Singapore

We arrived in Singapore in the early afternoon after a surprisingly quick journey given that we had to take a flight to JB, then two buses and pass through Malyasia and Singapore immigration. This involved us getting off the bus with all our luggage at the Malaysia exit point, getting on again once we passed through, driving for 5 minutes to get off the bus again at the Singaporian entrance point (also with all our luggage), passing through immigration and then getting on the bus again! All this and with stairs to climb up and down at each of the check points.

So we had entered our 5th country on our travels and the most 'western' city in Asia, complete with signs warning us that chewing gum and jay walking were illegal and punishable with fines of 2000SD.
Not surpirisngly then, the first impressions were of a very tidy, wealthy, cosmopolitan city composed of many skyscapers, tourists and business people. This was probably enhanced by our choice of accomodation in the tallest building in Singapore - complete with balcony and a funny feeling when you looked over the edge! You may have guessed that this wasn't budget accomodation but we have to take advantage of the quality hotel offers in Asia, it's all part of the experience!

Unfortunately Nicola was feeling pretty rough with a cold (even 2 months in 30 plus temperatures doesn't reduce her ability to catch every cold going!) so after exploring the local area (Raffles hotel - the best hotel in Singapore and the shopping mall nearby) the rest of the afternoon was spent chilling out at the hotel. After dosing up with cold and flu tablets we headed down to the river front for a meal, surrounded by the lit-up skyscrapers of Singapore's Financial District. The meal was good quality but our most expensive meal by far - a bit of a re-introduction to the cost of living and eating out in the 'western world'!

Our second day in Singapore began with the quest to find a laundrette - the not so glamorous side of travelling. Given that we had been in the jungle for 3 days in wet and humid condidtions, the laundry was proper 'dirty laundry'. Needless to say we felt obliged to warn the laundry lady who took it very well!
With the laundrette being near to the many shopping malls on Orchard Road, we took the opportunity to have a look (and enjoy the airconditioning). We succumbed only to buying CD's with the justifcation that we be put to good use when we are in Australia and New Zealand. Following a very nice and very cheap lunch in a more 'local' shopping mall, JP decided to have his hair cut in one of the many hair salons in the malls. Given that it had been 3 months since the last haircut, it was more than overdue as he was starting to sport a 70s look! JPs only concern was that he would end up with a south east asian style, but in reality she did a fantastic job and it has been mentioned that it was one of the best haircuts ever. The only negative (?) was that she shaved off his sideburns!!!!

After picking up the laundry (hurray for clean non smelly clothes!) and a couple of hours on the internet planning New Zealand (getting hold of a campervan was starting to prove difficult) it was already evening. We were slightly disappointed that we had ended up doing more 'chores' than sightseeing but such is life and we found a local asian food court which had very nice chinese seafood including chilli salt squid. We also learnt that a small portion was more than enough for one so we left feeling pretty full after our 4 dishes (but this was at least justified for Nicola with her 'feed a cold, starve a fever', mantra).

Our flight the following day to Darwin, Australia, did not leave until 10.30 pm so we had the full day to plan a walking tour of Singapre to make up for our lack of sightseeing the previous day. We began with a walk through China Town, which comprised many highrise buildings as well as a couple of temples (one the nicest we have seen to date), many chinese food courts and a street with beautifully restored chinese houses (now home to chic bars, expensive restaurants and marketing agencies). It was a big mix of old interspersed with new, but it highlighted to us that once you scratch the surface of Singapore you realise you are still in South East Asia, despite the western facade. Following this we walked up too many steps in the humid heat to Fort Canning Park, which was pleasant but nothing much to talk about as the fort was no longer. After lunch, where we had a tasty chicken and rice claypot, we walked on to Little India (pretty average) and the Arab quarter, which was obviously quite wealthy given the nice streets and beautiful mosque building. Finally we walked to the river to see the Singapore Merlion monument. After a refreshing drink and cool down in a shopping mall we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and set off to the airport via the metro to make our overnight flight to Darwin.