Asia 2011 - Singapore

Singapore - 19th Nov - 24th Nov
Our first destination: Singapore! The tiny land of good food, funny accents, strict immigration and a whole lot of fun!

The first three nights were spent at 5footwayinn, a month old hostel that Amanda found on the internet. I was surprised at what a nice place it was. The rooms were definitely very small, but they provided big lockers under the bunk beds and there were nice facilities in the attic (internet, tv etc.). Wrote a review on tripadvisor on this LINK if you want to know more.

Anyway, it was right outside the Chinatown MRT which was really convenient. Chinatown was pretty ordinary in comparison to other countries, though I enjoyed watching other foreigners get chased by stall sales people all the time. I enjoyed the rest of Singpore's city, it seems a nice place to work and live in. Very clean, not too different from Melbourne (though obviously more Asian elements around). The food is definitely good, but not as cheap as other Asian places. We tried some famous chicken rice at one of the remaining hawker centers in Singapore though, that was yum! We didn't get to experience much else though, because our days were pretty packed with activities.

First up, Singapore Zoo & Night Safari. Definitely very fun! The zoo is based on a no barrier open plain concept, so you can view all the animals without any annoying fences blocking your view. They have a large variety of animals and you can feed a select few (like rhinos!) for 10 SGD each. We started off with a great sunny day, but then later got rained on. Amanda bought a adult poncho which seemed to be made for big big adults cause she was almost tripping in it haha. The Wildlife fights back show was pretty lame, definitely aimed at smaller kids. We missed out on seeing the elephant show cause of the rain. But we still had a good time!

We had a bit of dilemma, as it was still raining near the end of the day: the Night Safari is located right next to the Zoo and they are both quite far from the main city. So we weren't sure if we should stick around for 2 hours if the rain would ruin the whole thing. But we were already there and had bought the ticket, so we decided to go for it and play Mario Kart at the near by KFC until Night Safari started.

It was definitely worth it! The Safari is a bit different to the Zoo, as it is more based on sitting tram and going around the park while someone commentates. You get to see some awesome animals, some of them up close! Sustainability is really promoted here as well, which Amanda was especially pleased about. Although we took the tram a 2nd time and got a really lazy girl who didn't really bother to say much about it (angry Amanda after that...).

Sentosa island was the next day! Universal Studios (US) was our main reason to visit, although there were some smaller attractions to go see. We had heaps of fun going on the rides though! We were very lucky with the lines, because it seemed to be a really quiet day at US. All the rides had meters and meters of queue up room. It literally took us a few minutes to walk from the entrance to the actual ride for the Return of the Mummy attraction!! But it meant that we could go on the Battlestar Galactica rollercosters five times! They were seriously really good! The new Transformer ride was also a blast! We spent all day there and then walked around the island until the Crane show started at night (see above). That was definitely worth staying around for and then we had a nice walk back on the beautiful boardwalk bridge to Singapore island.

We then moved to Marina Bay Sands, the most expensive hotel in our trip. For those who don't know it, it's a five star hotel made up of three hotel towers, with a boat like structure on top. Beautiful views from the SkyDeck and there's an Infinity Pool at the top that is engineered to look like it just flows off the edge to 'infinity'.

It was definitely an experience and I loved it. Amanda called me a snob after our visit, but I loved the VIP treatment. Complimentary this & that, exclusive guest access to the pool, room was massive with an equally massive TV, hotel robes and slippers, it was soooo nice. We spent half a day just exploring, as there is a shopping center and a few other tourist attractions around it, including the original Merlion (symbol of Singapore? Mascot?). Worth the price? I would recommend to do it at least once in your life.

Caught up with my Singaporean buddies I had met on my Europe trip, Sarah & Milton. Delightful couple, so cute together, and so friendly. They made my trip in Europe and made my visit to Singapore as well! They took us out for dinner, had yummy seafood (cereal prawns and chili crab) and then took us for a drink afterwards. This is the only time through out the trip when I may have gotten slightly over my alcohol limit. But everyone had fun and made it back safe. Priceless night!

That's about all the highlights for Singpore. KL & Penang next!