My first entry in the blog since setting out for Singapore!! I have now been in Singapore for a few days, and am still adapting to the heat and humidity here; it is so humid that it usually has to rain a little each day and there is the strange feeling of entering an ice box each time you walk into a building but it's actually quite nice and refreshing.

My stay in Singapore has not been a typical 'backpacer experience'; from my arrival at the airport I was personally met and transported in on eof those electric bufggies to the VIP lounge - with no queue for immigration or luggage which was a plus after such a long flight! I stayed the firts two nights in my uncle Patrick's penthouse apartment in the centre of Singapore, just off Orchard Road. It was an AMAZING place with floor length windows, pool downstairs and increduble vista of all of Singapore. From then on it has been a regular culinary rollercoaster as Patrick and Ming were keen for me to try all the various cuisines on offer, including Malay lhaksa ) a kind of thickish spicy soup with meat and veg), very fresh seafood by the pier, a local asian breakfast of fried bread sticks dippped in milky coffee and rice cakes that really blow your head off if you accidentally take the chilli dip! I have even tried durian late at night from a typical roadside stall - it's an incredible fragrant fruit (not in the good way!) that has to be hacked ope n with a knife to access the yellow flesh inside. I had heard of this before arriving and it really wasn't as bad as I expected! Along the smell certainly lived up to it's reputation...

At the moment I'm staying on Sentosa Island, just off the south of Singapore in a beautiful place with my family for a couple of days. The peacocks and monkeys roam free on the island around guests sipping peach margaritas and Sentosa or Singapore slings in true expat style! Yesterday we went out for traditional 'dim sum' lunch at the Orchard hotel with our Eastern relatives - another whirlwind adventure for the tastebuds! We fitted in a little retail thereapy on Orchard Road, the main shopping street packed with designer boutiques and department stores before heading out to the Night Safari at the Singapore Zoo. The animals are much more active at night, and we witnessed a lion tucking into its supper and many other species from Africa and Asia including the Asian elephants, giraffes, zebras, leopards, hyenas, lots of deer close up and even fruit bats which was only a little terrifying!

I have also seen the Central Business District (CBD) with its Fullerton bridge and the nearby converted British Colonial Post Office and today we are off to have a full body scrub and massage at Patrick's "True Spa" on the main island...but not before some more dim sum to get us going!