Bonjour,

We left KL on an overnight bus and arrived in Singapore at 6am, this was probably the first bus that's actually been on time! As we left a day early we had not arranged any accommodation for one night, which in hindsight was a bad idea! We both caught a flu when in KL and it was probably getting to its worst when we arrived in Singapore. We were both tired, aching, had dry throats and felt pretty rubbish! Our backpacks seemed to weight much more and as you can imagine it was all heightened after a long haul on an overnight bus, with manic stops at customs etc! We think we caught the flu from going extreme heat to air con all the time while we were in KL, also their air con was particularly cold there. Anyway the first hotel was full, as was the second, and the third, oh and of course the fourth, and fifth, yeah you have guessed it...so was the sixth!!! So by now we had walked about 5 miles, were both very very exhausted and annoyed!! Initially we had enquired about a hostel but due to our illness we didn't think it was fair to spread our Germs to other people, plus its no fun sharing when all you want to do is sleep. So we telephoned the hostel to cancel and the nice man on the phone gave us another number to call. In between all of this we were each taking it in turn to stay with the bags while the other person went to ask many hotels/hostels about rooms! At one point when I returned from making a phone call, Marc was asleep in the middle of the bags which were in the middle of the street!! Not exactly watching or looking after them. However following that phone call...RESULT. We hopped in a taxi and were on our way to a hostel called "Hangout" at Mount Emily, they had a twin room left, which suited us as we needed our own room to feel sorry for ourselves...boo hoo! After finding a pharmacy for some medicine we chilled on our rooftop sundeck for a few hours, then decided that sunbathing was too much like hard work so we hit the sack early. After a nice bath we were both bedded by 6pm, check out time the following day was 10am, we awoke at 9.30....OH MY GOD, we had both slept solid for 15 and a half hours! Definitely must have needed it! So feeling a bit better but still coughing and spluttering we headed over to our new digs. "1B&B Guest House"...so this was a pretty strange place to stay, don't get me wrong it was beautiful inside, very elegantly decorated with gorgeous old furniture, cable TV, spectacular views, en-suite bathrooms and the biggest bed EVER...However the reason it was so cheap was that it was located at the top of (in my best Dundee accent...) EH MULTI!! They called it "the penthouse" after buying all four flats at the top, an ex lawyer had turned it into a business...Pretty cool idea, and in a good area for us to reach the MRT and bus stations! So that day (Thursday 18Th October) we checked out a few places in Singapore, the first being Chinatown, then a few cultural spots before heading to "Hooters" for lunch....MMMMMmmm we had a few spicy chicken wings, a sandwich and some ice cream. Marc sat and drooled over the waitresses as I had a run in with the Manager!! Long story but she basically they tried to do us out of S$8?? When I asked to speak with the manager, she said "I am the manager" me being me replied "well your not a very good one"..OOoopppppsss. Outcome however was that we got our S$8 back, and "I WAS RIGHT". After lunch we went to some churches and had a browse around the very clean and organised centre of Singapore. No chewing gum allowed, and you are fined for dropping litter and Jaywalking (that's crossing the street before the little green man tells you to cross). STRICT or what! After a quick siesta we caught the bus to the Night Safari park. Now as most of you will know I'm dead against Zoo's of any kind and they always make me cry!! However this is recommended by animal friendly projects etc and has won awards for being the best conservation park in Asia. You are taken around some of the park in a tram and the rest of it can be done on foot if you wish. As it is pitch black there are a few spot light here and there to help you see the animals. No fences, cages, and few actual inclosure's...most of these animals have heaps of room and are surrounded natural habitat. We felt up close and personal to many different species including, the Flying Squirrel, Elephants, Giraffes, many types of Deer & Buffaloes, Ant Eaters, Leopards, and of course the Kings of the Jungle...LIONS. Seemingly its a hit or a miss as to what you see, however we thought our encounter was pretty special, and to see the Lions roaring was fantastic. Unfortunately no "flash photography" which was understandable, so no pics, however there were some imbeciles who continuously used there cameras and probably scared the animals ruining it for other people...IDIOTS! Overall this was a great experience and I would definitely advise it for anyone going to Singapore. Friday 19th October... Our final day in Singapore. So we had pretty much done all there is to do in Singapore, to be honest once you have seen the sights which can be done in one day, there is not a great deal of stuff to see and do! Also its VERY expensive, which can be difficult when you are on a shoestring. So after an unpleasant shop (as we couldn't buy anything) we headed off to our favourite place "Little India". That evening we had a good curry and a few beers at "Prince William" before getting dolled up and going over to the infamous "Raffles" for a Singapore Sling. This was excruciatingly pricey, the bill came to S$50 which is about 25pounds, so needless to say we left after our Singapore Sling....Things didn't get much cheaper as we headed down to the City Quay, lots of groovy clubs and pubs such as The Elephant bar, The Clinic (with wheel chairs as seats and syringes as glasses!) and of course a Scottish pub called "The Highlander", done very classy with some great live music, so we sipped our expensive drinks as retired there for the evening. In Bed by 2am and up again at 5.30am to catch our plane to Perth Australia.........yawn yawn We will keep you posted with news from OZ! Until then, bye bye Asia..... Jamie and Marc xxxx