So they say there isn’t much to do in Singapore…Well at first it may seem that way but if you’ve booked 6 nights here you soon find something.
First day we walked around the city, looking at all the British/westernized influences throughout.Candice had already been here, so we decided to go back to places she had remembered like The Fountain of Wealth, claiming to be the biggest fountain in the world. We had dinner and watched the 3D light show which was pretty cool.
We looked at doing a few tours but with the budget being very limited and the Bundy Rum tums needing some exercising off, we decide to walk pretty much everywhere. We walked to the first ever Merlion statue, which is an iconic symbol of Singapore. We then headed through the business district, only to have Macca’s to Jamie’s disgust as he loves Asian food. Then onto some markets that were packed full of people and lots of cheap gear.
Second day we looked at the weather and decided Santosa Island on a semi overcast day will have to do in monsoon season. We caught the MRT (train) to the harbor and then caught the cable cars to the island (another highlight of Candice’s last trip). We walked to the huge Merlion Statue then down to the manmade beachfront were we thought we’d get some food and a beer, however that was quickly passed at a lighting pace when we saw the price of $13 a bottle!!!
We then figured out that there is a FREE Tram service along the beachfront of the island and found ourselves utilizing the service as much as possible. We stayed for the 'close encounters' show, where they bring out some birds of prey, parrots and monkeys. They also needed a female volunteer and Candice put her hand up, much to her disbelieve that they had a 30kg Python ready to wrap around her shoulders. As you can imagine she wasn't at all happy about it.
We then stayed to see the lights of Singapore’s city, which couldn't really be seen with all the construction and huge cranes in the way. Then we caught the Monorail back to the city after we lost the return cable cart ticket.
Third Day we didn’t have much planned just went to Orchard Rd snobs area, (Gucci, Prada, LV ect) not for backpackers on a very tight budget. We finally found a information place and they didn't have much else for us to do apart from the Changi Museum with all the history of WWII, very interesting.
We then headed to the famous Singapore Night Safari to see all the nocturnal animals. We went on a tram around the park before embarking on foot to the various different trails throughout the park. It opens at 7:30pm and closes at 12:30am but the last bus leaves at 11pm and that isn’t enough time to see the shows, do the tram ride and walk through the park. They have a couple enclosures for fruit bats that can fly around you or into your face. We both really enjoyed seeing the Red and White Giant Flying Squirrels in there enclosure that actually flew whilst we were in there. They can fly up to 400m and as they rush past you, you can feel the force of air come soon after.
Forth Day we headed to Palau Ubin Island which is North East to Singapore and you can see Malaysia right next to it. We caught a very rickety old boat over there for $2.50 there isn't much to do on the Island apart from hiring bicycles and taking different routes around the island. There are a few little inclines that don’t help the old body when it hasn’t done much exercise in quite some time. We headed off after a good 5hrs there and when it started to rain. We caught our hour and a bit bus ride back into town and then made our way to Chinatown for the Chinese Lunar New Year Markets where we bought some really nice chopsticks for everyone the come and use when we get our own place!
