At first I wasn't sure if I just loved this place for the pure joy of being back in civilisation, but after a few days there the love only grew. Clean, shiny gleaming city of awesome food, countless air conditioned malls, artificial beaches, landscaped gardens and towering sky scrapers in all shapes and sizes. We were initially worried that our wallets wouldn't be able to handle iy but honestly we didn't find it to be too expensive - the transport is reasonably priced and easy to use (keeping in mind that London is my reference point!) and the food is so cheap and sooo good - it's just the shopping temptations that you have to keep in check and if you can manage that (we failed a bit) then your smooth sailing. Having said all that the drinks in bars and clubs were unbelievably expensive so if partying is what you are after then you'd best come here with a heap of savings!
Our first day there we recovered from our overnight flight by lazing by the pool in a beach club on Sentosa island. The beaches are beautiful although noticeably artificial but sadly the sea is not particularly inviting - not surprising with it being the one of the busiest ports in the World. Before it gained independence in 1965, Singapore was the main British naval base in Asia and the World's largest dry dock which earned it the description the 'Gibraltar if the East' - it's no small wonder why we felt so at home! However having been to both I can safely state that Singapore is nothing like Gibraltar...
Once we got round to exploring we found a clean, cosmopolitan city whose inhabitants seem so relaxed that it's hard to believe there is such an abundance of economic activity going on. The highlight here other than the shopping is the stuffing of ones face at the various hawker centres dotted around the city. For less than a fiver (GBP) you can gorge yourself on dumplings, noodles, soups, dim sum, crab, pig intestines or pretty much any other food you can or can't think of all of which taste beautifully delicious (OK, so I didn't actually try the pig intestines... Maybe next time).
We very reluctantly left the city comforts of Singapore and headed to Malaysia based on the recommendations of some fellow travellers we met at our hostel. Our first stop was Penang where we didn't really have enough time to do anything other than head to a bar to play some pool and drink a Jaeger bomb or two which was fun enough but sadly I have nothing much to report about this city... I hear the assam laksa here (more food)is unmissable but sadly we missed it but it was a fun night out! At 5am we transferred our sore heads to a minibus to the Perhentian Islands where I'm currently sat writing this... All I'll say for the moment is that I may never leave here!
Sunset in Sentosa:
Fat prawns and the best dim sum ever:
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