getting in the tourist mode…
Monday, July 7th, 2008It feels easy to slip back into the tourist thing, spending days looking at things and eating lots. My first full day in Singapore 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 from the hostel and headed off to the zoo for the afternoon. Being 5 of us it took about 5 times longer to make a decision which was always hilarious, but we eventually got there and it turned out to be amazing. It was huge and set in amazing grounds, all very natural and the animals are 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, loads of monkeys and lots of other things. The coolest part was a rain forest walk where you walk through an enclosed forest on a bridge with monkeys everywhere, birds and bats just chilling out an arms reach away.
(Lizzie and Hayley with yummy Ben and Jerry’s sundae).
Heading back on the efficient bus and metro we had a break in the hostel before having a few drinks and watching a movie at the hostel on the big flash TV. We got 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.
The next day was my last before my flight to Cairo which wasn’t leaving till 2am. We walked down Orchard road the big shopping area to the botanical gardens, it was really, really hot but still nice to walk around. We did get caught up in a bit of a tropical downpour getting absolutely soaking but at least it cooled us down for a bit.
Following the guidebook instructions we trekked to the other end of the gardens to try find a food market 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, a massive 4 story electronic mall, to pick up a spare battery for my camera. I don’t know why I didn’t wait and buy a camera here, its all pretty cheap and you can get good deals with a bit of hard bargaining.
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, peanut and kidney bean flavoured. That’s right, it tasted as good as it sounds- which is not that good at all. It was possibly the most hilarious dessert I’ve ever had. We tried to eat as much as possible but it was truly disgusting, as Rula said, you have to try new things!
On the way home we stopped at the famous Raffles Hotel, home of the Singapore Sling. It’s an amazing old colonial building full of beautiful courtyards to wander through. The place was a little out of our price range so we could only look from the outside, but we snuck into the bathroom which was pretty nice to take some photos. Then it was time for me to leave, off to Cairo, Hannah was meeting a friend at the airport so we took the last metro out there, checked in and waited for my flight…
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