More Singapore

I'm quite quickly falling in love with this place.

We started off the morning by catching the train over to little India. It was a shorter distance by walking, but the heat put us off that idea. The train system here is simply fantastic, you're never waiting more than about 4 minutes, and the fares are about 40 cents one way. We spent the day roaming around catching half a dozen trains and spent a grand total of $2.23. On top of that, any money you load onto your card that you don't use gets refunded when you give it back in. Awesome.

Little India was a little slice of India, funnily enough. Music blaring from crowded stalls and shop fronts piled high with produce. We weaved our way through the streets towards a food court, which was even busier and dirtier than the china town one, and got a little lost in the craziness of the place before sitting down with a plate of food. I think it cost me S$2.50 and filled me up until dinner, so when people say Singapore is expensive, I guess it's just where you go.

We headed over to Orchard Road after that, which is about a 2 kilometre stretch of road with about 40 shopping centres along it. Yes, shopping centres. I have never been to a place before where a noisy indian food court tucked beneath a residence block is a mere 10 minutes away from Lamborghini's driving down the street in front of Luis Vitton shops and Armani suits. What a place.

We met a ninja, searched in vain for a sleeping bag liner for Aya, and then finally reached the Botanic Gardens without a single purchase, which stunned me slightly. The Gardens were a nice change from the retail, and to date, our Lonely Planet has been nothing short of stellar on the advice. One thing it's missing out on though is the spectacular Marina Bay Sands, which is a three tower casino with a long boat like structure across the top. It cost $8 billion to build, and is owned by a Las Vegas casino company. On the top is a swimming pool which appears to just vanish over the edge, sadly only available for guests.

The skyline here is wonderful, while most skylines have square or rectangle shaped buildings, almost all of the ones here are a new and interesting shape, it's such a nice view. As I said, falling in love, walking down the esplanade, looking at the largest and clearest moon I have ever seen (I attempted a picture, but it doesn't do it justice, we saw the craters on it) listening to jazz music drift from most of the cafes along the path. Almost all of the shops here are open to stupid O clock, and some don't close at all.

Right, I believe that's it for today, I'm exhausted once more, and my tired and ruined shoes (I'm still wearing the ones I set off in almost a year ago!) are torturing my feet. Bed time methinks.

Almost a year anniversary away, what a scary thought.

Hope you're enjoying the updates,

Andy