It is 28th November and we are en route to Singapore and are both really excited as we have heard so many good things about it! Our bus from Melaka to Johur Bahru was really comfortable with reclining extra wide seats so we were able to get a bit of sleep on the way down. The bus driver was an absolute a******* making us bring our big rucksacks on board because he couldn't be bothered opening the luggage storage under the bus but luckily the bus was quiet so our bags got their own seats for the trip! Changed buses at Johur Bahru and got on a smaller crappier version of a Belfast metro bus which took us on through immigration and into Singapore which was hammering down with rain! Thankfully when we got into the city it was no longer raining and we were able to make it to the hostel (located in Little India)dry after a 10 minute walk!

The hostel seemed really nice so we spent a bit of time there before booking ourselves on a nighttime cruise of the river through the city which we were told was a great way to see the place and it was! We got so many good photos and saw some of the coolest buildings in Asia - the Marina Bay Sands hotel and the Fullerton Hotel, both very different but amazing looking! After our cruise we walked around the river a little exploring Clarke Quay (the place where all the rich people eat and drink) depressing ourselves by seeing and smelling all the amazing food which we couldn't afford! We finally stopped somewhere we could afford to eat - Subway, and split a sandwich before heading back to the hostel for the night!

Day 2 and we slept in again so grabbed a late lunch in The Prince of Wales Pub with Jess, a gorgeous black and white collie who was the logo for the pub! Planned out the things we wanted to do that day, one of which was to go to "Craig Road" and get my picture beside the sign! We paid our bill and walked out of the pub at which point the heavens opened and I mean opened! It was without a doubt the heaviest rain we had seen on our trip and trapped us under a canopy in the street! Once it died off a little we ran to the hostel to get some respite before heading out later that afternoon with our umbrellas to see a bit of the city and thankfully the rain had pretty much eased off! Spent the day in and out of a lot of the shopping malls on the famous shopping street in Singapore, Orchard Road, and couldn't believe the type of shops that were everywhere! EVERYTHING was designer so needless to say we didn't even set foot in most of them for fear of being asked to leave! (they did have a New Look tho, which I - Laura had to go into, and tried on some high heels, felt so weird after 2months of flip flops!) We walked to a food court for dinner that had been recommended by the Lonely Planet book and got dinner - Chicken Caesar salad for Laura and chicken and veg for me (the significance of what we had will become apparent shortly). After dinner we decided to walk back to our hostel - Singapore despite being a modern city is not very big so you can generally walk everywhere provided you have a bit of time to spare which we had! We walked in the direction of the famous Raffles Hotel and decide to go to the long bar upstairs for a Singapore Sling (this is where the drink was invented in 1915 by Chinese bartender Ngiam Tong Boon - wee bit of factual information for you there)! The bar is strange because Singapore in general is totally spotless but in the bar you have tubs of monkey nuts on the table which they encourage you to eat and throw the shells on the floor which feels wrong but we both had a laugh doing it! Laura decided to order a Singapore Sling (even tho I had decided I dodnt want one as they were over priced and pre made, buand t there was nothing else I could drink) I had a beer which turned out not to be that much cheaper - out bill was $50 which is about £25 which was around £15 for the cocktail and £10 for a Tiger Beer!!!!!! Safe to say we had just the one and headed on back to the hostel! Thanks to the New Look girls for paying for it!!

Our last full day in Singapore was not an enjoyable one! Remember the Chicken Caesar salad and the Chicken and vegetables??? Well that decided to make a re-appearance pretty much all day - we both had horrendous food poisoning!! Laura had been up all night being sick, I however hadn't been too bad and actually felt only a little rough when I woke up so I headed out on Laura's instructions to go to the Skypark at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel - something I had wanted to do for a long time! Once on the underground though and while walking to the hotel I started feeling really bad which got worse once I got onto the roof of the hotel - but at least I got to see how nice the toilets were in a 5 star hotel in Singapore!! On a positive note the views from the Skypark were amazing - the best of Singapore! A lot of people go to the Singapore Flyer (their version of the London Eye or the former big wheel at Belfast City Hall) which I think is one of the biggest if not the biggest viewing wheel in the world but the hotel towers above it and for $10 or around £5 it was great value too! I could see the entire city, part of The F1 track, the ships going into the port and a floating football pitch (see our photo's to see what I mean). After getting my photos I hurriedly jumped onto a bus and then the underground and 20 minutes later was back in the bathroom of the hostel where I spent most of the rest of day!! Thankfully by that evening we were both feeling a bit better (and lighter) and were able to keep some food down (2 digestive biscuits each) and get some rest before heading to the airport for our flight to Australia!!

Singapore despite the rain and food poisoning was my (Craig) favourite place in Asia and we have both said we will definitely go back to see a bit more of it and to get my photo beside the "Craig Road" sign! We cannot believe that Asia has come to an end for us so quickly - we have had 2 amazing months with some bad luck but any sickness etc has been far outweighed by all the amazing places and people we have seen.

I'm (Laura) really going to miss Asia, something about this place captivates you, the good and the bad! Cambodia is still my favourite country, and we'll definitely be back in Asia. Really glad we travelled most of it by ourselves. The Gap tour was amazing and a great way to start the trip, but Asia really is so easy to travel on your own,guess that's why everyone is doing it! On to Australia now which signals the end of cheap everything but we are really looking forward to a new place and new experiences.

Craig and Laura = )