G: Singapore

Hostel, 23rd, 12.30pm. A morning spent out in Singapore, and all its hot humid or air conditioned glory. We woke up at 8am (well, A. woke at 6.30 because he gave into his tiredness and went to sleep mid-afternoon) and went down to breakfast in the hostel's eating area. The selection was corn flakes, coco-curls, quiche, frankfurters, noodles, toast, tea, coffee and juice (some odd choices in there, I know). The coffee was vile, the cornflakes slightly out of date, the toaster pretty useless, and the frankfurters looked like...well, anyway, it was fine really, decent enough to get us through the morning, and a nice dining area. I noticed that the clear-up cart had 'Cutleries' on it - something for the English Language student that is dormant in me.

I picked up a good leaflet-map, and we set out for Orchard Road, the main shopping district. It is vaguely like Fifth Avenue, but in most ways it's not. It's essential a really long road of shopping centres. The Grand Arcade has nothing on any of them, even the smaller ones. There's not a single separate shop, just centre after centre.

Hostel, 23rd, 4.30pm. It's raining, and stormy, 14secs between lighting and thunder (A. is really bored and his tooth hurts). So to continue. We walked along the street, commenting on how large the shops were, and quickly realised that nothing opened until 10.30am. So we kept walking, then turned around and walked back on the other side of the street. We went in a centre at 10.30 and went around 5 of the 7 floors. We stopped for a drink, and A. had a banana crepe. We left, and made our way back. I'm starting to recognise the streets near our hostel that lead to the main city, though the map is really helpful. I failed in my mission to buy a scrapbook, but I will continue looking!

On the river

We stayed in the hostel room for about an hour. I cooled down with a rinse, to get rid of the accumulated sweat. We relaxed and recovered, then set out for lunch. We took the subway to the river; it is a modern phenomenon that an experience the underground train is a key activity when a tourist in a city. It is clean and modern, like most of the city that we have experienced, with solid cards rather than paper tickets. 4 minutes later we arrived at Clarke Quay station, and we made our way to Boat Quay.

Like most touristy waterfronts, there was a row of restaurants and cafes, and we selected one on the basis that A. does not like Asian food, so we had to find a Westernised menu. I must say, it was the worst pizza I have ever had. The base was like a large biscuit, and the cheese was orange and cheap. A. seemed quite satisfied. As we left the restaurant, having decided to go down the river and see the Esplanade, and possibly go on a river cruise, the big, black cloud above us let rip. Proper tropical rain, that we stomped through for all of 5 minutes before we were both suffering - A. from the rain, and me from A's moaning about the rain! Of course, once we stepped out of the subway at the other end, it was dry, but all too soon, back in the room, it started again. It didn't come as a total surprise, as that was the forecast, but it did put a little downer on the day.

One of the most prominent things I have noticed about this city is a near constant smell of something rather horrible, and I have come to learn that this is a disinfectant. It is everywhere; coming out of cafes, stinking out the bathrooms, and it really sticks in the nose.

Hostel, 24th, 9.45am. Got back late last night so couldn't be bothered to write before I went to sleep. I'm currently in the room while A. has gone to buy postcards. Yesterday, after relaxing out the rain, I went downstairs to wait for the lift to the Night Safari. A. had to go back to the room to get something, so when the guy arrived and asked for Thompson at reception, the receptionist called over to me "Excuse me, are you Mrs Thompson?". After a moment getting over the shock, I replied "No, but he'll be right down," and I think she got the message. A. came down and we hopped on the mini bus into the dusk of Singapore.

We picked up two other couples and then were herded off and given stickers. Then someone came and looked at our stickers and pointed us at a rep who then pointed us onto another bus. This filled up with 24 of us, and a guide called Albert in a pink shirt. He introduced himself as we set off, and took the opportunity of the half hour drive to tell us the schedule, and a short history of Singapore. A. had to stop himself correcting the man on his economics terms! We arrived early at the safari, so our little duo visited the Ben and Jerry's shop for an ice cream.

Albert then gave us all tickets and we queued for the tram ride. Two couples, A. and I got on the first tram but we were the last to fit, so we left the rest of the group behind as we set off on the road through the forest. I kept forgetting to turn my flash off when I changed features of my camera, but apart from that it was a smooth ride. I man with a very smooth voice talked us through the animals we saw, right up close to the tram, including lions, a tiger, hippos, buffalo, rhinos, lots of different deer and goats, large birds, tapirs, hyenas, zebras, and elephants. The pictures came out almost completely black, because the only light were floodlights mimicking the moon.

It was really fun, both seeing the animals and hearing about them from the guide. I kind of wish they had simply put a ban on photos all together, because it felt like I was only ever trying to get a good picture, rather than enjoying seeing the animals up close, and it wasn't even worth it. But I did put down my camera occasionally (A. simply gave up after about five enclosures).

We got off the tram where we had got on it, and Albert advised us to go to the 8pm fire show, rather than the 9pm scheduled, because there was a small crowd. This show was the best bit for me. I got a few videos, that I should upload soon. These half naked men in traditional dress performed fire tricks and dances to tribal music, with a bit of comedy in there, and some audience participation. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

However, it finished at 8.25 (5mins late) and we hurried over the entrance for the animal show in the amphitheatre at 8.30. The entrance had a big sign across it saying "This performance is now full." We stopped, and found Albert coming up behind us, shouting at us for being late. He tried to wrangle the staff to let us in late, but they wouldn't allow it. It was really disappointing, because we had until 9.40 at the safari, but the next show was at 9.30. The plan had been to go for a walk between the tram and the 8.30, then go the 9pm, but of course it was Albert (who I started calling Angry Albert at this point) who told us to go to the 8pm. He shouted that he had said we couldn't stay for the whole show, but he had not. After a minute or so of bitter disappointment, we shook it off, telling ourselves there were plenty of animal shows in the world. We really enjoyed our trek through the enclosures not on the tram tour, and it took us 50mins to do all 4 walks. I did hurry along rather fast, now in a state of worry about being late at all now, but seeing the animals on foot was good. We got on the coach at 9.45 and were back in the hostel at 10.30.

The safari was definitely the highlight of the day, and we were worn out. A. had to go to the 24hr bakery for food to take his meds, and then I went to bed. He stayed up and watched the newest episode of Glee.

In conclusion: In Singapore it can rain quite heavily, but it's public transport is good, and the night safari was a fun new experience.

This morning we got up at 8am again, got breakfast, then I washed my hair. We're now all packed up, A. is writing out postcards, and we will be getting a taxi at 6pm to the airport to fly to Australia!