DAY THIRTY ONE

Speaking to Andy about all things Singapore was a huge eye-opener. I had already gauged the sublime wealth of the city, but when I asked if he had considered buying a car, he merely laughed at the suggestion! If a person would like to own a vehicle in Singapore, you have to apply for an car owners licence, which covers import duty and tax of vehicles into Singapore, driver registration, ten year authority of vehicle etc. In order to obtain this, you will have to depart with 73,000 Singaporean dollars. Yes, that's right, $73,000 big ones, and this is before you buy the car! There are many more stipulations to this, one being that the vehicle cannot be older than ten years since manufacture. The government are trying their best to decrease the carbon footprint by installing the MRT systems, but there is still an absolute cavalcade of vehicular transport on the city roads, further highlighting the wealth.
I went for a trim, as I was starting to look like an extra from the Wonder Years. The barber that Andy took me to was pretty much the barbershop in Coming To America with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall..absolutely hilarious. I really wanted to take their picture, but the fact I was crying with laughter so much at their constant bickering and joking prevented me!
We visited the super gardens at the rear of the Marina Bay hotel, which is a large man made island, with various country specific gardens throughout. According to me sources, the Singaporean a Government important fathoms of sand to build this island, and imported plants, trees and bushes from the likes of India, China, Britain and so on to create this incredible spectacle.
The next viewing point was the super trees, which I can't really describe to you. Google them, or look at our pictures. The whole place is something you would see in Star Wars ( which I read today was apparently based around the Vietnam War -or so the theory goes).
Andy then had to go to rugby training, so we spent the afternoon on the beach taking it all in. Spoke to Kirsty on FaceTime, who was nice and snug in her hoodie, whilst we basked in the 33 degree heat!
There is different quadrants in the design of the city - the Malaysian, British, Chinese and Indian segments. Tonight, we visited the Indian side, and I kid you not, stepping off the MRT, you could smell India. Various swirling aromas, some good, some not so! The grandeur of Singapore was most definitely forgotten about, with colonial architecture in various stages of well-being making up the landscape composition. The streets were lined with markets, gold sales and sheesh lairs, and of course Indian restaurants! Jen and Andy took us to a place which they highly recommended , and my word, was fantastic. Jasmin was really happy to consume something different to what we have been eating. They do a peg challenge at this restaurant - they have 11 spice levels, 0 being a butter chicken/ Korma up to insanity food at level 10. You can put a peg with your name if you manage to finish your meal without ingesting any liquid, yoghurt sauce or lassi, but it has to be three and above. Jasmin bottled it and had a butter chicken, which left me pondering my options. I decided to go with the very happy, giggly Indian woman and have the level 3 ' the chef can't do it' level. You may think, that doesn't sound very hardcore, but it definitely had me sweating! I could have done maybe 4/5 , but it would have been a fight, and I wouldn't of enjoyed it. I was very happy when placing my peg on the wall! There is only one person to have completed level nine, none at ten. The Aussie guy that did level nine, apparently has laid the challenge down to anyone that can match him, he will fly straight back over and do level ten. What a champion!!!