The Last Leg - Singapore (24 - 27 April 2010)

Day One

It took me just five minutes of staring avidly out of the shuttle bus window to fall in love with Singapore. The neat tree-lined avenues, the invitingly illuminated apartment blocks, the buzzing restaurants, the vibrant shopping malls - admittedly it lacks a certain cultural charm, but still, what's not to love about this squeaky clean, perfectly-proportioned gem of a city? It was even beautiful from the sky as we came in to land, with jagged flashes of lightning cutting through the hazy pink cloud of sunset, the twinkling lights of the city below and the carrier vessels out at sea, positioned as though for a game of battleships.

Although I am perhaps just a little biased since Singapore has given us the best hostel we've ever stayed in - free breakfast, fresh fluffy towels, single beds (goodbye to the bunk!), lockers and free internet. Oh, and a toilet that flushes of its own accord.

Day Two

First things first today, we made a beeline for the Esplanade Theatre (well, as much as we could without a map anyway) in the hope of bagging tickets for Chicago. The city is everything I thought it to be last night - gleaming, clean, ordered and humid. Very reminiscent of the French Concession in Shanghai. We managed to get cheap, 'restricted view' tickets for that night so we celebrated with a Subway lunch then, still recovering from our mammoth day of travelling, headed to the hostel's roof terrace (yes, roof terrace) to soak up the sun. What else are two girls to do in this heat?

Headed to the nearby Lerk Thai restaurant for our pre-theatre dinner and ate vietnamese spring rolls (delicate and delicious as always) and Tom Yam noodle soup which would have benefitted from more paste and much less lemongrass. The show, on the other hand, was faultless. The orchestra was incredible, the casting spot on - all in all, a slick, exciting and lively production. The theatre itself is as impressive as the show, a huge glass capsule not unlike The Sage in Newcastle. Turns out our 'restricted view' involved a pointlessly positioned bar but, lucky for us, there were some empty seats in the circle so we took the liberty of warming those for the second half.

Day Three

Woke up to dreary weather (I am now certain that it is following us) and went of in search of somewhere to change money. Unfortunately the local money changer didn't open up until 9.30am, we were there just before 9. This does not signify a newfound love for early mornings, rather that we get a free breakfast at the hostel. A peculiar one at that. Yesterday, there was stir-fried noodles, chicken sausage and, fairly incongruously, bread and butter pudding. Not that I didn't enjoy it; luckily, I can eat anything for breakfast. At least, I thought so until this morning. We arrived downstairs and I can not convey to you the extent of our excitement upon discovering baked beans and hash browns. We eagerly made toast, sat down, took a mouthful and, horror of horrors, the beans were cold. Stone cold. Who would do such a thing?

This was not our only nasty surprise of the day. Having changed our money, the plan was to head over to Sentosa Island. Singapore had other plans. No sooner had we walked outside when we found ourselves in the middle of a torrential downpour. Optimistically, thinking 'it never lasts long', we sat down to wait it out - how wrong we were. After 15 minutes of waiting hopefully, we accepted defeat and dashed back up to the hostel to get our waterproofs, arriving soaking wet, shivering from the air-con and still with the vile taste of cold baked beans in our mouths. Our plans for Sentosa Island looking less likely by the minute, there was only one things for it: retail therapy. After all, what better way to escape rain than by spending your day in a huge shopping mall? We headed for Orchard Road and immediately felt as though we were back in China - the tall imposing buildings, the Watson's pharmacies and a McDonald's on every corner (Singapore has taken love of fast food to a new level - McDonald's actually delivers here)! I do love this city - it's a far cry from the sterile, unfriendly, almost hostile streets of China - but it is lacking in cultural identity. You could be anywhere in the world, nothing screams we are in Malaysia. Except maybe the lunch we had in the food court of the Far East shopping plaza: soup with chilli noodles, crispy wantons, cantonese-style pork and stirfried greens. It was cheaper, tastier and more wholesome than anything you could hope to find in a shopping centre in England, or anywhere else I have been for that matter.

We headed back to the hostel early, showered, then went to Raffles Bar for the compulsory Singapore Sling which left us pleasantly tipsy (and so it should for $30). Partly to combat the consumption of strong cocktails on an empty stomach, mostly to get our money's worth, we ate copious amounts of nut as well, unashamedly throwing handfuls of shells onto the floor (you're supposed to, I promise) and took more photos than should be possible in the time it takes to finish one drink.

Afterwards, we made our way to Chinatown which was something of an anticlimax. Harassed every time we stopped to look at a menu and forced to confirm that, yes, we do like Chinese food (why else would we be here?), we soon lost our appetites and decided to do the Singapore Flyer first and food afterwards. Had a lovely walk back through the city and a great 45 minutes soaring above it on the world's largest observation wheel - the views of the skyline were breathtaking. Then it was back to the hostel via the Sophia Food Mall for our last night sleeping in a bed other than our own (unless you count our seat on the plane tomorrow).

Day Four

Sentosa Island today - a huge playground of rides, attractions and resorts. Unfortunately, it's more like a playground for construction workers at the moment, but the sun was shining so we were happy. Unable to afford Universal Studios, we settled first for the simulation log flume ride at Cineblast. Although an impressive technological feat, we felt lightly conned since the safety video at the beginning (how much harm can I come to strapped into a simulator capsule?) was longer than the actual ride which lasted a paltry five minutes. The afternoon was spent at Underwater World, by far a more successful attraction. We stroked bamboo sharks, saw arampaimas (one of the largest freshwater fish in the world, reaching lengths of up to 8ft), watched tiny sea angels which look like translucent swimming men with glowing red centres, and hopped on the moving travellator through an 83m-long tunnel where sharks, stingrays and eels glide over your head.

That evening, we decided on Little India for our last supper. This cultural hub is positively buzzing - chaotic traffic, overflowing restaurants, inviting aromas, brightly painted buildings, stalls overflowing with exotic fruit and vegetables, and shops that would put Aladdin's cave to shame. A truly authentic neighbourhood.

True to form, we somehow managed to track down the one inauthentic restaurant for our last meal as backpackers. It was so new they hadn't even bothered to take the polythene off the chair legs (alas, we only noticed this after we had ordered). The food was perfectly edible, it just wasn't quite the authentic experience I was hoping for. Oh well, a good excuse to come back I suppose. Then it was straight to Changi airport to await our flight and contemplate our homecoming.

And that's it. 101 days of jetsetting around the world and we are now officially homebound. It's been an incredible journey but tomorrow we will be back on English soil. Surprisingly, I absolutely can not wait!