arnika round the world

Its feels easy to slip back into the tourist thing, spending days looking at things and eating lots. My first full day I went for a walk around the little India district with Rula and Hannah, we stumbled across a hindu temple which was pretty amazing, full of people and priests (?) praying and hanging out, really intricate detailed roof and reminded me heaps of being in India.

We meet up with the other girls and headed off to the zoo for the afternoon. Being 5 of us it took abuot 5 times longer to make a decision which was always hilarious, but we eventually got there and it turned out to be very cool. It was huge and set in amazing grounds all very natural and animals very close…too close sometimes. Monkeys were in all the trees above us and I was paranoid about them jumping down on us. We saw tigers, pigmy hippos, elephants, crap loads of monkeys and lots of other things. The coolest was this rain forest walk where yuo walk through an enclosed forest where there are moneys everywhere, birds and bats just chilling out an arms reach away.

Lizzie and Hayley with yummy Ben and Jerrys sundae…

Heading back on the efficient bus and metro we had a break in the hostel before having a few drinks and watching sex in the city at the hostel on the big flash tv. We grabed some yummy indian for tea and headed back to Clark key to find a bar.

By the time we found it I was a bit tired so headed home while the others stayed out. Taxi’s are much cheaper than home so easy to get home.

The next day was my last before my flight to Cairo which wasn’t leaving till 2am. We walked down Orchard road the big shpooing area to the botanical gardens, it was really really hot but still nice to walk around, after awhile it started to rain and we got very wet, but it was OK because its still hot so kind of nice to get wet. Following the guidebook instructions we trekked to the other end to find a food makret which seems to have since been destroyed. So to get back to town we decided to take the back streets which technically should get us back to the main road. It seemed we had stumbled on the street for the wealthy of SIngapore, huge mansions along the road and a few different countries consulates. After a cheap lunch and looking in shops where we couldn’t afford anything we went back to the hostel. I stopped at Sim Lim square to pick up a spare battery for my camera, its this massive 4 story mall of electronic goods. I dont know why I didnt wat and buy a camera here! all pretty cheap and you can get good deals if you bargin lots.

It was the opening of the food festival that night so our group headed over to this amazing covered hawkers market with heaps of food and a covers band blaring out power ballads so loud it made conversation impossible. It was packed but we managed to get a table and get a whole lot of food.

We bought a plate of really good dumplings and then Rula turns up with this shaved ice dessert which was…wait for it….sweet corn, penut and kidney bean flavoured. Thats right, it tasted as good as it sounds. It was possibly the most hilarious dessert I’ve ever had. We tried to eat as much as possible but it was truely disgusting! ahah, but as Rula said, you have to try new things! 

On the way home we stopped at Raffels hotel, and old colonial building which was amazing to walk through all the courtyards. We snuck into the bathroom which was pretty nice and took some photos! then it was time for me to leave, Hannah was meeting a friend at the airport sp we took the last metro out there, checked in and waited for my flight…

The Singapore Sling is the (in)famous cocktail of Singapore, so what better way to kick off the trip than with a Singapore Sling on board the plane at 11am, as I wouldn’t be able to afford one in Singapore. Singapore airlines has to be the best airline in the world (actually i think it is just that!)

S0 10 hours and a few glasses of wine later we touched down in Singapre where Mum and her friend heading straight off to London. I took the crazily efficient, clean metro to my hostel which was in the little India district, just like India but cleaner and without people harrassing you…so maybe not that much like it at all then.

The hostel was nice and had air-con which was great as it was still 30 degrees when I arrived in the later afternoon, a big difference than freezing cold home but need to get used to the heat as the Middle East is just as hot! It was nice to be in a hostel again and be part of the backpacking world and I immediately meet Hayley staying in the bunk below who invited me out for tea with a couple of English girls. Thats the great thing about hostels, instant friends with something in common. So began our little team for the next few days.

Hayley, a english chick on a 5 month or so round the world, coming to the end of her trip and about to head home and start uni. Lizzie, with a northern accent making her way home from a working holiday in Australia, by going through Asia and Hannah, also english, just een dive instructing in Malaysia for 5 months on a dessert island. The next day we were joined by Rula, a kiwi chick at the beginning o her O.E heading to Europe. She was pumped about traveling and never really been backpacking before, also was super excited about Asia and new stuff which was great and kept the rest of us less cynical!

Hayley, Rula, Hannah and Lizzie

So Singapore is like the Hollywood version of Asia, clean and shiny and so much state control is unbeleivable. The amount of social marketing is hilarious, literally signs every where telling you how to act, what to do, what not to do. Everything from not stealing to treating women right, to not smoking, not pushing, being nice, eating  well, taking public transport…really it was pretty crazy. But it was cool, I gues the trade off for haiving a pretty controlling government is clean streets and a higher average income from NZ, Singapore is actually more developed than home I think in terms of cost of living and things. While it does lack the edge of the rest of Asia and character and ridiculously cheap street food its a very cool place to spend a few days and I had a lot of fun. The first night with Hayley, Hannah and Lizzie we headed to Chinatown to the street stands where you sit at tables along the street and theres lots of cheap places selling yummy Chinese food. I had noodle soup with prawns for around $4. It was so nice to be sitting outside and not being freezing cold!

After dinner we walked around Clark quay where the flashest bars and restaurants are, like I am talking crazy flash, an amazing plastic bubble roof type thing covered the area with lights and water features and theamed bars.If only we didn’t look like cheap backpackers and had no money!

So a nice evening and good way to start the trip! Managed to stay up to midnight so somehow avoided any jetlag. I do have photos I was going to out up but now I have reached Cairo where the computers are not so flash. So they will come as well as the next part of my Singapore adventures