I landed in Singapore on the Friday evening and got a shuttle bus to my hostel. The hostel was in Little India so after checking in I went for a wonder around, got a curry and had a few beers! The atmosphere in Little India was really cool and all the steers were packed!
I was up early on the Saturday and walked to city hall where I bought a two day hop on / off bus trip. First stop was marina sands. This is where the famous Marina Bay Sands Hotel is with the three towers and the boat across the top of them. I let myself in to the hotel and just kept my head down, went straight to the lifts and went up to the top floor! The view from here was stunning, on one side you looked over Singapore and then the other side you looked over the gardens by the bay and the bay. From here you could see islands of Indonesia in the distance. The pool here was also awesome, and you could swim right up to the edge of the building. From the hotel I then walked over to the Marina Bay Shopping centre and out in to the marina where the view over the city and the skyline was class! After wondering around here I headed to the Art Science museum. They had two main displays here, the Egyptians and blocks. The Egyptian display included a 3D film of a MRI and X-ray scan of a mummy, revealing what was inside and the process they would take when mummifying. The blocks display was an artist who built using just Lego blocks. Was very cool!
I got back on the bus and headed over to the other side of the marina where i had a wonder around 1 fullerton and went down to look at the famous merlion. I then got back on the bus and headed for the botanical gardens. These were gorgeous and I had a nice walk around them in the afternoon sun, very pleasant! There is also a rainforest in these gardens, the only city in the world to have a rainforest in the middle!
After a spot of lunch at the gardens I was back on the bus again and headed to Orchord Road, the famous shopping strip with more malls on than I could count! I walked the stretch of this road and ended up buying some running shoes and shorts as they were about a fifth of the price from back home and the ones I bought in nz were on their last legs! (Unless someone is using them in the hostel I left them, then they'd be on new legs ;-))
The bus took me back to little India where I got off and headed back to my hostel. I was booked on to a pub crawl around Singapore in the night, so I had a quick shower, grabbed some food and headed down to where they were meeting at beach key. This was a very entertaining night and involved a lot of bars and drinks! In one bar we did a saki shot, this is where you have a half pint, put some chopsticks across the top of the glass, balance a shot of saki on it then hit the bar till the shot drops in and then you neck it! I won this race :-)
Sunday morning was a struggle but after some breakie I headed out and caught the bus down to the bay and took a boat trip that takes you around the rivers of Singapore, seeing the city from the water in the gorgeous sun!
After a spot of chicken rice for lunch, which is lovely, costs about 2 pounds and clears a hangover! I headed on the bus out to sentosa island. Sentosa island has a big universal studios on it, some golf courses and many other attractions. It also boasts a 2km long man made beach strip with bars along. I headed for the beach and spent the afternoon there lying in the sun and taking a dip in the sea!
Sunday evening was an early one as I was knackered and had to be up early to head to Kuala Lumpur in the morning!
I caught the 9.30am train to KL which got in mid afternoon. I stopped for some lunch in the city, then got a taxi to my hostel. When the taxi turned up it was covered in scratches and bumps, and after the journey I knew why! The traffic is mental and they just go for everything! Decided to stick to buses and trains after that!
After checking in to the hostel I headed back in to the city and went to this ten storey mall with a theme park, including a massive roller coaster right in the middle! I got some dins here and headed back to the hostel for a beer. It was walking around at this time being rush hour I realised just how mental the traffic is! There doesn't seen to be any rules, just if there's a space go for it, the mopeds even come flying past you down the pavements!
Tuesday I took the city tour bus around Kuala Lumpur and visited all the main attractions. My favourites were the national palace, independent square, Sultan Abdul Samad building and the Petronas Towers. I also went up the KL tower late afternoon which gave a stunning view over the city. Tuesday evening was spent in a local gym that was open till midnight!
On Wednesday I went to the Batu Caves which were breathtaking, in more than one way as you had to walk up tones of steps in ridiculous heat! I hit the gym again on Wednesday evening and then headed out for some food. I decided to treat myself and went to the sky bar in traders hotel which looks directly at the Petronas towers all lite up in the evening, was beautiful!
Wednesday morning I got back on the coach to Singapore and got in about 4pm and made my way to my hostel. This time I decided to stay on the other side of Singapore in Chinatown. After checking in I headed down to the hawker market where you can get good cheap food and got a gorgeous rice chicken dish for all of two pounds! When I got back to the hostel I met a girl and two guys that were staying there so we arranged to go for some drinks and eventually all met up in a place called prince of wales that became a second home! One drink lead to quite a few more and turned in to a really good night!
On the Friday I spent the day at the Singapore Zoo seeing species of animals I've never seen before! In this zoo the animals are free roaming so there's no cages as such, was really cool. I got some dins at the zoo then headed back in for the night safari. This is where you get taken around a different part of the zoo in a long bus carriage and see different animals in the evening. I got back to the hostel later that evening and ended up going on another very good heavy night out in Singapore, seems to be very hard not to! The only issue with this however is I had a flight booked for 10am sat morn which I ended up missing due to sleeping trough my alarm! Oops! This wasn't too much hassle though as I was able to change this to the following day!
This was good in a way as gave me another day in Singapore where I was able to catch the light show they put on from the marina sands hotel in the evening which was pretty cool! It also meant another very good night out in Singapore, mainly in the prince of Wales again, literally love that city!
It is now Sunday and I am on the plane on my way to Hanoi in northern Vietnam to start my adventure there! I am travelling from north to south over 16 days and I will update you on my adventure then! Speak soon! x