Ok, so I realised it's taken me a long while to update this blog, so I apologise to my avid readers. So Singapore, our journey down to was very comfortable, the further south you go the more western Asia becomes and the more affluent it is. Like all our journeys its wasn't plain sailing, when we were filling out our entry forms at the border crossing this man approached me and started asking me questions about where I was from, and of course like anywhere in Asia I ignored him, till I actually bothered to looked and realised this man was an officer, with a massive gun. He asked us to come with him as he needed to ask us some questions as it was usual procedure about the nature of our visit, naturally we followed and were also a little worried. He took us up through the building into a questioning area, do not worry this building was not like the other border crossing, and this one was like an airport. After being asked about a thousand times if Jess was my wife, my partner or my girlfriend, they took us to a room, took our fingerprints and asked us questions about the nature of our stay and where we had been, and by the sounds of things I clearly was asked more questions than Jess.

Finally after being escorted back to our coach, full of unimpressed people who had to wait for us, we were on our way into Singapore. We were dropped off in the city and with our luck, it was POURING with rain, so we managed to duck into food/drink complex which was all Thai. We sat and had our 1st expensive beer in Singapore in a Thai area (great) to wait for the rain to die down. Our hostel was just a bit out of the city in Geylang, which we had to get on the MRT (tube); the MRT puts the London Underground to so much shame. It was clean, spacious, air-conditioned, and so cheap and I wasn't stuck under someone's arm pit or crammed against a door. Our hostel '98sg' was very nice; it was set out like an apartment with different rooms coming off the common area and kitchen. This was also the start of our dorm room experience, but luckily for the 1st night we had no one to share with. Dinner that evening, we wandered around the local area; we stumbled across a very busy restaurant, that was all outside on the side of the road named 'the no signboard'. Of course in Ben and Jess style we rock into it because we were hungry without looking at the menu as we thought this can't be too expensive as it's on the street. Well we were mistaken, apparently where we were in one of the best fish places in Singapore, and therefore it was expensive. The other customers were rocking up in their sports cars and 4x4s. As both of us didn't want to lose face, we ordered the cheapest thing on the menu, we had venison and fish, and it was very good.

So our 1st full day in Singapore (1st December) was our sightseeing day, we jumped onto the MRT into the city to the Colonial area along the river, which is the old docks of Singapore, although now it has been regenerated and is a fancy area. Our 1st touristy activity of the day was the Singapore Museum, which was all about Asian cultures and traditions. This was a fun museum, very interactive with the talking computers and we particularly enjoyed the kid's zones, where we could dress up and play on different instruments. We then wandered around the area, like we do in most places to try and see the tourist landmarks; Parliament buildings, St Andrews Cathedral, Colonial buildings and the Esplanade (concert hall). Singapore was very clean, very westernised and both Jess and I agreed that it clearly has taken all the best bits out of all the big cities in the world and put it into one. After a cheap lunch of dumpling soup, we headed up into Fort Canning Park; here we went to the 'Battle Box.'The Battle Box was a bunker on top of the hill, where the British were stationed during the siege of Singapore in WWII; this was the bunker in which the British also surrendered to the Japanese. The tour was very good, in each area they had moving models that acted out the different scenes that went on in that room, and we also had an audio and guided tour. See I am putting my degree to some use here. We went for walk down to Clarke Quays which is a large covered area full of restaurants and bars, of course looking for potentials for dinner that night, but it was all pretty dead and so was our wallets (as you may be aware by now our lives revolve around food.) So we decided that we would go to Little India for dinner, we didn't just order a curry, we ordered SO much food, it was all so tasty. We waddled around the area after eating to try and work it down, but no such luck and for most of that evening I felt sick because I ate so much, but it was worth it because it was so good.

