Wednesday 6th February - Singapore

In true Sarah and Charlie style we did not go to bed for our early afternoon flight and partied our last night in Cairns with Rachel, Emily and Dan. Our good friend from Fraser Island, Jose also made a guest appearance to come and say goodbye :)
Arrived in Singapore early evening and was told to get to Chinatown asap as it was Chinese New Year's Eve! Oh my god what an experience! We have never seen a NYE party quite like it (or should that be 'quiet' like it!). The streets were crammed with people all waiting for the grand finale at midnight, midnight arrived and the fireworks were let off but NO NOISE, NO OOH'S NO AH'S - NOTHING!!! NOT EVEN OLD LANGS AYNE!! You could almost hear a pin drop! As soon as it hit 12.05 everyone scurried back home! There was entertainment at a main stage for most of the night but we didn't really understand what was going on as it looked alot like the Wheel of Fortune! It was an incredible experience and we were glad we arrived in time to see it but seeing as we had 0 sleep the night before we were totally shattered (the pics show this quite well!). Our hotel room was absolutely fantastic and we did get excited when we opened the door to be presented with A BATH!!! oh my god we haven't seen a bath since Christchurch!!!! As you know we have been slumming (ahem) it in twin rooms but a bath was a beautiful sight! The hotel rooms had complimentary chinese style dressing gowns which we grabbed as soon as we arrived - this provided hours of entertainment with Sarah walking around with pens in her hair like chopsticks and Charlie re-inacting 'that scene' from Karate Kid! We are now known as Charlieson and Sarahson for the duration of our stay. aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Thursday 7th Feb - exploring Singapore
Went on a tour bus to see the sights - alot of the shops were closed due to New Year and it being a Bank Holiday but we visited Little India with the 'foreign workers' as we were constantly reminded and the Financial District. We visited a temple which was amazing and toured around the different areas. Our tour guide was very good but he did constantly tell us the downside to living in Singapore was - you commit crime, you hung! We definately weren't going to cross the road before the green man appeared! Generally, Singapore is very clean, well organised and the work that is being carried out at the moment to expand Singapore by filling in the sea with land is totally mind blowing.

Friday 8th Feb - Night Zoo
Went to the Night Zoo on an organised tour. Our guide was very strict (but sweet) and reminded us of someone from Tenko! We were to be back at the bus for 9.35 p.m. at the latest and believe us, we were there at 9.25 pm. prompt! we didn't want to risk the consequences of being late..blimey!
The night zoo was awesome! We travelled on a tram through the Zoo and saw all the animals in their natural habitat. The only downside was that we weren't allowed to take photos as the flash scares them :(( We saw elephants, rhino, buffalo and things that we never heard of before (no koalas at this one!!!). As you know Sarah is all at one with nature (we didn't tell you about the Kangaroo incident the other day when she was completely loved by Max, the Kangaroo who wouldn't put her down!), today she whistled at the otters (v.cute) and they gathered around Ms Nature. I think we may have a new Steve Irwin of the otter world in our midst!

Saturday 9th Feb - someone's birthday!!!
Today as you all know is Charlie's 26th birthday! To celebrate Charlie's birthday we went on a trip to Sentosa, an island just off of Singapore. This is where we were supposed to see the Pink Dolphins but unfortunately as it was still a bank holiday the place was MANIC and the show was too crowded for us to get in :(( we watched their 'Songs from the Sea' show which had a firework and laser display along with singing and dancing. Charlie received a 'Happy Birthday' song from the whole coach on the way back :) Arrived back at the hotel and then went to the infamous Raffles Hotel to get our Singapore Slings! This hotel was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The front doors to people's rooms were as big as a whole dorm at the YHA!! Super Deluxe stuff. We went to the bar and ordered our cocktails and when we looked around were quite surprised as the floor was covered in monkey nut shells?!? not quite what we expected! Listened to the inhouse band who were very funny! Sarah did a sneaky 'lets tell everyone it's charlie's birthday moment' and got the band to call her on stage to sing Happy Birthday. They invited Charlie to get up on stage and as she is such a 'shrinking violet' she was up there in 0.4 seconds flat!! She grabbed the tambarine and even the microphone from the unsuspecting singer!! (I didn't start singing, don't worry - Chaz) - it was good fun.

We enjoyed our time in Singapore but unfortunately due to the New Year period it did mean we didn't get to see some things so anyone travelling to Singapore we would recommend you time it outside of New Year shutdown.