Our first day in Singapore started rather badly. After a 10.5 hour flight our hostel had not kept our rooms and to make matters worse kept us hanging about for 45 minutes while they mopped and served breakfast to guests before they could be bothered to tell us. Kim was not happy....

Anyway we found another hostel which was ok albeit that we were sharing a dorm with 14 other people and the toilet had only a shower curtain for privacy...hey ho! The hostel is in the middle of Little India which was cool - plenty of yummy curries on the doorstep... although Mark said he was getting sick of the smell of spices by the end of our stay!

Singapore is a very pleasant city... excellent transport, trendy locals and very clean. We explored Little India, China Town, the Colonial district and funky Clarke Quay by foot. We also took a trip to Sentosa Island by cable car where we visited a butterfly park and did a nature walk where we saw more plastic dragons than animals(!) The island is the tourist mecca for foreigners and locals alike and is characterised by rather strange music playing from palm trees, plastic sculpures of birds and cartoon mice sporadically placed in the undergrowth, and a giant statue of a Merlion (half lion, half mermaid - why???)

A highlight was our visit to the Night Safari (thanks Charlie & Kevin for recommending it!) We wandered through rainforest looking at nocturnal animals - very cool. Kim liked the giant fruit bats best - you walked through a cage with them!!!

Our last evening was spent eating the local speciality Laksa washed down with Lime Juice in a massive food centre in a extravagant Victorian building... to the sound of a band playing 'a Jason Donovan classic - 'sealed with a kiss'....! Random!