So after a full day of sightseeing we thought screw it lets go be big kids, and on the 2nd we went to Sentosa Island. This is an island on the south of Singapore, it is an Island of fun, and it is full of beaches, activities, cinemas, amusements, hotels, you name it's got it. We however opted for Universal Studios on Sentosa, which is a very small part of the Island. When we arrived I was like a small child. I wanted to do everything; the most gutting thing was that the two huge rollercoasters weren't working. I was so upset, but hey we are in a theme park, let's go have some fun. The mummy rollercoaster was so much fun, we went on it three times and still every time it made me jump. We also went on some ridiculously crap rides there too, I will admit Universal studios was a bit rubbish, there is not lot of rides there, a lot of it was shows, the best was the Waterworld show. The different lands were cool though, they had Jurassic Park, where we went on the rapids, and yes, you DO get wet. Far Far Away, where we saw Lord Farquad's 4D Dungeon show and Donkey Live show. Madagascar land was a bit poor, the main ride there wasn't open so we just went on the Carrousel, I rode Melman. Like the other days in Malaysia and Singapore, the afternoons got very stormy, so a lot of the rides were closed by the afternoon due to the weather, so we missed out on the Far Far away rollercoaster and the sky train in Jurassic Park. So we opted then for the glorified tea cups in the Sci Fi land, which we went on twice as we were the only people on the ride but not a third as I was very close to vomiting, so we went to the shows in Hollywood. The best one there was The Monster Rock Show, where the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein and other monsters rocked out, they even sang the song 'Nobody' by the wonder girls which is the biggest song in Asia at the time, this song is EVERYWHERE! We called it a day about 8pm and got on the train back to the main land for some dinner, we went to the nearest food court, and I went for the chose your own dumpling and noodle soup, I had no idea what I was choosing, and some of the stuff I put in there were questionable, but it was healthy so it's all good.

On the 3rd we went back to being massive tourists, so camera in hand we set out to see the sites we didn't see on the first day. We planned on getting the river cruise, but after getting lost and not being able to find the right terminal for the boats as so many of them were closed we realised that we had walked the length of the river. So after an iced coffee and a cool down, as I was getting my sweat on in the heat, we snapped the Merlion fountain, walked around the Singapore Flyer (big wheel) and then took epic walk up to and around Marina Bay, which is three very expensive hotels and mall with a large park and resort over the top, which looks like a big train shaped structure, Google it, it will make more sense. After getting lost for a while, we jumped on the MRT to Orchard Street, which is like Oxford Street, but a lot nicer and easier to walk down. We went along the road looking at all the Christmas lights, as we were lacking in Christmas spirit. As the weather was appalling now, we decided that it was definitely a Cinema evening, so we went and watched the new Disney movie;Rapunzel and followed it with a McDonalds, they were having the Monopoly offer, how could one resist and it was 10pm and everywhere was shut…I miss cooking.

So our last day in Asia, and it was raining, so the plan of the Zoo was out of the window. So the rainy day plan was the Science museum. So you think Singapore, one of the most high tech nations in the world, their science museums is going to be awesome…you would be wrong. It was a massive let down, ok it was aimed for kids, but still you would think they would put some effort in like in London, fair enough the newer exhibitions were interesting, but half of it was very old and lots it was broken or not working. And we paid $1 dollar for this Robot animals exhibition, they looked like something I could of put together. However, I can't fault all of it, the IMAX was very good, and we watched a documentary about Sea Dinosaurs. For dinner that evening, we headed into Chinatown. After walking out of one restaurant, we found a nice sit down restaurant that wasn't canteen-y like so many other places we had been, we ordered the roast pork and prawns, they were good, but not for the price we paid for them and we realised we didn't have enough Singapore Dollars left so we had to put it on a credit card. After dinner we walked around the markets and bought our token souvenirs and bracelets for our collection. It was a bit of sad evening, was we were both gutted to be leaving Asia, we have had highs and lows here, but overall it's been an amazing experience. It's made both of us appreciate what we have at home and how lucky we are. Also we wished we could have stayed here longer and seen more or Asia as moving to Western countries seem less adventurous but I guess it's just a different one that's all.

So the day of the big flight to Australia had arrived, we had to be up nice and early to leave Asia. Of course our luck nothing goes right, our brilliant tour operator forgot to change Jess' booking for the flights from the preliminary date to the correct date. So the checking in lady had to ring Qantas to confirm if she could fly. We were not happy and this drama caused some stress. But we all managed to get on the plane to Australia, not before Jess bought a lovely new IPod touch to make herself feel better. The flight was a big giggle we indulged in the free wine, as Asia just doesn't seem to do wine. Next Stop Perth.