Singapore, Singapore, Singapore. It has everything and more, the safest city in the world supposedly...though i must be quite unlucky to witness an attemped theft!!!!
I arrived in Singapore on a wave of emotions, in fact i cried my way through immigration....its a small wonder that i was allowed through at all! The short blonde haired puffy eyed girl standing in front of them looked nothing like the serious faced brunette staring from the pages of my passport. Luck was with me that day though and they did let me through, i was soon collecting my bag, grabbing a map and wondering where the hell i was actually going. Leaving India was easy in itself but leaving Ant was the hardest thing, after travelling and being together as a couple for seven months it was painful to say goodbye. Ant has been my best friend and boyfriend all wrapped into one, we have had the most amazing journey together but as the saying goes all good things come to an end and its better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all. So with a sad goodbye under my belt i threw myself into the city of Singapore searching for that ray of light.
Getting around is wonderfully easy, the other day i even watched Deal or no deal on the bus, i didn't want to get off! As it happened i got to my destination, a little park only to find i was too late...then the rain came down so i quickly crossed the road and jumped on a bus in time to see how much money she won! hilarious. I think that i spent most of that day i on some kind of public transport, i was travelling around but getting nowhere fast!
Singapore has an amazing diversity of cultures, i have revisited some of the countries i have spent time in, i have wandered around Chinatown with its red lanterns, dim sum and noodles. Been to little India and had yet another curry on a banana leaf, the only difference being the cleanliness..... admired the high rise buildings and never ending array of shopping malls and got a tattoo in the process!
Most importantly for me though I have been reunited with my wife Lucy and her two friends Ben and Lyndsey which has been amazing, after ten months of "when will i see you again" we finally got to share a bottle of wine....well we actually managed to drink one each and catch up on the tonnes of gossip, stories and encounters that we have had in between sips. It was wonderful, a rejuvenating experience. The next day we met up again and almost killed ourselves on a little day trip. We had read about a Tree top walk, a huge bridge suspended in the park linking the two highest parts. It sounded like a nice thing to do.....a little stroll in the forest and it was free!!!! Um...our supposedly ten minute walk turned into four hours, add the fact that not only had we set off in the midday heat but we had also some wonderful headaches to boot! It was nice scenery but to be honest after we got over the bridge, we were over it completley and just wanted to get back to civilisation! That was a mission in itself, it turned out that we had to retrace our steps the whole way back....ahhh! The treat at the end of the day was some percy pigs from Marks and Spencer, yes good old Marks!!!!
It is expensive here, its eating my budget into the ground but i am having fun with it so what the hell! Lyndsey and i had made the most of it one day, starting in the pub.....with a bottle of wine to share. Though this did go a little pete tong! We were sitting there chilling and chatting when all of a sudden this hand reaches over and grabs her phone off the table, we turn to see an old chinese man on his bike desperately trying to get his peddles in order to whizz off with his stolen goods.(Seriously if you were on the rob you would think that you would be ready to peddle away at full speed rather than trying to line them up?!?) In a flash Lyndsey (now re-named She-ra) was on her feet, running after him, she got hold of him and wrestled him and his bike to the floor, retrieving her phone to his cries of "sorry, sorry, you can have your phone". I meanwhile was stood at the table unable to leave because of our bags, silently cheering her on and wondering whether this was a photo opportunity? Phone retrieved, all was well, it was a fleeting glimpse of the not so 'safest city in the world'.
Slightly shell shocked after the event we finished the wine, thought about ordering another bottle but then decided that maybe we should do something....so off to Sentosa Island we went. The name of the day was silly photos.....posing with the random statues....being ballerinas and generally making fools of ourselves. Spotting the luge, we couldnt resist and soon we were the proud owners of green crash helmets, racing down the track as fast as we dared, wheelies round the corners to the finish. It was awesome, we drew but that was only because Lyndsey managed to sneak past me at the very last minute. We were supposed to be braking, there was a man stood in the middle of the track telling us to brake.....how she didnt wipe him out, well its beyond me! In the evening we watched the light show, aimed at children it was still awesome, lights, lasers, fire and a whole lot of imagination left us smiling.
I just love it here. You can chill in a cafe watching the world go by, eat great food, meet friends, party, you can do whatever you like except spit out chewing gum. That would get you in a whole heap of trouble!!! Its been a great place to recoup and a great steeping stone to Malaysia my next destination. It means another farewell to Lucy but not forever, next time we meet we will probably be in a van in the outback! Singapore is giving me a new lease of life if not a slightly empty pocket!!
