The skyline was dominated by a layer of smog smothering our view as our plane descended into Singapore just after 1.30. Thankfully a smooth transit from the airport to our hotel, Parc Sovereign Tyrwheitt, inside a pristine taxi with leather seats and a vanilla scented infuser facilitated a much better view of the city at ground level.

Our hotel room is cozy, clean and comfortable and a great base from which to explore our surroundings on foot. After studying the map we headed off in search of some eats before hitting the best kept secret in Little India: Mustafa.

Think of a place crammed full of everything you would ever want to buy, from underwear to designer watches, household supplies, clothes and even a case to take it all home in, inside an old warehouse with narrow passages and stairs, then add hundreds of people all seemingly comfortable to stand and stare, and in many cases undress me with their eyes.

After what felt like hours, and a lesson learnt in the ladies loo(Note to self, always travel with tissues) we were happy with our purchases and headed outside for some respite from the chaos only to be faced with a torrential downpour which had driven all the locals to seek shelter under every available awning. It became obvious that the rain was not going away in a hurry so with soggy feet and a ridiculously inadequate travel umbrella we pushed our way through the crowds in what we thought was the right way back to our hotel.

You can see where this is going ... long story short by the time we finally found our way back to base, with wet shoes and soggy clothes we were ready to drown our sorrows in the hotel bar. Four hours later our travelling companions also returned, with heavy feet and arms fully laden with bargains, more than happy to help us taste the Tullamore Dew Special Reserve and Ciroc Vodka we purchased duty free.

Cheers to the end of Day One!