Singapore
We didn't really have an idea in mind about what Singapore would be like stepping off the plane as we'd not read any of the guide books.
We grabbed a taxi to our hotel - we'd taken the budget option so our hotel was a bit out of town in a red light district. Not as bad as it sounds though as we were only three train stops from the centre and although there were ladies of the night parading outside the hotel opposite - our hotel was fine. It was a bit of a culture shock though as there were no westerners staying in the area and we couldn't find much to eat unless we wanted Frog Porridge or Chickens Feet - I did dip a foot in some porridge - luverly!
Colonial Tour, China Town and Orchard Road
On our first day we decided to do a Colonial Walk which looked OK on paper but was actually really boring. We'd hoped it would give us our bearings but all the areas we visited were pretty quiet.
After a coffee break and a thunderstorm (which happened every other day!!) we decided to check out China Town.
This was more like it although it was like stepping into a different World with all the temples, market stalls and street food. We had our first try of Hawker food - no where near as intimidating as some of the guide books make out - we went to the Maxwell Road food centre and picked a dish each.
After China Town we headed to Orchard Road - although only a few train stops away this was a million miles from China Town with posh hotels and huge shopping complexes with all the designer brands!
Sentosa Island
A must do when in Singapore. There are a number of ways to get over to the Island - we opted for cable car. We headed to the cable car station and opted for one of the tour packages which turned out to be a good move.
Before heading to the island the first cable car took us up to Mt Faber for views over the city - the views from the car were better than those from the top however.
We headed back down from Mt Faber and accross to the island where we were met by our guide.
Our first stop was a butterfly farm which was OK, there were some pretty big insects (The Hercules Beetle - the World's biggest!) to liven things up and we did get to see some butterflies hatching.
Next stop was Underwater World - a pretty good aquarium with some huge fish. There was also a touch pool where you could stroke a stingray! The sea dragons and jelly fish made for some good photo opportunities there was also a conveyor belt which took you around a tank filled with sharks and other creatures of the deep!
Next stop on the tour was a chair lift ride (Not like Thora Hird's) which gave us some good views of the island.
Next we headed to the beach where we crossed a bridge to an island which is the most southerly tip of the Malaysian Peninsular. The beaches are all man made but if you get a sheltered spot with some palm trees you may be able to screen out the oil tankers and other ships.
Included in our Underwater World ticket was the option to see Indo-pacific humpbacked dolphins, commonly known as Pink Dolphins. This was a pretty good show although the sun decided to come out and fry us as we were right at the front with no shade.
Also included rather randomly in the show were some otters that could pick up and recycle litter - I reckon they should be installed on every beach.
Next we decided to squeeze in a tour of Fort Siloso - built in the 1880s as a military base it has a series of gun emplacements linked by underground tunnels. When the Japanese invaded by a surprise land attack the fort did not help as all it's guns were pointing to the sea. The fort was later used by the Japanese as a POW camp. The story of the Japanese invasion was told along with the British surrender as well as the story leading up to the Japanese surrender ceremony at Singapore city hall. We enjoyed this alot (even though we were a bit short of time) as we both didn't really know much about this bit of World War II.
After sheltering from another downpour we went to grab a good seat for the Musical Fountain Show - this sounds rubbish and when you see the fountain in the day light it doesn't look much, however as night fell and the crowds came in we started to think this might be worth sticking around for.
The show was spectacular although the story was aimed at the kids the sound and laser light show was fantastic. There were jets of water with computer animated 3D images projected onto the water like a giant screen.
We took the cable car back to the mainland and had some great views of the city at night.
We rounded the day off with a beer and a curry at Little India.
Singapore Zoo and Night Safari
Quite a trip to get here with a train then a bus but it was definately one of the highlights of the trip - definately one of the best zoos I've been to. We joined a guided walk around telling us about the animals. The animals were all easy to spot. Some of the highlights included the Polar Bears which we watched being fed, loads of different primates, lions and white tigers. I also got to see a Tree Kangaroo and a Manatee (which I'd just missed in Belize).
We went to see the Elephants at Work and Play show and watched the elephants throw logs around as if they were sticks.
There was even Orang Utans swinging through the tree tops above your head and interacting with the Keepers.
(Left Turn Clyde!)
The whole park and gardens were very well laid out and there were some great views of the Upper Selator Reservoir.
Although we were completely 'animaled' out after a rest and some food we headed to the Night Safari. This place (completely separate from the Zoo) is award winning and it's easy to see why, however if you have the time I'd recommend you do this on a separate day to the Zoo.
