Singapore is a cosmopolitan city and is now one of the world’s leading economic centers in shipping and banking – Singapore is expensive by Southeast Asian standards, with everything costing about double what it does elsewhere in the region. I love this city and think it deserves longer than a couple of days and I hope to return again in the future not on a travellers budget! There’s a lot to do here, some great parks and incredible Chinese and Indian food with the unbelievable architecture to go with it.

While in Singapore we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of nights of luxury at the Marina Mandarin Hotel where we definitely had a 'room with a view' overlooking the Marina. We filled up on the buffet breakfast to save money on food during the day and headed to the food courts for a cheap evening meal.

Marina Bay Sands with the walkway to the gardens was incredible, unfortunately they have stopped tourists from visiting the top of the hotel which you could have done a few years ago. We visited the gardens in the day and at night to see the gardens illuminated with coloured lights.

The second day we booked a trip to the zoo. This zoo is one of the best in the world and also one of the top attractions in Singapore. Covering an area of 70 acres, this place is huge and has a vast array of animals: over 3,600 mammals, birds and reptiles. But the best thing about the zoo is that it is more like a safari park where the animals are not caged and are free to a degree. The sea lion and elephant shows were great and I got to get up close and personal to the orangutangs.

To top the two days off I was able to meet up with an old friend from school, Nikhita, who has recently moved to Singapore. It was so nice to catch up - it's funny how you live so close at home and don't see each other for 7years and you meet up on the other side of the world!