|
|
|
The whole getting off our butts and doing things had been most enjoyable in Malaysia so we decided to carry on with the trend in Singapore and as we only had 2 and a half days we had to hit the ground running
this plan didnt start so well as we were tired and hungover when we arrived at KK airport - we were nice and early and at the front of the check in queue, we had a few kilos excess baggage but the guy let us off and we went through security then i was stopped as i had my swiss army knife in my hang luggage!!!! they told me i could go back and check my bag, so we went back and queued again when she went to check my bag she explained that it had to be added to our other luggage and meant we were about 5 kilos over the limit so would have to pay - i handed over the money and she put it in her pocket then i asked if it would be possible to get my bag back so i could just put my knife in it
she got on the walkie talkie and then i had to describe my bag to someone who went to look for it - time was ticking away and we were both soooooo hungry, our hour free was quickly becoming 15mins! eventually a guy appeared with my bag and i put the knife in and we went back through secuirty, passport control and hand luggage checking
we saw the cafe and were about to order when i realised the check in girl had my money! so i went back through, queued again - got my money back, oh yes indeed! then queued to get back through security, passport control and handluggage check! finally we got to the cafe ordered some food, sat down to eat and the called our plane! to be honest it was probably for the best as the food was shockingly bad!
we landed in a place called Johor Bharu in the south of peninsular malaysia and from there we caught a bus over to singapore, we had booked a room at a hostel in Little India which turned out to be a great place - really well set up with friendly helpful staff
Little India is a fab area with lot of cafes selling yummy street food with the added bonus that it won't make you sick like real India! However the first thing ben wanted when we arrived was a burger! But luckily you can get anything you want in Singapore so it wasnt hard to find a place to eat
we spent the afternoon exploring the area and working out our plans for the next two days (friday and saturday)
we decided to go to the zoo and night safari on friday as we figured it would be quieter, i knew ben would love it - especially after how much he enjoyed bangkok zoo! it's just such a great zoo, there's no cages or enclosures and the animals have so much space to roam around, the monkeys swing around above your head and some of them even come and say hello and there are tropical birds all over the place
whilst we were looking at the manatees (see picture - i'd never heard of them before!) a woman appeared with food and asked if anyone would like to feed them - me and ben were straight in there! they are crazy weird and have this strange way of feeling the food with super thick pointy whiskers then kind of snaffling it into their mouths, very cute!
the other highlights were the cheeky otters chatting away to each other and scooting around in little gangs, the lone meercat who came out of the burrow to inspect us, the polar bear doing laps in his pool and coming right up to the glass where we were standing and of course the elephants!
we were on the wrong side of the zoo when it was nearly time for the elephant show so we set off walking over when the heavens opened and in about 3 seconds we were completely drenched and the pathways had turned to rivers - the whole place seemed deserted except for the two crazy brits refusing to let a little rain stop them!
unfortuantely it stopped the elephants though as we arrived to find the show had been cancelled due to the rain!!! the elephants didnt seem to impressed with this as the show involves them getting fed, so for a while they (4 of them) stood in the arena stamping their feet and holing their trunks out for bananas but they soon realised it wouldnt help so they headed to the waterhole to play, it's just such a strange thing to see these huge lumbering animals rolling around and playing like kids!
ben was going to take some pictures however he realised that water had got into his camera bag and it no longer worked! oops
we went for over priced pizza and then headed for the night safari where you can take a train ride and see all the animals in more natural environments - we saw a huge anteater and the cutest little baby tapir, and of course we walked through the bat house and got swooped! i was a bit braver this time than i had been when i went with my parents four years ago but it helped that i didnt see any spiders this time!
then i made ben come to the night show cos i wanted to see the otters that have been trained to sort rubbish and put it in recycle bins! too cute
the next day we headed for Sentosa, a small island just off the south of singapore that's slowly being turned into a disney land style place - this unfortunately means that everything has a price so we had to be very sensbile about how we spent our money and after taking the cable car over we decided trying out the luge would be the best idea and it was! it's not particularly long - i think about 600m and you have a little go-kart and you have to wear a crash helmet - almost a problem for ben who had trouble squeezing his head into the biggest size they had!
the first time i was a total wuss and was going real slow whilst ben shot off into the distance, but the second time i was a bit braver and by the third i was whizzing round the bends and flying up the sides - unfortunately i flew round some kid who looked terrified and caused him to throw himself from his cart and burst into tears
after a walk along the beach and a quick photo of Ben at the southern most point of continental asia we were planning on a game of crazy golf but the rain started once again so we headed back to the hostel as we were leaving the next morning we thought we should keep with our trend of going out for a drink on our last night thus ensuring we would be tired and hungover while travelling!
we decided to check out an aussie bar just down the road and were very pleased we did as we meet a couple of aussie ex pats who insisted on buying our drinks all night and were loads of fun!
it was nice to see singapore from a different perspective as last time i was here with my parents and we stayed in a fancy hotel (with the best breakfast buffet ever!), shopped on orchard road, ate in fabulous restaurants and drank singapore slongs at Raffles - it was fabulous but singapore seemed a very sterile place (not helped by the fact that i'd just come from 6 months in thailand)
whereas this time i was footing the bill and we stayed in a cheap area which gave me the opportunity to see a more vibrant side to singapore - but don't get me wrong i'd swap the experience in a heartbeat for a few hours at that breakfast buffet!
previous travel blog entry
Would you like to comment or ask a question?
Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).