Singapore

We had a pretty good flight over from Christchurch, the Skycam on the plane kept us both entertained for a while as did the excellent selection of games and movies. On arrival we met up with Nic and Simon our friends from Exeter who were to be our guides and hosts for our time in the city. After some quick and delicious food in Chinatown we headed back to their apartment for a much needed sleep.

On Saturday morning we had a walk around Singapore and made it to Raffles Hotel for the obligatory Singapore Sling. From there we wandered mainly around Chinatown sampling all kinds of culinary delights including Pork floss (like candy floss but pork!) and Durian fruit pancake which if I'm honest will probably be the last one we will ever have! In the afternoon we went to watch Si play rugby for Singapore Cricket Club which after the heavy rain in the morning was a mud bath!!! We had a coffee in the very trendy and wealthy Dempsey before heading back to Chinatown to get a costume for a P-Party that we had been invited to by Nic and Simon's friends from the rugby. After a good walk around we managed to come up with a panda mask and some sort of panther/cat thing which to be honest wasn't bad given the apparent lack of fancy dress shops in Singapore!! Anyway we had a great time at the party and met lots of pilots, pirates, punks and even a Pinocchio!

In the morning we met up with an old rugby coach of Stani's before getting t a taxi boat to Pulau Ubin an island not far from the city. We hired mountain bikes for about £2.50 and cycled around the island in the sweltering heat. Despite the temperature it was a great way to get out of the city and away from the hustle and bustle. In the evening we walked back along the beach on the east of Singapore enjoying an ice cream. Later we went out for food before going back to the apartment.

On Monday morning we got some washing done and then had a walk around the city taking in Clarke and Boat Quay and also visiting the Merlion statue. From there we went back to the apartment to sort out some admin for the next day. In the evening we met up with Dave Carr one of Stani's housemates from University who had only flown to Singapore that day for a sailing regatta. The five of us all went out for some Thai food which was brilliant and was a really nice end to our time in Singapore!!!

On Tuesday morning we said our goodbyes and got on a bus destined for Melaka on the west coast of Malaysia!

Laura and Stani xxx