SEXY SINGAPORE.....I Love this City :-)
18TH JULY-22ND

Well my entrance into Singapore wasn’t so good. I had left an empty cartridge in my bag from the shooting range in Cambodia and the customs detected it so pulled me aside and I was questioned by police, I felt like such a criminal, but was still quite funny I guess too, trust it to happen to me. I don’t think they believed me when I told them my occupation, they just kept saying, “ma'am, why do you think it is ok to bring this into Singapore, are you allowed in your country” I really did feel stupid. Anyway after the ordeal we got to Bens where we couch surfed, couch surfing is when someone lets you sleep on their couch for free, which is pretty awesome as Singapore is quite expensive for accommodation.

Singapore is somewhat how I expected it to be and It was pretty nice to be here after 3 months travelling through Asia. It was a breath of fresh air to arrive in a city with clean streets, modern surroundings, flashy cars, chic restaurants and bars, shopping malls selling just about everything you can get hold of in the West and people, from all corners of the globe, mingling together and using a dialect we could finally understand (English) as their common language.

There's this sense of comfort and co-operation about the place and while there are some strict laws for various things, and other "guidelines" such as little spaces on the train platforms where you're supposed to stand, you get the impression everyone's happy to play by the rules because they know it makes a more comfortable lifestyle. I was half thinking that it would be over-run by police officers, but I saw like four clothed police officers. The others apparently are all wearing civilian clothing and National Service here can also constitute police service, so apparently a lot of the police are really young, too.

As Lucy was only in Singapore for 1 night and 1 day before heading to Oz, we decided to go to Little India for a good meal and then went to see the Harbor all lit up. The food was awesome, and the area really does make you feel like you have walked into India, all the smells and people, the food and all the fabric stalls, you can see why it’s given that name. We got back and forth on what’s called the MRT, so cheap and quick and really easy, nothing like the London underground, or Cardiff central for that matter. We got back at Bens around midnight and as we had already seen the famous Raffles and Marina hotel and most other touristy places, we decided that the next day would be spent at Universal Studios. Ive never been before so had nothing to compare it too, Lucy said it’s not quite America but it was still awesome, everything is themed and I felt like a big kid running to each of the rides, knocks spots off Alton Towers. Once we’d had our fun at Universal we headed back on the MRT to Sentosa where we watched indoor Skydiving and Segway’s racing around, and there’s also a beach  and we had another McDonalds, think ive eaten more now than ever! That evening it was time for Lucy and I to go our separate ways and it was so sad. I got back to the apartment and went for food with Ben and Brian, I couldn’t believe my eyes, we saw lady boys, gosh they even have them in Singapore!

The next day I woke up early and went shopping for a laptop. I bought a pink one for 190.00 with all the mod cons, I was thrilled. After that splurge I then decided to do a little window shopping at Orchard road and gawked at clothes I wished I could afford. Singapore just oozes money and on every street there are numerous modern shopping malls selling just about anything you could wish for from top range designer clothes to Western high street fashion or from exquisite little bakeries selling French patisseries to Starbuck’s muffins. It’s a shopper’s paradise- the only down side is it comes at a price…and a very expensive one at that! …And so I made do with Starbucks coffee and enjoyed the novelty of using immaculately clean and modern toilet facilities! That alone was enough to make my day.
In the evening I went to Arab Street (… all the smells and Sheesha, just like being in Alladin) with Ben, Brian, Angie, and Erick. We had Jugs of beer (with ice of course, this is an Asian thing, but I like it) I had chicken shish kebab skewers and it was delicious, good job because it wasn’t cheap. After food we met some of Ben’s friends and headed over to Clark Quay where there are lots of bars, including one called Clinic which is quite unusual, it serves you your drinks in a drip and the seats are hospital bed s and wheelchairs. The Quay is really pretty lit up, and some guys gave me some free chocolate cake which was to die for! We sat and sipped on Gin and Tonic on the bridge before heading back.

It was my final day in Singapore and Angie kindly gave me the keys to her Condominium. Well what can I say, it was paradise. A large swimming pool, with waterfalls and fountains and also a Hot Tub, I did some lengths and then relaxed in the Jacuzzi for an hour. I pretended this was part of my world and forgot about grimy dorm rooms and the snores and farts that come with them, lack of money, damp worn out clothes, insect infested huts, horrendous bus rides, squat toilets, diarrhoea inducing food and all the other hardships a backpacker must suffer on their quest to see the world…..Ok so I snapped out of it, and headed back to the MRT to hit China Town with Kasper and Ulrik, 2 friends I met In Vietnam. We walked through the market and food stalls that sell just about every heap of junk you could imagine and they all sell the same thing, who buys it I’ll never know. That said it is yet another nice part of Singapore that is worth a visit. We then walked for miles to the Harbor and it is just as nice in the sunshine as it is at night time. The sun here by the way is very very hot! We visited the Colonial district and I went up to the top of the Swiss hotel and saw a 360 degree view of Singapore which was just stunning. We had another McDonalds then walked some more to Mount Faber, I vowed id never climbed another mountain after Kinabalu but it wasn’t quite like that, but there were a lot of steps. After about 200 steps we got to the top and again another stunning view.
We got back to Kasper and Ulrik’s couch surfer’s condo, and boy was this posh. Ore the host was the host with the most to say the least, he greeted me with a Baileys on the rocks in a champagne flute and again I day dreamed about this being part of my world. He also like Angie has a swimming pool and hot tub, only his has roof top view! We then went to Ore’s work place, WOW….this was amazing, there were pool tables, nuts, sweets, coffee the lot, it was like a hotel. I had my fill of Coffee and nuts before heading over to Little India again. There were 6 of us and we had a feast for about 12 people and dirt cheap.….Once satisfied with the amount of food consumed, It was then time to leave the luxury behind, pack my mouldy backpack and hit the road once again.