Wow! What a few very busy days! We have been trying to pack as much in as we can. Our first day was a long sightseeing trip, going via Raffles and the Theatres (they look like giant sparkly bug eyes next to the river) and Parliament house. We have gone in most of the shopping malls - Andys face lit up when he saw the vast Electronics Mall!!
We found the City Mall too, where some citys might have a tunnel under the road Singapore has the City Mall is a 60,000 square feet under the city shopping mall
We ate a traditional 'Malay' meal of chicken satay, fried rice and noodles on a street cafe near the very impressive Sultan Mosque. Chanting can be heard during dusk when it is the call to prayer, makes a rather cultural backdrop for dinner! Then, a speedy trip to Orchard Street- the main shopping street before the shops closed at 9.30 (midnight tonight!). Luminous signs and cleverly lit up shops guided us down this long road (think Oxford or Regent Street in London then double it), once the shops were closed we popped back onto the Underground and headed to the river and the Merlion glowing under the nightlights. It is interesting to note here that Rough Guide to Singapore says this is the ugliest statue they have ever seen, well it's not that bad...
Today was started by us heading off to the beach, Singapore doesn't have ay natural beaches, so, as Singapore does, they designed, reclaimed and crafted their own on an island to the south, complete with two choices of getting to it, 1. use the monorail located at yet another huge shopping mall on the harbour, over a bridge conviniently dropping you off at the beach or 2. go to the local sky scraper, head to the top and get on the cable car that carrys you over the water to the island, crazy (If you zoom in on the map here, you can see the little cars). Its a lovely beach if a little odd as its facing a harbour so there are huge tankers sailing past.
After leaving our urban beach we headed off to the URA building, rather unexcitingly Singapores Urban Redevelopment Authority but Andy wanted to go since we got here. It was a city designers dream, lots of tiny models, plans, more even smaller models etc. Fascinating... But I did learn something, according to the Singapore designers the Northern Lights in Alaska are man made... hmmmmm (Andy writes: The URA is a really great place to visit! They have 3 models of the Island in various scales on display showing Singapore now and the future, they have displays explaining what they want to do with demos of lighting to be used, mock ups of buildings and areas, its more of a gallery than a planning department. Oh if Somerset County Council had one. If you come to Singapore I think this place should be first on the list! You'll have more of an understanding of the city and the transportation system they have! Becky however, may not agree)
Finally headed back to the hostel past a food court for noodles, chicken and rice, I think its safe to say we're going to miss a hearty dinner and drinks for two for 3 pounds.
If you're wondering about the title they are the three things Singaporians love to do.