After an overnight train from Jerantut, we were very tired and unprepared for the ordeal to get through customs at the border to Singapore. We were questioned by several guards, had to fill in forms (and filled out the wrong bits, did it wrong, etc) and had to queue for what seemed like forever. However, when we finally boarded the train again and headed in Singapore, it was clear to see why they were so careful about who enters the country. Compared to Malaysia, Singapore was a bit like a dream. The streets and parks are all clean of litter and well-kept. There is a real atmosphere of calm efficiency in everything they do. It is completely different to all other parts of Asia we had visited. We got a taxi to Chinatown as Clout remembered a hostel he had already stayed in. However, an hour later we had struggled around with our bags and there wasn't a hostel in sight. After it started raining, we began to get desperate and the Lonely Planet guide gave us the name of one hostel that was fairly close to where we were. We managed to find the Fernloft Hostel on the first floor of a large block of flats. It had a large balcony that was always full of backpackers reading, writing and eating. We had free internet and breakfast, and we were staying in a dorm that was crowded but clean. We met some interesting people in the dorm, there was a quiet Japanese man who snored very loudly, and an Irish guy who had travelled nearly everywhere in the world.

We had nearly four days to explore Singapore. It is a very closely-controlled environment, with rules about everything. You cannot chew gum, spit, eat or drink on public transport, jaywalk (disobey traffic lights), feed birds etc. There are signs everywhere about how to behave properly, for example, on the underground tubes there are signs about how to step on and off the tube, how to react to other people, not to eat or drink, there are videos everywhere with fire, bomb and terrorist situations, suspicious behaviour, how to store your luggage...... the list goes on. Once, Clout had a drink in his hand and the minute we stepped onto a crowded tube there was an announcement about not drinking. I found this a bit too regulated and Big Brother-esque, but there was certainly no bad behaviour of any description the whole time we were in Singapore!

Whilst in Singapore, we visited the zoo, which takes up a whole peninsula into a big lake in central Singapore. The zoo was amazing; we were able to watch Orang Utangs being fed (including a baby), we saw a sea-lion show and spent a whole day walking around the zoo. By the end we could hardly walk! We also visited Orchard Road, which is full of expensive shops that we felt too messy and scruffy to go into. We made our way to Raffles, the famous hotel that has a bar where you eat monkey nuts and throw the shells on the floor. It is traditional to drink a Singapore Sling at the bar, but when we saw the prices on the drinks menu, we ate a few nuts, threw the shells on the floor, and sneaked out when no one was looking! We also went to Sentosa Island, which was amazing. We took a cable car (that is scarily high and leaves from the top floor of a sky scraper) onto the island. The first thing we saw was the huge Sentosa Lion, which dominates the island. There are lots of things to do, with the whole island built around the entertainment of tourists. There were little buses to transport us around the island, and we watched a dolphin show, visited an aquarium, walked along the beaches, drove go-karts etc. The island is really pleasant, but like a lot of Singapore, it seemed completely fake and way too carefully orchestrated.

Another problem in Singapore was that we got carried away with the timer on the camera, taking pictures of ourselves on one of the bridges in Temple Quay. My purse must have fallen out of my bag, because it was gone when we got back to the hostel. Which was annoying, but Clout had a card for the same bank account, so all was fine.

We spent most of our time in Chinatown, as it was near our hostel and also a lot cheaper than the rest of Singapore. We visited Little India too, where we had a delicious curry. Singapore was a very nice place, but we began to long for the real Asia again... hence a last minute change of plan. Instead of taking our flight to Kuala Lumpar then Bangkok, we were going straight to... BALI!!!