We started the Safari with the Creatures of the Night Show. The show was a good introduction and included binturongs, otters, raccoons, owls, hyenas and servals. You also had to boo anyone using flashes on their cameras which I enjoyed.
Some sections could only be seen by tram with commentary so we hopped aboard one. You really felt like you were journeying to different places. We passed through Himalayan Foothills, Nepalese River Valley and Indian Subcontinent. Each of the enclosures were cleverly lit so that we could see the animals but they were largely oblivious to us. Animal highlights included Rhinos, Jackals and Hyenas.
We hopped off the tram at the Leopard Trail where we saw the Clouded Leopard, Binturong and the Malayan Civet. We walked through a special enclosed dome to see some huge flying squirrels which whizzed right passed us. There was another enclosure with loads of bats in too.
From here we hopped back on the tram through Equatorial Africa where amongst others we saw a Hippo and a Bongo! Next on to the Indo Malayan region home to a bearded pig and a tiger! We journeyed on through Asian Riverine Forest (with elephants and tapirs), through South American Pampas (with Maned Wolf and Giant Anteater) to the final region - Burmese Hillside.
We then explored the Safari on foot taking in the Forest Giants Trail and the Fishing Cat Trails featuring Fishing Cats, Otters and Barking Deers.
After another exhausting day we caught a taxi home.
Shopping and Raffles Museum
After a lie in we headed out to do some shopping. I found Funan - the IT mall - floors and floors of technology - (I think Jen was a bit bored by the 6th floor!)
(Mmmmm Technology...)
We also got our first look at the Raffles hotel and visited the free museum.
We finished the day at Orchard Road with a look around some of the stores there included a huge book store and a 3 storey HMV shop.
Chinese Heritage Museum
We headed to the train station first as I'd decided to head overland to Malaysia so I booked a ticket to Kuala Lumpur.
We got free tickets to the Chinese Heritage Museum from our visit to Sentosa.
As we both knew nothing about this we found it pretty interesting. It was all about the history of the Chinese settlers in Singapore. You climbed up through the levels following the timeline, before heading down through two floors which were like stepping back in a time warp as they re-created the pokey rooms which would have existed in the building in the olden days - definately worth a visit.
The Raffles Pub Crawl
As we'd not really had a drink in Singapore (alcohol is pretty expensive) we decided to splurge.
Our first stop was the 70th Floor of the Swiss Hotel. We got a great view of the city as night fell and sipped some very reasonably priced cocktails - the bar itself was mega-posh.
From there we headed to the Long Bar at Raffles where we got to eat unlimited monkey nuts and flick the shells on the floor. We gave in to temptation and tried a Singapore Sling - I'd heard it was pre-mixed but as we were sat at the bar we saw it even had it's own tap (like a beer tap)!
We went to the Hogs Breath Cafe for a Steak and some Long Island Ice Tea before heading back to the Bar and Billiard Room inside the Raffles Hotel itself - apparently a tiger was shot in 1904 underneath one of the Billiard tables.
Following many cocktails we headed to Chijmes where our first stop was at a really strange bar next to one of the entrances as there were jugs of beer on offer. Basically our drinks were served by a woman in a maids dress (more Manga style than French Maid!) who couldn't pour beer for toffee. When I went to pour my second beer I got into trouble and told - "Master must not pour his own beer" - weird but quite funny.
We finished the night in Father Flanegans Irish bar before heading home.
Jen's Last Day
Both a bit hungover we headed into town for some food before a quick visit to Funan to pick up some cheap PSP games.
Then farewell to Jen at the airport - but only 5 weeks to go before I'd be back home.
Waiting for the Train
As I had another day to kill before the train I decided to do a bit more exploring. I found a Chinese temple - the Tan Si Chong Su temple and was allowed to look around inside.
From there I headed to Clarke Quay - a very westernised area of Bars and Restaurants where there was a Ministry of Sound and even a Hooters.
Alongside these were old Chinese Junks (boats) converted to bars and a floating restaurant.
From here I headed up Fort Canning hill. The hill is home to a shrine to Sultan Iskander Shah the last ruler of the anceint kingdom of Singapura. I checked out an archeological dig where there were some Javenese artefacts from the 14th-century. Also on the Hill is the Battle Box Singapores largest military operations complex during WWII although I didn't have time to check it out.
So it was time to leave Singapore - a really interesting place and take the train into Malaysia.
We grabbed a taxi to our hotel - we'd taken the budget option so our hotel was a bit out of town in a red light district. Not as bad as it sounds though as we were only three train stops from the centre and although there were ladies of the night parading outside the hotel opposite - our hotel was fine. It was a bit of a culture shock though as there were no westerners staying in the area and we couldn't find much to eat unless we wanted Frog Porridge or Chickens Feet - I did dip a foot in some porridge - luverly!
