Fish and Chips and Tiger Beer - heaven!

People i met here who contributed to, and improved my trip: Julia (Russia)

Our journey from Melaka to Singapore passed by comfortably and had a tinge of amusement when we saw a 'no durian' sign posted on the bus. After our experience between Semporna and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysian Borneo, when our bags were locked under the bus with a bunch of durians, i have hated the things ever since, as it took months for the smell to leave our belongings! Arriving into Singapore bus station smell free, it was a 20 minute walk in the sweltering heat to Ali's Nest Hostel and by the time we arrived, it had become essential to take a shower!

Our hostel was located in Little India and as it was the middle of Deepvali, the streets were bustling and decorated with lights.

After wandering around for an hour or so as the streets lit up and really came to life, we decided to find a bar to go and watch the football at. Not realising that the clocks had gone back an hour in the UK, i became extrememly agitated that nowhere had the game on, and as we had given up and decided to just sit down and have a beer, a channel was changed, the Arsenal vs Man Utd game came on and everything became clear! The match ended 2-2 and after a few Tiger beers it was time for bed.

Sunday was a busy day of walking and sightseeing, as we headed for the Central Business District (CBD) and surrounding areas.Our first port of call was to St Andrews Cathedral, which was holding a service, so we didn't bother going inside. Just around the corner are the impressive colonial buildings that make up the City Hall and Supreme Court, where all those chewing gum spitters no doubt meet their maker! It was a pleasant walk around the padang, which is where the Singapore Cricket Club houses its matches and like at Malaysia's Merdeka square, i'm not sure how the batmsen concentrate in such splendid surroundings! 5 minutes further along and with skyscrapers towering above us, we made it to the Esplanade Bridge, where the views of the CBD on one side of the river and Marina Promenade on the other were simply breathtaking.

The jagged Esplanade - Theatre on the Bay building was a real eye catcher, with its spiky roof and i could understand why the locals had nicknamed it 'The Big Durian'! A walk through the nearby park to look at the war memorial was followed by a fleeting visit to the Raffles Hotel. As the sun was beating down, it was decided to take refuge in an air conditioned food hall for half an hour, to rest and plan our assault for the afternoon.

Wandering through Singapores streets is a real delight and every corner that you seem to turn offers a different perspective of the architecture, in what was fast becoming one of my favourite cities. It was nice to be able to head to Fort Canning Park in the afternoon to take a lazy walk through the gardens - although we didn't want to go into the resevoir there to cool off, as the sign indicated that we might run into a spot of bother :) Exiting the park we came across a nice looking fish and chip restaurant and as this is probably the food i miss the most, we stopped to treat ourselves.

Obviously it wasn't as good as my local chippy, but it temporarily satisfied my cravings :)

Our afternoon continued in Chinatown, which i thought was really beautiful, with some lovely quiet back roads and the impressive Chinatown Heritage Centre. There were also a couple of touristy streets serving up what looked like pretty good food, although i was still stuffed from lunch! After taking a quick look at Sri Krishnan Temple and Kuan Im Thong Hood Che Temple, we headed back to the Esplande Bridge and decided to take a look at the Merlion Statue that was mentioned in our guide book, and ended up pretty pleased that we did. This is the area where most of the postcard pictures are taken and offers magnificent views on both sides of Marina Bay.

Although exhausted, a walk along the river was too tempting an opportunity to miss, before finally calling it a day and submitting to catching the subway back to Little India! Julia cooked up some food in the hostel kitchen and we went out to a small restaurant/bar afterwards to knock a couple of well earned Tigers back. As the rain came tumbling down, the choices were to get soaked going home or get drunk... we got home dry and late :)

The following day was no less hectic, as we set off in search of the rest of Singapores treasure trove of architectural gems. Our assault began in Little India, where we visited the various Hindu and Buddhist Temples including the Sri Veeramakaliamman, Leong San See, Gaya Temple and Sri Srinivasa Perumal.

Heading west brought us to the Islamic Mosques of Malabar Muslim Jama-Ath Mosque, Hajjah Fatimah Mosque and finally Sultan Mosque, Singapores largest. Just to get a Christian fix, the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes was situated only a few blocks away, so we paid it a quick visit and were left wondering how many more religions we could appease in the day :)

Singapore is a relatively expensive city for South East Asia, but Julia was determined that we should visit the shopping mecca of Orchard Street in the afternoon... just to window shop you understand! Thankfully i managed to drag her away before she ran up the debt of a 3rd World country! Although it was fantastic to be walking everywhere, we again succumbed to the subway to get to Sentosa Island, which is located in the very south of the city/country! Unfortunately they had shut the walkway over to the island and we weren't too keen to pay for the boat over, so sat and looked at the Carlsberg Tower and cable car from the other side.

We headed back to Orchard Road to watch as the street lights came on at dusk and then i dragged Julia on another massive walk around the city, so as i could photograph all the buildings as they lit up. Although we were both exhausted, i have no doubts that the mission was well worthwhile, personally i think the pictures prove it :) The evening was finished with Dinner in Chinatown and after catching the subway home, there was nothing left to do other than sleep!

It was sad that we were leaving on Tuesday, as the country had really caught my imagination. The simple fact of the matter was that to do anything else was going to cost a lot of money and could be done in most other countries for a third of the price. But travelling on a budget, you kind of get used to making sacrifices along the way, so the aquarium and zoo etc will be left for another day! We still weren't sure where we were heading, so caught a bus to Johor Bahru, which is the first town near to the Malaysian border.