore: Arab Street. With a view of the majestic Sultan Mosque, Chris and I found ourselves showering to the sounds of the call to prayer! Our street was filled with Asian restaurants and all kinds of foods, shisha bars and interesting little boutique shops. Though we paid around 25 British pounds per night for our two dorm beds (we paid a maximum of 5pounds for a double room in India!), we were pleased with the whole set up, including our breakfast of toast and kaya (a kind of jam made from coconut, brown sugar and we forget what else...).

We arrived in a city fully decorated for Christmas feeling extremely tired after our 6am flight from Phuket to Bangkok then our later flight to Singapore (WHICH, incidentally, we were upgraded for and I am now such a convert and won't travel anything other than business, darling!) and trooped over to the hostel with our heavy backpacks - Chris is now at 30kg - wondering how on earth we have ended up with so much stuff!

Family friends of the Zimmermans, Kaye and John, happened to be in Singapore on business/holiday and we must have had the best welcome to the city anyone could have asked for! They took us for a Singapore Sling at the famous Raffles hotel - what a treat! - before treating us to more drinks and an amazing dinner. Thanks so much for a wonderful evening Kaye and John! It really was the best introduction to Singapore ever!

Wax figures depicting the last moments before

Singapore was taken in 1944,The Battle Box Museum

Despite being an incredibly expensive city to visit, especially after travelling around the rest of SE Asia, Singapore has so much to do that we were spoilt for choice. We went to a handful of museums including the National Museum, The Battle Box (the site of the British command during WW2 when Singapore was finally taken by the Japanese in 1944), The Vintage Toy Museum and The Museum of Asian Civilisations which detailed the histories of all countries in Asia - we both found this especially interesting.

We went to heaps of electronic malls in search of accessories for Chris’ netbook - well this was the excuse though I know we both rather enjoy checking out all the geeky things on sale. I even managed to get my hair cut for Singapore $8 (about 3 pounds!) at the Tony and Guy Academy! (Thanks again for tip, Katie - my hair was in dire need!).

Sinagapore is really easy for tourists to navigate thanks to its excellent and inexpensive public transport systems. In addition, people speaking English really helps! Singapore is in fact supposed to be one of the easiest cities for expats to move to. People are very friendly here too and jolly like in China.

I know Chris is going to wax lyrical about the food here and the hawker centres but it can’t be missed out from my blog. The food was AMAZING! SO much choice from so many different Asian cultures and mixes that you wouldn’t find in the countries themselves. I’ll let Chris continue on this theme because I just can’t do it justice!

All in all, though expensive and rather clinical in terms of your oh-so-many rules, Singapore, we lurve you!