Colonial Tour, China Town and Orchard Road
On our first day we decided to do a Colonial Walk which looked OK on paper but was actually really boring. We'd hoped it would give us our bearings but all the areas we visited were pretty quiet.
After a coffee break and a thunderstorm (which happened every other day!!) we decided to check out China Town.
This was more like it although it was like stepping into a different World with all the temples, market stalls and street food. We had our first try of Hawker food - no where near as intimidating as some of the guide books make out - we went to the Maxwell Road food centre and picked a dish each.
After China Town we headed to Orchard Road - although only a few train stops away this was a million miles from China Town with posh hotels and huge shopping complexes with all the designer brands!
Sentosa Island
A must do when in Singapore. There are a number of ways to get over to the Island - we opted for cable car. We headed to the cable car station and opted for one of the tour packages which turned out to be a good move.
Before heading to the island the first cable car took us up to Mt Faber for views over the city - the views from the car were better than those from the top however.
We headed back down from Mt Faber and accross to the island where we were met by our guide.
Our first stop was a butterfly farm which was OK, there were some pretty big insects (The Hercules Beetle - the World's biggest!) to liven things up and we did get to see some butterflies hatching.
Next stop was Underwater World - a pretty good aquarium with some huge fish. There was also a touch pool where you could stroke a stingray! The sea dragons and jelly fish made for some good photo opportunities there was also a conveyor belt which took you around a tank filled with sharks and other creatures of the deep!
Next stop on the tour was a chair lift ride (Not like Thora Hird's) which gave us some good views of the island.
Next we headed to the beach where we crossed a bridge to an island which is the most southerly tip of the Malaysian Peninsular. The beaches are all man made but if you get a sheltered spot with some palm trees you may be able to screen out the oil tankers and other ships.
Included in our Underwater World ticket was the option to see Indo-pacific humpbacked dolphins, commonly known as Pink Dolphins. This was a pretty good show although the sun decided to come out and fry us as we were right at the front with no shade.
Also included rather randomly in the show were some otters that could pick up and recycle litter - I reckon they should be installed on every beach.
Next we decided to squeeze in a tour of Fort Siloso - built in the 1880s as a military base it has a series of gun emplacements linked by underground tunnels. When the Japanese invaded by a surprise land attack the fort did not help as all it's guns were pointing to the sea. The fort was later used by the Japanese as a POW camp. The story of the Japanese invasion was told along with the British surrender as well as the story leading up to the Japanese surrender ceremony at Singapore city hall. We enjoyed this alot (even though we were a bit short of time) as we both didn't really know much about this bit of World War II.
After sheltering from another downpour we went to grab a good seat for the Musical Fountain Show - this sounds rubbish and when you see the fountain in the day light it doesn't look much, however as night fell and the crowds came in we started to think this might be worth sticking around for.
The show was spectacular although the story was aimed at the kids the sound and laser light show was fantastic. There were jets of water with computer animated 3D images projected onto the water like a giant screen.
We took the cable car back to the mainland and had some great views of the city at night.
We rounded the day off with a beer and a curry at Little India.
Singapore Zoo and Night Safari
Quite a trip to get here with a train then a bus but it was definately one of the highlights of the trip - definately one of the best zoos I've been to. We joined a guided walk around telling us about the animals. The animals were all easy to spot. Some of the highlights included the Polar Bears which we watched being fed, loads of different primates, lions and white tigers. I also got to see a Tree Kangaroo and a Manatee (which I'd just missed in Belize).
We went to see the Elephants at Work and Play show and watched the elephants throw logs around as if they were sticks.
There was even Orang Utans swinging through the tree tops above your head and interacting with the Keepers.
(Left Turn Clyde!)
The whole park and gardens were very well laid out and there were some great views of the Upper Selator Reservoir.
Although we were completely 'animaled' out after a rest and some food we headed to the Night Safari. This place (completely separate from the Zoo) is award winning and it's easy to see why, however if you have the time I'd recommend you do this on a separate day to the Zoo.
We started the Safari with the Creatures of the Night Show. The show was a good introduction and included binturongs, otters, raccoons, owls, hyenas and servals. You also had to boo anyone using flashes on their cameras which I enjoyed.
Some sections could only be seen by tram with commentary so we hopped aboard one. You really felt like you were journeying to different places. We passed through Himalayan Foothills, Nepalese River Valley and Indian Subcontinent. Each of the enclosures were cleverly lit so that we could see the animals but they were largely oblivious to us. Animal highlights included Rhinos, Jackals and Hyenas.
