Singapore!

Singapore is a good few hours bus ride from Melaka, and unfortunately we arrived in an area we didn't expect to in heavy rain. After spending a while trying to flag down a taxi we were soon on our way to our home-stay accommodation in little India called Al's Nest. The place was actually recommended by Howard from Melaka. Al's Nest was nice enough, not the same atmosphere as Ringo's, but then Al had his family living there and from the pictures on the walls had been doing it for sometime. Singapore is an island off Malaysia, however, like Hong Kong, it's a city state and therefore has it's own currency, government and laws.

We decided to have a wander round the local area, little India, which is where we were staying. We found a little food quarter which was pumping out some delicious smelling Indian food, so we decided grab a bite to eat and we were not disappointed! That evening we had a couple of beers outside a trendy bar that cost an arm and a leg, Singapore is not cheap!

The next day unfortunatly was a little bit of an anti climax, the weather was poor so we spend most of the day wandering round ridiculously expensive shopping malls, Singapore isnt mucking about, they have money and they are flaunting it!

We had decided that the following day we would go to the Singapore zoo, we were lucky with the good weather so thought we would make the most of it. It's easily one of the best Zoo's I have been to, there is a fantastic variety of animals and the enclosures are fantastic. The animals are almost always visible because of the way it is designed, but the wellbeing of the animal isn't compromised by this fact. It was a great example of a well run and designed zoo! The added bonus was the fact that we got to see Orangutang's, which I had never seen before, their enclosure was ingenious, with them being able to get to trees and platforms above the paths that the zoo-goers  walk along without it being enclosed. That evening we had a little wander around china town. 

(China Town)

Following day wander at the harbour area which has received heavy investment and the majority of the buildings are space age, and cutting edge in design. It felt like you were an extra in a science fiction film, a microcosm of what the developing world may look like years from now! That evening in Little India, being a Sunday, Indian men gather in their hundreds on the grass greens and mingle, when we went out to get some food it was almost intimidating, and we only saw a handful of women if that. the food we had that evening was arguably the nicest curry oi have ever had!

(Indian male gathering)

The next day we had to be up early to catch a flight to Indonesia, and after our exploration of Singapore, I think it might be a world apart!