Singapore

How lucky are we.  Arrived at our Hotel - Peninsula Excelsior Hotel around 8.30 am thinking all we would be able to do was check in and drop off our bags as we were arriving so early. 

The lovely receptionist managed to give us a room that was available immediately and an up-grade to a bigger room too.  Hello shower! Which is exactly what we did before heading out to explore.  One Hop on Hop off bus journey later, we are exhausted.  We have done a loop around the city just to get the lay of the land.   Some of the buildings make you think you could be in Auckland, and others look a little worse for wear.  What is obvious about the city is it is devoid of graffiti and no rubbish.  Really clean.  The people are terribly friendly wanting to know where you are from.  Especially those that pick you as a tourist and proceed to tell you about a friend he knows who you can buy a ticket for one of the attractions.  You know the sort; work on a commission for the company who will sell you the ticket.  He was off like a cut cat when he realized no deal was going to take place.

We stopped for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.  I imagine this is typical for any of these cafes but there was a lot of rock memorabilia, loud music and good food.  And of course air conditioning.  It was pretty hot and humid so we were both grateful for some respite from this, but it didn't take long to cool off and before long I was cold.  10 mins back outside I was longing for that air con again.  No pleasing some people is there.

 During the bus ride one of the stops was the Raffles Hotel.  Amazing.  We had been given a heads up by the local tuk-tuk driver who was trying to sell us a ride, that Prince William was going to be arriving soon.  By all means there was a lot of activity and we took the opportunity to take a few photos.  What an amazing establishment.  So steeped in history.  It had been recommended we go to the Long Room for a Singapore Sling, but after the plane episode I decided to give this a miss just in case it was the drink that made me feel funny.  Sadly "The Special Guest" had not made an appearance so I can neither confirm nor deny the guest was HRH Prince William at all.

Tonight's outing was to the Night Safari Park.  We were going to make it a dinner event as well but when they advised Indian was on the menu we opted out of dinner fearing a case of Delhi Belly part way through our Singapore - London flight tomorrow. Not likely to be pretty in those tiny toilet cubicles. After a 40 minute bus journey towards Malaysia, (the scenery remains a mystery, as no sooner did we start our journey I was asleep), we arrived at the park. 

On entry, there were the usual souvenir shops and restaurants eager to relieve you of some of your tourist dollars.  Prior to starting the 40 minute tram ride around the park, there was a preliminary cultural show showcasing some very buff young men and their fire breathing skills.  Pretty spectacular stuff.

We boarded our tram; some people have no concept of the instruction to move to the end of the seat, so when I sat down I had the pleasure of sitting on this rather rotund Indian lady who refused to budge.  The smell of curry was not pleasant, but at least I had a well cushioned ride.   The journey through the park was amazing.  Unfortunately no flash photography was allowed so any photos we took are not the best. The animals are so close to you I can completely understand why the instruction to keep your arms and legs inside the tram are in place.  At one point we had a Taipir come right past us and we truly could have reached out to touch it. So the end of a long fabulous day comes to close.  Stay tuned!