We hopped off the tram at the Leopard Trail where we saw the Clouded Leopard, Binturong and the Malayan Civet. We walked through a special enclosed dome to see some huge flying squirrels which whizzed right passed us. There was another enclosure with loads of bats in too.
From here we hopped back on the tram through Equatorial Africa where amongst others we saw a Hippo and a Bongo! Next on to the Indo Malayan region home to a bearded pig and a tiger! We journeyed on through Asian Riverine Forest (with elephants and tapirs), through South American Pampas (with Maned Wolf and Giant Anteater) to the final region - Burmese Hillside.
We then explored the Safari on foot taking in the Forest Giants Trail and the Fishing Cat Trails featuring Fishing Cats, Otters and Barking Deers.
After another exhausting day we caught a taxi home.
Shopping and Raffles Museum
After a lie in we headed out to do some shopping. I found Funan - the IT mall - floors and floors of technology - (I think Jen was a bit bored by the 6th floor!)
(Mmmmm Technology...)
We also got our first look at the Raffles hotel and visited the free museum.
We finished the day at Orchard Road with a look around some of the stores there included a huge book store and a 3 storey HMV shop.
Chinese Heritage Museum
We headed to the train station first as I'd decided to head overland to Malaysia so I booked a ticket to Kuala Lumpur.
We got free tickets to the Chinese Heritage Museum from our visit to Sentosa.
As we both knew nothing about this we found it pretty interesting. It was all about the history of the Chinese settlers in Singapore. You climbed up through the levels following the timeline, before heading down through two floors which were like stepping back in a time warp as they re-created the pokey rooms which would have existed in the building in the olden days - definately worth a visit.
The Raffles Pub Crawl
As we'd not really had a drink in Singapore (alcohol is pretty expensive) we decided to splurge.
Our first stop was the 70th Floor of the Swiss Hotel. We got a great view of the city as night fell and sipped some very reasonably priced cocktails - the bar itself was mega-posh.
From there we headed to the Long Bar at Raffles where we got to eat unlimited monkey nuts and flick the shells on the floor. We gave in to temptation and tried a Singapore Sling - I'd heard it was pre-mixed but as we were sat at the bar we saw it even had it's own tap (like a beer tap)!
We went to the Hogs Breath Cafe for a Steak and some Long Island Ice Tea before heading back to the Bar and Billiard Room inside the Raffles Hotel itself - apparently a tiger was shot in 1904 underneath one of the Billiard tables.
Following many cocktails we headed to Chijmes where our first stop was at a really strange bar next to one of the entrances as there were jugs of beer on offer. Basically our drinks were served by a woman in a maids dress (more Manga style than French Maid!) who couldn't pour beer for toffee. When I went to pour my second beer I got into trouble and told - "Master must not pour his own beer" - weird but quite funny.
We finished the night in Father Flanegans Irish bar before heading home.
Jen's Last Day
Both a bit hungover we headed into town for some food before a quick visit to Funan to pick up some cheap PSP games.
Then farewell to Jen at the airport - but only 5 weeks to go before I'd be back home.
Waiting for the Train
As I had another day to kill before the train I decided to do a bit more exploring. I found a Chinese temple - the Tan Si Chong Su temple and was allowed to look around inside.
From there I headed to Clarke Quay - a very westernised area of Bars and Restaurants where there was a Ministry of Sound and even a Hooters.
Alongside these were old Chinese Junks (boats) converted to bars and a floating restaurant.
From here I headed up Fort Canning hill. The hill is home to a shrine to Sultan Iskander Shah the last ruler of the anceint kingdom of Singapura. I checked out an archeological dig where there were some Javenese artefacts from the 14th-century. Also on the Hill is the Battle Box Singapores largest military operations complex during WWII although I didn't have time to check it out.
So it was time to leave Singapore - a really interesting place and take the train into Malaysia.
posted by Phil at 6:08 AM
4 Comments:
Entry looks really good and cool pics - especially the one of us! ;-)
Love
Jen
xxxxxx
Hi Phil, looks like you are having a brilliant time,pics are like wow!!!!
Catch up with your adventures next week
Take care.
Hey Phil
Singapore looks cool and the temples look really fantastic.
You look really well and looking forward to hearing some crazy stories.
Siobhan and Paul
x
Nice photo of you and Jen. What a disappointment to go all the way to Singapore for a Singapore Sling to find it is on tap. Not long left now Philip, we are looking forward to seeing you.
Love Mam x
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