Singapore

Now we were expecting Singapore to be expensive in comparison to our previous six months but it was a huge shock to the system. Arriving at our standard, no frills hotel, we had a celebratory (just for being there) beer which cost £6 each!! We were used to less than £1.50 but never mind...when in Singapore. 

We stayed in a colourful place just outside in a suburb called Little India; and having spent six weeks in India it was very similar, just not as dirty! 

We wandered around the market, taking in the familier delicious smells of curry and spices. It was great to relive experiences and memories which we were reminded of around every corner. 

We had only planned to do a few things in Singapore, one being a visit to little India, another was to visit the 'Night Safari'.This is basically visiting a Zoo at night to see animals that are predominantly nocturnal. Just arriving from Borneo where we actually did this in the wild, we thought it might be a let down and anti-climax but we were hugely impressed and would recommend it to anyone visiting Singapore. 

We have realised since travelling that we much prefer the rural areas, trekking in the jungle is more enjoyable to us than walking around another large city, but Singapore felt different. It has a spacious, green and clean feel to it and we loved it from the moment we landed. We walked around like excited children taking in the futuristic architecture and enjoying the cleanliness of the city. 

Seeing how the other half live in the incredible Marina Bay Sands Hotel...

Catching a boat ride in the shopping centre..

We did a great deal of walking around Singapore, drinking coffee and Rosie even got her hair cut for the first time since leaving the UK!

I did a little needle work...

Singapore is meant to be the cleanest city in the world and we were impressed by its conscious effort to be environmentally friendly, something we had not experienced on our Asia travels so far. There was lots of information educating people about environmental issues and how we can improve the world we live in. 

We visited the 'Gardens by the Bay' which are similar to the Eden Project in Cornwall, they had two 'domes' or Eco-climates. 

One housed tropical and exotic plants with a waterfall and the other, plants from all corners of the earth, America, Europe, Africa and Australia. The plants were beautiful and we enjoyed walking around these well designed domes. 

We read information about the current climate change and watched an excellent video which showed the increasing rate our planet is being destroyed by humans, an eye opening day. 

Within the grounds of these two domes, where steel, man made trees which we had read light up at night and also 'dance' along to music similar to the water fountains in Kuala Lumpur. So we waited until nightfall, alongside dozens of other people, whilst laying on our backs looking up to these trees.  

At 1945 the music started and so did the trees, the colours and music choice was amazing and we were mesmerised; they even had the Superman theme tune, 'A Whole New World' and my ultimate personal favourite, 'The Circle of Life', amongst others! We both felt warm and fuzzy inside after the performance and it was a great way to finish the night, and Singapore! 

After only 72 hours we were leaving to fly to Sydney. But we had read and heard that the airport is worth spending a few hours in as there are things to see and do. But mainly because they are free! So we got to the airport ridiculously eight hours prior to our flight! There was a free cinema, free butterfly park, free leg massage chairs, the list goes on and as we are poor travellers; free was the appeal compared to the high city prices!