We woke up bright and breezy and eager to see the sights of Sinapore. Armed with a map and an oyster card (supplied by our kind host Joy from Crossing church), we headed off on our first adventure. Contrary to popular opinion, Anne and I managed to find our way around Singapore on our own without getting lost (apart from the last 30 minutes on the way home); We mastered the underground and bus system so we are feeling quite proud of ourselves.
We got on a bus and wanted to head to Orchard Road (where all the designer shops are) only to confuse the driver by asking for Orchard Park (Where Anne lives!). We eventually realised our error and found the shops, only to realise that we couldn't afford designer labels!!! Oh well, we decided to head to Little India where we thought it might be a bit more in our budget!
Little India, was slightly disappointing as there wasn't much to see but it did remind Anne and myself of past trips to India, only with slightly fewer cattle and less sewage on the roads!
We had lunch at Chinatown (sweet and sour pork) and then bought some chinese "tat" for "very good prices!"
We had a lovely time at the Marina Harbour area which has some of the most modern and spectactular architecture we have ever seen! We went to the top of the Marina Sands hotel and had some awesome views of Singapore. Also on the top of the hotel is a swimming pool - but sadly only for hotel guests!
Singapore is so small that you can drive from one end of the country to the other in 90 minutes! We could see most of the country from our viewing tower.
We went to the famous Raffles hotel and visited the Long Bar. It is customary to have a "Singapore Sling" but we could only afford a diet coke! It is also the custom here to throw your monkey nut shells on the floor after eating them! This made for a very unpleasant walk around the bar area!
In the evening, we went to the Night Safari whihc had come highly recommended by many people.
It was a cross between London Zoo and Jurassic Park. We sat in safari jeeps and went round this massive parkland seeing many different nocturnal animals on the way (with commentary). None of the animals were in an enclosure and we did wonder what was stopping us from being on the dinner menu for the lions and tigers!
It was awesome fun but sadly we couldn't take any photos because of the "no flash" rules.
We arrived home at 11.30pm, having left the house at 10.30am so we were pretty shattered but enjoyed our day in Singapore.
The weather was 30 degrees and dry but today it has been cloudy and monsoon rain with some thunderstorms. Quite the contrast!
Later this afternoon, we are catching our flight to NZ via Sydney.
Hope you are all well, love Kay and Anne.
I am still not sure what Anne is holding in her hand in her blog picture at the airport? Is there a prize for guessing what it is? Not sure I want to win it! Too green for for me.
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