Day 125
After spending the morning planning out what we want to do for the next 5 days, we enjoy a cheese sandwich lunch (Pete and Ali, who we have borrowed the flat from bought us over a hamper of food last night and is has cheddar in, they are my new favourite people) and then head off to explore.
We haven't got a map yet so we have to wing it which doesn't go too well as I leave Ben in charge and he didn't read Google maps properly but it does mean we end up in Bugis market and we have some delicious snacks so it's not all bad. At this point, we also find an Ibis hotel and grab a map from them so we are no longer lost as its started to rain and it's not fun wandering around when you get damp. It turns out we aren't that far from where we wanted to be anyway which is the Marina Bay Area so we head off for a short walk past interesting buildings (the Raffles Hotel, I would love to stay here) and historical memorials (The WW2 one). And then suddenly in front of us a huge spaceship like building appears in the sky and Ben turns to me and says that's the Marina Bay Sands. It's huge!! We head to the waterfront next to it so we can get some snaps and we also see the Singapore Merlion, the F1 track and get to walk over the cool helix bridge.
You can't go in the hotel as its too exclusive but it does have a mall below it full of posh shops so we walk around it window shopping (Cath Kidson, swoon). We are carrying on our explorer vibe and head away from the bay, through the business district to China Town which is crazy full of bustling markets and cool shops, we grab some food at a very cheap foot market (I wasn't too impressed with my Fish Ball Soup but it was edible and Backpackers can't be choosers) before coming back to the apartment to rest out weary legs.
Day 126
With so much of the city to explore, we head off again today to see what we can find. First stop today is the amazingly fabulous Haw Par Villa, a park themed all around Chinese folk law. It was built by the brothers who invented Tiger Balm, the Asian equivalent of Savlon that you wouldn't want anywhere near a cut, and it's crazy. It's also perfect for Julian with all its little models and he has a field day. The first bit we go into is the 10 Courts of Hell which was just so odd and definitely not appropriate for children. Next we wander though the folk law stories and memorials which just got stranger as we wandered around. It also got incredible hot as the sun got more powerful and even my knees began to sweat, urg.
We give in after an hour and we drag our sweaty bodies back to the MRT and go and check out Little India which really lives up to its name. Our trip to India, all those months ago now, was so crammed and so much of a culture shock that it overwhelmed me and I although I'm glad we went , I haven't wanted to go back to revisit. Until now. The streets here are full of brightly coloured fruit and veg stalls, next to shops selling any manner of spices who's smell spill out into the street. The air is filled with bad recordings of Bollywood songs and it's all set in the traditional Singapore buildings that are so brightly coloured. I want to go back! Although, I do think I preference the tamer, cleaner version that Singapore has to offer.
We walk up and down the street taking it all in before going into the Indian Heritage Centre which has just opened near the MRT. It was really interesting to learn about the history of Indians in Singapore, including there part in WW2 and I would really recommend going in if you get the chance whilst you are there. After this we grab some incredibly good and cheap roti and curry from a stall Ben heard was good and take our full and again tired bodies back to the apartment.
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