Australia and Asia 2008

Left London for my first destination, Singapore.  Exicited by my first trip to Southeast Asia and looking forward to the culture and experiences.

Qantas flight was very good, comfy and smooth all the way.  Landed late at night in Singapore and travelled straight to the hotel.  Checked in and off to catch up on sleep!!

First chance to check out the hotel and vacinity - very nice hotel, helpful and obliging.  Free bus to town as well as a constant flow of taxis to and from. 

Caught transit bus to Little India.  Not what i expected - very busy and full of hindu and muslim temples.  Fantastic place to walk around and soak up the atmosphere.  Not much in the way of fancy shops - mainly market style malls and many places to sit down and eat the rather delicious street food.  I recommend walking down the Serangoon Road and look at the Mandirs and Mosques that line the streets and back streets.

Walked to Bugis street, the largest indoor market in the world - very busy and alot of tacky stuff but some good finds in there if your looking for them.  Good food at Bugis junction where you can sample some of the more expensive shops and catch the MRT.  Walked down through Victoria street to Raffles Boulevard.  Beautiful walk down the more upper class parts of Singapore but it still has that colonial charm and the architecture is still as it was 100 years.  Raffles was nice; had lunch in the courtyard with my singapore sling and wandered around the shops inside the hotel.  Chijmes is lovely, i can imagine it was even prettier at night with live music and the lights all on.  Made my way back tot he hotel to change for the evening.

First stop, singapore flyer - booked tickets on internet before i arrived for sunset flight on the worlds biggest wheel.  Plenty of restaurants and kitch stores surrounding it - and a mini rainforest below where you expect Sam Neill to come round the corner in his Jurassic Park hat!  Flyer itself was great fun.  Not busy and gave an amazing view over the whole city, watching the sun turn the sky from blue to pink to black.  The lights over the city really bring it to life.  Excellent value for money, cheaper then the london eye and more accessable!

Walked from Marina to China town, a pleasant walk at night with the city lit up over the bridge.  Chinatown was bustling, the festivals and night markets were very popular and lotsb of bargains to be found there, the food courts were good fun with some live entertainment and cheap scrummy food.  Walked from China town to Boat quay.  A very lively place but the food is considerably more expensive then in china town, probably because of the view of the city and the river. 

Started to rain and taxi's were few and far between, a little tip: get a taxi from a hotel, any hotel will do!!!