Dave and Jen arrived in Singapore after a typical Tiger Airways flight -that happened to be delayed by at least three hours! Jen had booked the hostel in 'Little India' about an hour long subway ride away. The train ride in was a very interesting introduction to the multicultural nature of Singapore -with every sign and announcement repeated in four languages -English, Tamil, Mandarin and Malay... We finally arrived in Little India and were instantly transported to the streets of Mumbai, or so it seemed, with strong smells of curry wafting through the air. Dave and Jen only had one full day in Singapore and so after exploring the great Mosque and Arab St (to get Dave more roti), Dave and Jen headed for what Singapore is famous for -the shopping malls!
Orchard Road is the place to go and literally has at least 20 malls (or rather for fear of being criticised for my Americanisation, Shopping Centres) all lined up next to one another and often joined underground. This makes it very easy to go through 2 or 3 without even realising it! Dave and Jen particularly enjoyed the food courts, which had an amazing selection of food at really cheap prices. (Wow, sounds a bit like I'm in an advertising program)... But really, it was so good, a true feast for the eyes and the stomach! Jen opted for frozen yoghurt with pepitas and dried cranberries, while Dave found a Cold Stone (Cold Rock) equivalent and had a chocolate masterpiece.
Dave was particularly fascinated by the architecture of Ion Orchard, (the biggest mall of the lot we're told), with beautiful statues and bathrooms that would rival some of the most expensive hotels in Melbourne. After spending a good 5 hours shopping and Jen spending her weekly budget on a dress and shoes, we decided it would be a good idea to escape the consumerism capital of South East Asia and went to see the Karate Kid at the movies. It cost only $7 to get in for a full price ticket and it wasn't even Tight Arse Tuesday! Dave and Jen then headed back to Little India and had a delicious meal of naan bread and dhal from the Indian Restaurant across the road of our hostel, which like most places in Asia, looked really dodgy, but had one of the best meals we'd had all trip, before hitting the hay.
After checking in for our flight to Indonesia, we had a couple of hours to explore 'The World's Best Airport.' It really does deserve that title, as they have thought of everything to make your airport experience as good as possible, they even had a special area with couches and TV screens to watch the World Cup -which Dave and Jen effectively made use of. Dave and Jen then made our way to the departure lounge to be met with the most 'White tourists' and annoying children, with too much energy, running and screaming through the lounge mind you, we'd seen all trip since leaving Melbourne and began dreading that the next destination was to be over touristy Bali...
