Singapore 19.01.10 - 21.01.10

When we arrive in Singapore Changi airport at 8pm local time we have no accommodation booked and therefore nowhere to go. Greg manages to alleviate this situation by replacing it with a more difficult one- the fact that we've failed to declare knives in our luggage. We are questioned and asked to show the knives to customs for inspection, then beckoned to come to the customs office. It's not a situation any rightminded person would want to be in- being asked to accompany an official to the customs office in a country where you can be fined for not flushing a public loo or hanged for drug smuggling. Fortunately the customs officer deems the knives recreational souveniers and meerly provides us with a form declaring their purpose for us to carry through other South East Asian countries. Phew. We then manage to secure a room at a hostel in Little India before leaving the airport. A tropical thunderstorm is in full swing as we head into the city lights, the humidity is high. The place where we're staying is in a lively neighbourhood where the narrow, low rise streets are lined with Indian food shops, restaurants, sari textile emporiums, traditional gold hindu jewellery shops and stalls selling floral garlands of bright orange and pink. The place is lit up by fairy lights traversing the streets and there's Indian music blaring from the Bollywood DVD stores. It's busy in the evening and we head out for a short walk around the block to take it all in, stopping at a small informal cafe for a tasty Indian naan/ hash with onions and garlic plus hot sauce dips for supper. Singapore is a mish mash of cultures- Indian, Chinese, Malay- but English is the national language so, even though on the streets you'll hear people speaking their mother tongue of Mandarin or Urdu, on the whole most will be more than able to converse in English too, which is good news for us. The main central area of downtown Singapore is world's away from Little India. It's full of high rises, beautifully kept pavement arcades with water fountains and coloured lights, malls upon malls and evry so often a historical colonial building heralding back to the British empirical reign. You can get a fine for jaywalking here and there are signs to that effect so most people obey the pedestrian crossing rules and diligently wait for the green man. The streets around this area are kept clean and the buildings are freshly painted which makes it feel like a very clean city. It's obvious they plough a lot of money into keeping the city smart, from the pristine waterfront boulevards to the immaculate MRT underground system. It's a joy to travel on- quite the opposite to London's tube. The stations themselves are cool, marble clad affairs with air conditioning throughout and in the trains too so it's a place I'd actually rather be than out in the humid hot sunshine! The tickets are clever too. You pay a $1 Singapore for a plastic travel card with your journey embedded on it and retrieve your deposit when you finish your journey by surrendering the card back to the ticket machine, thus eliminating the need for endless paper tickets- (it's against the law to drop litter here). We're also pretty impressed by how much building and development is going on here especially at the waterfront. They are striving for an unrivalled marina park with the world's largest casino under construction due to be finished in six months. We wonder why they should need any more skyscrapers for the 4.5 million population they have here but I've a feeling it's more a status thing than anything else. The people here are well dressed, well behaved and well mannered and it seems, as a country they like to express themselves through innovative architecture and providing a stimulating and pleasurable experience when walking through their city's public areas. We've learned it can cost up to $200,000S to own a car here because you have to apply for the provision of a hefty tax which is levied to ensure the numbers of cars on the city's roads stays at a minimum. So the cars on the road tend to be Bentleys, Mercedes, other non-descript 'business' cars and we did see a Lamborghini parked on Orchard Road. It's a city of style and it's obvious it pays to be seen in one of these cars or clutching a Chanel handbag. We feel downright scruffy. However we do manage to get over this and take in some tea and cake at the famous Raffles Hotel.

Sir Stamford Raffles was the first European to land in Singapore in the late 18th century and found a trading station on the banks of the river that runs through the centre of town. He built the hotel in a true colonial style and warmly welcomed a whole host of travelling British aristocracy to the delights of East Asian hospitality. The hotel has been recently refurbished after it was almost in ruins and now boasts a beautiful palm-filled courtyard and rooms with wooden verandahs out on to the inner gardens. We explore the entire city on foot in less than two days covering Chinatown and La Pau Festival Market

(where you can get a mean Wonton soup), Orchard Road, (a street lined with endless shopping malls) the Colonial District, (with it's traditional members-only cricket ground) and the pretty esplanade

(where the best views of Singapore's skyline can be had at night including the spine clad Esplanade theatres). I can say I've tried traditional Singaporean Gee Moreng (fried rice, mutton and fried egg on top) and a Singapore Slinger

at the Swissotel East Asia bar on the 70th floor of Raffles City complex (gin, cointreau, pineapple juice and grenadine).