Singapore: 11 out of 15 ain't bad!

I love Singapore, as a stop-over. Not sure I could hack it to live here... it's what Disney land would be if it ever grew up and got stuck on fast-forward. :) Its nuts, hot, crowded and a microcosm compared to everywhere else so far - but kept me busy for a week and there was something for every one of my many and varied personalities...

I had a list of 15 things to do, didn't do too badly as I managed 11 + 1 chore:

Esplanade & Concert Buildings

Hippotour (bus sightseeing tour - courthouse on the right...)

Night Safari

Orchard Road Shopping

Little India

Suntec City & fountain of wealth

Bumboat along the Singapore river

Meeting Singapore ex-colleagues!

Funan Digital Mall and Sim Lim Square (where I SPLURGED...)

Drink/Dinner in the Asia Bar (top of the tallest building)

Sentosa Island & Vivocity Mall (DEFINITELY doing this tomorrow, really, truly...)

HAIRCUT (ok, not so much a "sight" as a chore). That's a picture of me at the hairdresser having my hair "blasted with pure oxygen" while it had some kind of moisturising mask on it. Yep - felt absotively and posolutely fabuliscious after they were done (bill was also AMAZING), but Singapore is the same as anywhere else... there's no way you'll ever recreate the feeling, style and look of a haircut after you've washed it yourself! But hey, at least I can say I accomplished another first - had my hair "done" at the Meridien in Singapore... if you're going to get it cut, might as well do it in style!

Everyone told me to go to the night safari, interestingly some of those had never actually been there! It was a long way out (for Singaporean standards), but definitely a fun evening. They basically cart the tourists around on little trams that glide past animals creepily half-lit... you can't take pictures because the flash would startle them, so I have nothing to show for it except a picture of the entrance sign! Highlight was definitely the Creatures of the Night show - very Disney like and funny. Especially since I unwittingly selected a seat right next to where the handler for the snow owl would stand. The bird flew out of nowhere, straight over my head, TWICE! Yay! :)

The other obvious thing to do is to go on a bumboat ride. I thought I'd be smart and combine all my sightseeing needs with one ticket... so I went to the tourist office to get a map of the stops for the Hippotour (hop on hop off bus including the bumboat ride)... next morning I waited patiently for 1 HOUR and 10 MINUTES at the nearest stop to my hotel before giving up and heading to the main office for the tour company. Turns out the map was old and the stop had been cancelled...perhaps someone should tell the tourist office, the many shops that have the OLD map, the bus stop sign with the tour company logo... but as you can tell it didn't bother the New Marisa at all... I was relaxed and COMPLETELY unfased as I hopped onto the bus anyway!

The BumBoat ride is just a small boat that does a loop on the Singapore River for 30 minutes, taking me past the Clarke Quay with its restaurants, Fullerton hotel, "Durian" shaped Concert Building, Merlion and <> the HSBC Building. Oh well, every city has a blight on its landscape... It was really nice to get away from the bustle and just sit back and relax on the water!

Of course, now I realise that I'd adjusted my white balance on my camera the evening before and this is why all my pictures turned out pink-ish. How... romantic? Hey, that's my verdict and I'm sticking with it!

Vega did her best to cram in even more into my days and nights - we went to Little India for lunch (an experience not to be missed, unless one is still suffering the after effects of a dodgy sandwich in Bali...), and to the Asia Bar on top of Singapore's tallest building for frozen margaritas. I got to hang with the cool chicks (aka Vega and her posse) for the evening, perhaps also a FIRST!