Singapore – a tiny Asian nation
struggling with its identity after having too much western influence
and American food... (only my opinion) but we had a great time.
Jumped off the plane early in the morning into the heat, humidity and
thunderstorms and headed off to Jurong Bird Park – largest in the
world – and full of every bird imaginable. Our hostel was bang
smack in the middle of Chinatown, so that night we headed out there
for some cheap but giant Tiger beers and some authentic Singaporean
cuisine – they charged an arm and a leg for food that wasn't any
better than takeaway we get at home so we didn't eat back there
again. We did stumble across some Asian Cowboys and Cowgirls square
dancing in a random courtyard that night, it was hilarious but
something didn't quite fit...
Our second day saw us mosey on over to
Sentosa Island – pretty much just a resort island in the middle of
the harbour. Singapore being the giant shipping transit hub that it
is, the only view was of ship after cruise ship after rubbish barge
but the sun was amazing and the drinks were refreshing. We took a
megazip ride from the highest point of the island down across the
beach and onto another little island. Lunch time was upon us and we
tried again for some authentic Singaporean food, after being ripped
off on the sizing the night before we severely over ordered on
delicious food this time but managed to scoff it all down. We
wandered back to the hostel via Chinatown, got a quote for a couple
of shirts for Pearce ($675 anyone?) and got ready for a night out on
the town. We headed to Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino and made a
beeline for the Ku De Ta club on the 57th floor, enjoyed
the views (but not the prices) for an hour and then headed off in
search of the next club. On the way we watched a fabulous little
water and light show (think Bellagio) to celebrate Singapore's 47th
Birthday. 1-Altitude was atop 1 Raffles Place and after half an hour
up there I'd enjoyed the views, not the prices and not the
“pretentious effers” and we headed down to Level 62 for a
delicious meal with great, you guessed it, views!!
On our third and final day, after a
debate about whether to head to the Tiger Brewery for a tour and all
you can drink Tiger, we headed to Orchard Road not so much for the
shopping than for the look around. Think Rodeo Drive on a much bigger
scale - I counted 7 Louis Vuitton stores to give you an idea, but we
opted for the road more frequently traveled and popped into H&M
(yes, after vowing I would never shop there again (I didn't, Pearce
did)). We hiked it over to Little India for lunch in this great
little place decked out like the Jungle! And then went in search of
Raffles Hotel for peanuts and Singapore Slings! Amazing, again with
the prices though... well worth it, however. We searched and searched
for another bar we had heard about, The Clinic, to no avail and we
settled for bar hopping around Clarke Quay in the sunshine until the
early hours of the morning where we discovered a talented cover band
and also that The Clinic no longer existed.
Feeling a little woozy the next morning
and giggling like the grown-ups we are at the various shop names like
'Heavenly Wang', 'Balzac' and 'Wankos' we made our way to the airport
and onwards to London. After an uneventful yet turbulent flight we
were ready to ride out a couple hour wait in a border control line
only to fly through in 10minutes and were on the deck of Texa Palace
beer in hand and BBQ cooking in no time. Thanks for the welcome back
party, team! The next day after being verbally abused at the phone
store, woken up by a fight on the street outside our house, and a
delayed realisation that we had been robbed during the night I knew I
was back in London. But with the bad comes the good, and I caught up
with friends over pints in quaint little English pubs and visited my
sister's gastro-pub for the only place in the world they know “my
usual”.
This weekend saw us attend Pearce's
good friends – Moff and Jo's – wedding down in Sussex, where he
was a groomsman. The ceremony took place in a gorgeous 18th
century church in the village of Firle and a short walk down a
country lane to the reception in Firle Place in the grounds of Lord
Guage's (?) estate. Beautiful wedding, beautiful bride and groom and
we were absolutely blessed with the weather. And we were again the
next day where the happy couple had organised a cricket tournament –
Australia (Groom) vs. England (Bride) vs. The Rest of the World.
Pearce captaining the latter, and he is a very happy captain after
taking the tournament out in “a comfortable victory, and securing
the match ball to prove it.”
Right now we are sitting on our flight
to Dubrovnik, the sun is out in all it's glory and the jet lag has
finally subsided. Very much looking forward to these next eleven
weeks of traveling and hoping that the preparation and the funds are
enough!
Spot the fraudster in amongst the artificially coloured flamingos...
Me with whatever kind of bird this is at Jurong Bird Park (it tried to eat my feet immediately after this shot)
View from Sentosa
Lots and lots of Tiger!
Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino (Ku De Ta at the top)
View from Ku De Ta
Jungle Indian Room
Where else should one partake of a Singapore Sling but at Raffles Hotel??
Peanut shells get discarded on the floor here. How cool!
And packing went from this...
...to this...
...to this, for three months!
Coincidentally, for anyone interested, in this picture I am standing in the EXACT spot I got knocked out a few years ago - Kieran I know you will love this fact.
