Singapore - 8 February 2009 to 11 February 2009

Introduction

What a relief to arrive in a pollution free, efficient and organised modern metropolis. From the time we arrived at Changi International Airport from Chennai we gaped at this clean city-state's man-made beauty, a complete contrast to India 's mayhem. Despite the skyscrapers it is also remarkably green, a reflection of the harmonious fusion of cultures and their mouth-watering foods. The Chinese, malay and Indian heritage has moulded a fantastic range of asian dishes – our highlight of Singapore .

Background and History

‘Singapura' was apparently founded by a Sumatran Prince and means Lion's city, but it only arrived on the world stage when the British landed in 1819. With the Japanese invasion in 1942 the empire's glory days came to an end and from 1959 the people's action party led industrialisation by strict social behaviour. The locals now ‘light- heartedly' call Singapore a ‘fine' city, not just because it appears fine but the laws and rules also control everyone – maybe a tad too much!

Our Experience

The night flight with a good few ‘Singapore Slings' and stress of our shipping agency's delay with our paperwork (and adding a good few hundred dollars to our bill at the last second after we checked in at the airport) had us too exhausted to do much, but sleep most of our first day away at ABC backpackers. By late afternoon we explored a bit of Kampung Glam, the muslim area with its mosques before tucking into gorgeous Chinese dishes at a local food court. Still with Maaike and Rein from Holland , who shared the shipping ordeal, we continued to Little India – just to see the Singaporean take on India !! Although not nearly as filthy, the crowds gave us a nightmare-like dejavu, but it was because we landed slap-bang in the middle of a Hindu festival. Thaipusam, is held in honour of Lord Murugan and pilgrims carry offerings on foot for a few kilometres between 2 temples with metal rods piercing their cheeks and hooks in their backs which support elaborate costumes!! The next day we were rather disappointed with touristy, man-made Sentosa Island and rather spent the afternoon at the excellent Singapore Zoo with every conceivable animal before an entertaining show on nocturnal animals and tram ride of the adjacent night safari. The filling morning ‘murtabaks' (arab flaky roti with mince/chicken and egg) had lasted us the entire day!! Central Singapore we then explored on foot – from famous Raffles and the colonial district to colourful Chinatown across the river. With our dutch friends we then headed through the modern financial district but not before diving into seafood laksa and other tasty dishes at Lau Pa Sat's hawker stalls. The beauty of Singapore shone through in the evening as we made our way to the Merlion, the island's mascots and via bustling bars along the river's quay's back home. Our final day started off with malay dishes at the Newton Food Centre and a walk through little India to sample the shopping at 24hour Mustafa centre – busy and just too expensive. At dusk we met up with Wee Chong Wong and his family with whom we had connected via our website. We had a driving tour in their RAV4 around the city to Mt Faber and a gorgeous varied spread from chilli crab, roti prata and r ojak (pineapple, bean sprouts, cucumber, you tiao, turnip, shrimp sauce & everything else) to soya bean drinks. A lovely evening ended with a drive past the red light area and to sample the stinky king of fruit – the durian, just too mushy and with an acquired taste!!

We were up at 6am on the 12 th and the inevitable rush to the train station for a relaxing 7 hour journey to Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia ! The border crossing was a non-event without the vehicles but our apprehension about the vehicles' shipping soon proved justified ……