S: We grabbed the best bus of Asia to get to Singapore. It was amazing, it had TV's, PlayStations, full reclining chairs and the best thing was the bus was dry, and didn't rain on us lol. We arrived in Singapore, crossing the border with no problems, although if we were found with chewing gum on us, we were likely to end up in prison. Glad I hid it well in the bottom of my bag. Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the Vivo shopping center, we had missed Debbie by 30 minutes, as she had to fly to Bangkok. Although we did get some strange looks carrying our big rucksacks in the high-end shopping mall, we were defiantly the odd ones out.

J: We met one of Debbie's friends, nice lady, slightly mental and detached from the real world that included money though.... she advised waiting for the free shuttle bus from the Sentosa island was far too much like hard work and to just get a taxi which was "only $30" (nearly half our daily budget). But then she took us to Mike and Debbie's pad. The lift opened straight into the "Holton Palace". Oh how the other half live, I had a quick shower before touching anything lol.

S: The apartment was beautiful, and very spacious. The view was overlooking the harbor, and spectacular. Debbie had kindly left us a care package, which consisted of the main staples of food plus wine and beer. What a treat - we felt like royalty, especially after travelling through Asia for the last four months.

J: We walked around the complex and I defiantly felt out of my budget travelers comfort zone.... so we threw away our crap clothes and got out some new ones to try fit in.... not sure if we pulled that off. We found the large pools and a GYM! I never thought I would be so cheerful to see a gym but after 4 months of nothing we felt ready for it..... Then realised quickly how much hard work it was but we went every morning and it made me feel healthier. Later we went to meet up with Georgie in China town. It was brilliant to meet another friend from home again; we had a good catch-up over some beers with plenty of laughs. When it was late we headed back to our millionaire life style on Sentosa Island.... being cheap we tried to take the bus back, but we forgot where it had dropped us off, and proceeded to get any bus to the island and got dropped off in the theme park car park! Another nice driver drove us to the main road and we walked the 3km back.... maybe we should have taken a taxi?!

S: We decided to go back to China town, as we had missed out on the temples. We visited the Sri Mariamman Temple, which is the oldest temple in Singapore. We then went to the Buddha Tooth Temple, This was built to house the Buddha tooth relic, and we also visited the prayer wheel. This is a new temple, it was only finished in 2007 and it cost a cool 25 million pounds to build!! Whilst we were there we watched a family pray with monks in a memorial service. It was amazing to watch. We decided to visit Marina Sands Bay hotel, which looks like a ship over three tower blocks of the hotel. I think we went in the wrong lift because we got 3/4 of the way up and had to wait for a guest of the hotel to press the button to get to the top, (I don't think they were allowing non guests during the F1 to visit the top - oops). Once there we could see the F1 track and some cars warming up.

J: Mike and Debbie finally come back from Bangkok and it was great to see them again. We were all up early and they asked if we fancied a little stroll, always happy for a walk off we set. Sam and I wearing just flip flops wondering why Mike and Debbie looked ready for a long walk. The walk was fantastic, through the island, into the forest and up the mountain. Mike ran me up and down a load of steep steps just because we could, then we walked back to the apartment, which totaled a 14 Mile walk! I didn't mind the distance but wish we had put some sunscreen on as my skinhead felt it lol. After the morning activities we spent the afternoon in the Jacuzzi pool with some beers as company, and they were great company but they disappeared so quickly.

S: Mike and Debbie took us to the Yacht club for dinner. The head chef came to introduce himself as "Kenny" Mike ordered for the three of us after talking to Kenny and asking for something not on the menu. James began talking to Kenny, as he is polite. The rest of us laughed when Kenny pulled up a chair and soon they were in deep conversation - I did think it was a little weird. Next thing I knew, there was Durian coming out for James to try. Now for us that have travelled Asia, Durian smells and tastes like vomit!! James ate most of it, and I just pulled faces after trying it. Then Jack Fruit came out and we tried that as well, that wasn't too bad in fairness. For dessert Debbie and I ordered crème brulee's and James ordered cheese and biscuits. All the time Kenny was making himself quite at home. James ate his dessert and half of mine and again more crème brulee's were coming out for him to try. (It was ok - Kenny said the extras were on the house - thank goodness). After our amazing meal and the three of us trying to explain to James that maybe Kenny was a "Little strange" - James's reply was - "I thought you guys knew him??" We walked to the sports bar and watched the end of the Grand Prix. On the way back, all of a sudden Kenny appears out of the shadows in only what can be described as Gothic attire and said, "Do you recognise me??" It took all our might not to laugh especially when he invited James to a club in Singapore, where he would be looked after. James has never held my hands so tight whilst declining to go out.

J: I still think Kenny was Mike's good friend. In the morning Debbie took me for a run while Sam biked beside us like royalty. We stopped for breakfast on the beach; we were defiantly eating well again! Debbie said this was a Singapore must, so she took us to Raffles for a Singapore Sling cocktail; this place was famous for some writer and a Tiger….. I just loved it there. The cocktails where tasty and they had monkey nuts on every table, when I asked Debbie what to do with the shells, she just threw hers on the floor and said it was the done thing, It was odd to start with but I know I ate extra just because I loved throwing my rubbish on the floor.

I cooked dinner for everyone later that evening, a Lemon Chicken thing that always reminds us of Spain. Mike pulled out a cool game with about 100 little oils that smelt of different things and you had to identify the smell, I was having an off day.

The next morning we headed out to the Flow Rider on the beach, it's an artificial wave machine that people surf on standing on small boards the size of a skateboard. Debbie insisted I had a go and in fairness I couldn't wait. I waited for my starting time and got excited, I was ready to rock this wave and be a pro, I listened to the instructions, stood on the board… turns out its harder than it looks! The boards flew away from my feet I hit the deck and the wave shot me to the back like a piece of driftwood! This was clearly to the amusement of Debbie and Sam laughing at me with the cameras going. But persistence paid off and in the end I could stand on the wave (until each time I got comfortable the instructor asked me to do some trick that usually resulted in the less than delicate failure) and I was on cloud nine!

S: The Flo Rider was the best amusement Debbie and I had had for ages. James did get quite good at it in the end much to our disappointment. We went to the Bikini Bar and ordered cocktails and played cards. It was definitely one of the hardest days of my travelling lol. We had lovely cheese and biscuits (Cheese was something we both missed dearly in Asia) before we left for the airport. Singapore is a great country to explore although it is very westernized and modern. We called it 'Singapore's own little bubble'. The food was amazing as always, and both of us would like to return without being on a budget, to explore some more. It was brilliant to catch up with family and spend quality time with them and many thanks for their hospitality.