Singapore

Having had a good few days in KL it was time to depart to Singapore, I won't miss the pair that I was sharing my dorm with, I don't think they knew what a shower or deodorant was - the joys of sharing, it can be very hit or miss lol. It was a long day I let the hostel at 5.45am, to get to the airport by monorail and bus, I get to the airport to find out that check in doesn't open for 2hrs which totally contradicted my ticket info. Eventually I check in and get through security - more funny looks from people noticing my skates! The flight was only an hour, I arrived in Singapore and then hop on the MRT to get to The Pod where I will be staying for 5 nights. Eventually I found the The Pod. It was really cool, you had a small compartment, quite small but very comfy, the first soft bed and duvet and proper towels that I've had for over a month. It's funny the things you appreciate, and they had a free laundry service. Result - I managed to wash the entire contents of my rucksack!!! Ahhh nice clean clothes :) . I was staying in an area called Bugis which was great as it was nice and central and not far from where a couple of lads I met in KL were staying. So in the evening I set off to find the Singapore Flyer on foot, my map reading skills are certainly improving, good job really as taxis are now out of the question as they are too expensive! Actually most things in Singapore are, so every morning I will be taking full advantage of the breakfast that is included!

I found the Flyer after about 20mins and get on board just as it was beginning to get dark. The views were incredible, the Singapore skyline at night was very impressive, a very worthwhile evening out. By this point I was shattered so headed back for an early night. Tomorrow I was due to meet Sam and Chris to go to the zoo.

This was to be the first of 2 trips to the zoo, the first during the day and 2nd to the night safari. We had a great day, the zoo was huge and had a huge variety of animals including a polar bear! The orangutans were my favourite. We must have walked miles today but it was brilliant. Looking forward to coming back to the night safari.

In the evening I went to the Marina Sands Bay sky bar for one cocktail, the place was very posh, luckily I made it in as the dress code said no shorts and my only dress I have with me was in the wash, luckily they let me in in my shorts, which really annoyed a very stuck up couple who had been refused as the bloke was wearing flip flops haha! I did smile to myself (and them as I walked past). The bar was very very busy but the views were fab, it was also very windy which I hadn't expected and my cocktail was fantastic. I made the most of that drink as I won't be able to afford another one!

The day after Denisse and I ventured off to Chinatown and little India. Chinatown was great, loads of stalls to wander around and a great food street which smelt amazing. We also visited a religious building, not sure what you would call it as I wasn't convinced it was a temple, either way it was very beautiful inside, and monks were chanting, it was quite an experience. After a couple of hours we trekked off to little India, where I had my first hawker market food experience, it was mad, but great.

In the evening I went to Gardens by the Bay to visit the two conservatories. Wow wow wow, I've never seen anything like it, incredibly impressive, the first first one called the Flower dome was really lovely, the plants, trees and flowers were in pristine condition, and the smell of the flowers was gorgeous. The dome itself was a great piece of architecture! Next stop was the Cloud Garden, having been impressed by the flower dome I wasn't sure what was going to be in the Cloud Garden......well it was a massive waterfall!!!! There were then different level walk ways so you could walk round the waterfall and the plant/flower mountain that the waterfall fell from. It's difficult to describe but it was incredible! Hopefully the pictures will give you a bit of an idea.

Day 3 I headed off to Sentosa Island with my skates, I was determined to use them as I was getting pretty fed up lugging them around for no reason, especially after the nightmare in KL. I get the cable car over the island which provided some great views, it was a shorter trip than I thought it would be. I arrive and it's already hot and I wasn't really sure where the skating area was, so already I was thinking 'not again'. Anyway I got a drink and then put the skates on and headed to the end of the beach, hmmmm not sure this was what I had expected, so I go back the other way.......oh yeah, this is the correct beach! It was a fantastic skating surface with great views of the beach. iPod in and cranked up I had the most amazing skate and then thought this is exactly why I bought my skates, I couldn't stop smiling, as you will see on a video that I will post up. I had a thoroughly fantastic day!

So after Sentosa Island it was back to the Pod for a shower, then in the evening it was off to Raffles for a Singapore Sling! I managed to order the wrong drink and ended up with an apple version of a Singapore sling which was a problem as I'm normally allergic to apples and with drinks costing 30 dollars I couldn't order another one so I sipped this one hoping for the best ( it was fine). I was then joined by two businessmen who were impressed with me travelling on my own and refused to let me pay for my drink as way of saying good luck with my travels. I thought result, as I was then able to order the original Singapore sling. Slightly wobbly on gin, I walked back to the Pod and had a very good nights sleep.

Having got a renewed love for skating, the next day I set off to find East Coast Park which is a great place to skate and there was an extreme skate park I wanted to see. So google maps suggest to walk it was 6.5km away, and no easy mrt route, so I thought if I can skate 100mile this was would be a piece of cake! How wrong I was, it was over 30 degrees and involved skating across very busy roads /roadworks crossings, after 2 hrs I arrived and felt like hell on earth! After downing lots of water I set off on the 8km skate to the extreme skate park, it was very big and had loads of ramps etc, i didn't have a go as I didn't have my helmet and knees pads - probably a good job ( you'll see what I mean from the pictures). On the way back I found the Formula 1 track, and thought I have to skate round part of it......and did!! That's a first for me on the skating front! Another thoroughly enjoyable day! Can't believe tonight is my last night in Singapore. I have enjoyed it here sooooo much and would love to come back.

In the evening I went to the night safari, this was brilliant! Very odd to walk around a zoo at night, particularly the bat enclosure! Would definitely recommend this as well as Gardens by the Bay, well actually I would recommend everything!

And that's it for singapore, it has been blast and I am very sad to leave, next stop OZ!!!!!

Lou x