Well, today we slept in a bit and then set off along the vast shopping malls and found a Starbucks where we got a great coffee and a snack for brekky! From there we found a place selling tickets for the city bus tours and then spent a couple of hours doing a series of sightseeing tours. It was a tremendous experience – hot and humid in the open topped double decker bus – going through Little India, the Business District, China Town, CBD, through the "Embassy District" passed the Botanic Gardens and then down Orchard Road back to Suntec City . So much to see in such a small area, we were blown away by all the sights, especially the Orchard Road strip where there are dozens of huge shopping malls and literally thousands of name brand stores (i.e. Hermes, DKNY) as well as Harvey Norman and myriads of smaller shops. The whole city is abuzz with activity and bustle – lots of new buildings and shopping malls – heavy traffic and sidewalks packed with business people and tourists.

It is all spotlessly clean and we hardly saw a policeman or police car! We saw no graffiti and there were no gangs of idle teenagers hanging about anywhere! At last! A country that tolerates no bad behaviour and punishes heavily those who may offend!

The only times we saw grotty buildings were in China Town and Little India where the shopkeepers live on the floor above the shop – the alleyways between them were pretty messy, although the shopfronts were generally pretty tidy.

We also passed the Singapore Cricket Club – where the playing fields were just so small – and also the famous Raffles Hotel where we will definitely have a “Singapore Sling” later on.

There was an enormous amount of preparation being done on the streets around Marina Bay for the upcoming Formula One Grand Prix. The GP is held at night and there were specially imported lights being erected on scaffolds right around the track, as well as the safety fencing and barriers, which spoilt the vista somewhat. The GP brings millions of dollars into Singapore and the prices of everything skyrocket over the week it is held. (Glad we dodged that!)

The commentary on the tours was quite informative and we learnt that on the island (which is 45 kms wide and 27 kms long) there are 4.8 million people of many nationalities – squashed in like bloody sardines I reckon – and as a result housing is at a premium with city rents topping $SD1,000 per week (and more) and 3x1 tiny units selling for $SD180-240,000. Only the rich and famous actually own the land they live on and we saw a number of “bungalows” that were worth over $SD16,000, 000. Most of the local workers live in high rise unit blocks which they can buy if they have the finance. The units are tiny and the occupants have to hang their washing on long bamboo poles out of the windows – sure makes for an amusing sight!

Despite the high rainfall, water is scarce (no deep valleys for many dams) and a lot of the water is brought from Malaysia. The 100 year old treaty with Malaysia for the provision of water ends next year and huge steps have been undertaken to provide either recycled or desalinated water, to make the country independent.

After our tours we got off at the Singapore Flyer (the local edition of the famous London Eye) which is in fact 40 metres taller than the pommy equivalent at 175 metres! The ride cost only $SD29 each, lasted 37 minutes and was simply spectacular! We had an entire cabin (they carry 28 normally) to ourselves and the views were hard to take in. It was quite clear and we could see as far as Indonesia and Malaysia! I counted over 175 ships at anchor in the bay – Singapore is one of the busiest ports in the world – and we could see all the famous landmarks and all the new building going on, with the biggest being the new casino development with 3 huge towers nearly completed, which is costing over $SD 5 billion! The towers will have a 1 hectare “shelf” built on top linking them together and will be set up as a landscaped park!

After all the exploring we needed a bit of a rest so we headed back to our room for a shower and then had a couple beers in the hotel bar before finding a little Thai food place in one of the mall for a nice meal.

All in all it was a sensational day – our first impressions of Singapore are very favourable – although some things, especially alcohol are very expensive. Food at any of the malls or hawker centres is cheap, but restaurants are pretty damned dear!