Despite not leaving the room until 7.45 we made the 8am bus out of Malacca, thanks to 'Albert', the famous Indian Taxi driver (of Lonely Planet fame no less!) who I fear was in training for the Malaysian Grand Prix! The journey down to Singapore took around four hours and dropped us just out of the city at Lavender St station. It didn't take us too long to walk down to Bencoolen St near 'Little India' to find a room at the Boon Wah Hotel. After stiking a deal the room cost us S$40 a night, steeper than the rest of South East asia, but still not too bad I guess.
We spent the next three days generally exploring the city and it's suburbs. Singapore is a really nice, clean place, especially down near the historical waterfront area, it didn't seem to have the buzz of KL though. Getting around seemed pretty easy - most things in the city were 'walkable' although we did have to take the odd bus when we headed over to Changi Prison and the Lahore battery. On our first day we wandered down to the Raffles hotel and had a look round - very nobby! We also walked over to the 'Padang', the cricket field where the British elite used to play cricket in the heart of the Colonial sector - again very nobby! The old Singapore Cricket Club Clubhouse still looks great below the modern skyline of huge towerblocks. The Pandang is overlooked by the Government buildings where Britain formally accepted the surrender of the Japanese forces in 1945, it was pretty special to stand on the spot i'd seen in so many black & white wartime newsclips. Changi was also pretty moving, despite being only a small museum, it is incredibly well presented and dedicated to the Allied soldiers who were imprisoned there after the fall of Singapore in 1942. Lahore Battery was also impressive, none of the original guns are still in place, but the mock up on site must have been awsome when it opened fire - apparently it could throw an 800kg shell over 21 miles! Nearby Changi Jail is still in use - so it's quite difficult to get access to the more interesting areas which was quite disappointing, however we could just see the infamous gatehouse structure (which you see in many of the POW paintings and sketches) when we looked hard enough from the road side.
The following day we caught the #97 down to Sentosa Island, South East Asia's most southerly point. The place is a bit like a well-kept Alton Towers, with an Aquarium, rides, zoo etc. They actually have two Indonesian Humpbacked Dolphins performing in the pool which are actually pink in colour. I hate to see captive dolphins, but I would guess it will be the only chance we'll ever get to see a to see a bright pink dolphin up close. One of the other attractions on Sentosa was the old Siloso Fort, built in the 1860's by the British. The Fort is now a museum displaying the military history of both Singapore, since it's foundation by the British, and of Sentosa Island right up to the end of WWII when we took it back from the surrenduring Japanese forces. There are literally miles of underground tunnels containing gun emplacements and magazines etc, the place is really impressive and i'm glad we both visited it, for me it was the best feature of the whole Sentosa Island complex.
Now this may seem pretty sad as were travelling and supposed to be getting a cultural experience, but as many of you know we're both movie nuts. Needless to say we'd been waiting like crazy for the next 'Matrix' film to come out, and as it happened the cinema down at the Seiyu centre was screening the first showing while we were in Singapore. Like a pair of possessed people we queued for tickets and managed to get a pair for that evening. The film was great, but we were both scared to death when we remembered half-way through about the SARS warnings, like avoiding crowded places where you'll be in close contact with people coughing, sneezing etc - ooopps! However, you'll hopefully be relieved to know that if we had contracted the virus, it's had 10 days to incubate and we're still alive and kicking - so all's well I guess!
The following day we had a lazy day in the city then headed over to Changi airport for our flight, leaving Singapore at 8.30 pm, bound for Cairns, Australia. We're both really excited about getting to Oz and heading down to Brisbane to see Nick & Kerri, also about going to the wedding. It all seems to have come around so fast. However, neither of us is looking forward to landing in Cairns at 5.00 am and then searching for a room - at least we'll beat the rush i suppose!
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