Singapore!

Well I did it, I actually left Australia, not without my first major hiccup of my trip! Missing my flight from Perth!!! Who knew you could fly at 1am to Singapore and not a very sociable 1pm like i thought! Never mind, I was very lucky and got on the next flight with no extra cost and so only ended up waiting 6 hours instead of maybe days!

So I arrived late on Thursday and have just spent the past couple of days combining sightseeing with meeting friends and family.  Its been really nice.  There isnt that much to see in Singapore, they just love to eat and shop here! I have ventured down Orchard Road, which is the main shopping district and its just mall after mall after mall! Its crazy! They are massive and you can go in one and come out of another the other side of the road! But they are air conditioned so they are a nice escape from the humidity, im kind of use to the heat and humidity after the northern parts of Australia, but it doesnt make it any nicer!

I met up with friends on Friday evening and then yesterday met up with Julie, who Jen and I met in Fiji.  It was Julie's birthday yesterday and so we took the boat along the river which was good and we got some great views! Clark Quay where we got the boat from was really cool, quite modern, lots of bars and different coloured buildings.  Im staying with my aunt and uncle and on the way back home got caught in a massive thunderstorm! Boy when it rains here it really does rain! And so i sort shelter in Starbucks! My first since San Fransico, all those many moons ago and it was good! Its funny here, although its really different to home its very similar in that there is a M&S and Dororthy Perkins and Warehouse etc, which you dont get in Australia, so that has all been a bizzare!  I have also ventured each day through the Botanic Gardens, which are really beautiful and we had breakfast there yesterday morning.

Then last night Julie and I went for dinner in Chinatown.  Its a really cool area and lanterns hang from the buildings which as it got darker was really pretty.  We ate there and then headed to Raffles for the obligatory Singapore Sling! It tasted good and just had to be done really!  From there we headed to a bar called New Asia which is on the 71st floor of a hotel opposite Raffles.  It was amazing! You could see the whole of Singapore and on into Malaysia, although dark by this time it was a great view and so very high! You got one drink included in your ticket so we had champagne and admired the view, it was awesome!  It was a really great evening and we ended up at Clark Quay with some live music.

So today im just chilling in the luxury of a home!  I did plan to spend the day by the pool but it has been raining pretty impressively for the past few hours!  Julie and I are off to Borneo tomorrow for 10 days and im really looking forward to it.  Its not somewhere i imagined going on this trip but it should be a great experience and i am looking forward to something a little less western.  I am then back in Singapore for the night before I fly to Thailand.

A lot of people either love it or hate it here.  I like it, i certainly wouldn't say that i hate it! There is not much to see, but i am pleased i have stopped off here.  I get the impression that there is a lot of wealth here, most people have a Gucci bag under their arm! One day one day........!  Its different from any city in Australia. There are millions of more people to start with! I think in one hour i saw more people and certainly cars than i did my whole time in WA!  Its also exceptionally clean.  The MRT (underground) is spotless there is not one piece of rubbish, you could probably eat off the floor, i have never seen anything like it, certainly very different to the London Underground, although you are advised to 'Mind the Gap', which made me smile!

Next stop Borneo.....!!!