Singapore

 Singapore

 

Singapore is an amazing city, it's clean and sophisticated, there's lots to see and there's a lot of wealth. Amy didn't share the same view, her most used phrase was "i'm tired" and after an hour I may as well of been dragging a sack of potatoes around with me.

 

 

 

As this was our last stop in Asia we thought we would splash out and go 4 star, even though we couldnt afford anything the hotel had to offer. We did make use of the 11th story pool once but as I was under the water I heard a noise which I soon found out to be Amy hitting the tiles. From what I hear it was one of those slips where for a moment your feet appear to be higher than your face and you come down horizontally onto your back. She was okay physically, but there were a lot of people around at the time. We didnt go again.

 

F1 pits, Amy had had enough by this point and staged a one person sitting protest. So only I have actually seen this, don't let her tell you otherwise. 

We eventually walked the length of the city finally stopping at the $4bn Marina Bay Sands Hotel. We thought maybe we'd go for a swim on the sun deck but as we got there it started to rain torentially, luckily we were able to out run the storm and find shelter in the poshest mall we have ever been in, there was a canal inside it and everything. 

Things started to look up...

 Then we got lost.

This nice looking church is actually a shopping center, like most things in Singapore.

 After hearing from so many people that we had to visit the world famous Raffles Hotel and have a Singapore Sling (cocktail) we obliged and regretably purchased two Slings which after taxes and service charges totalled $60 (£30). Maybe one would have surficed seeing as we were trying to save as much as possible. Still, we did get this equally famous photo (30 likes & 18 comments).

They were alright...

Christmas time in Singapore.

 The Zoo

We always planned on (and looked forward to) visiting Singapore zoo, ever since they were loaned two Pandas from China. We later learnt that Singapore zoo is the best zoo in the world, which is not only our personal opinion but fact according to which internet poll you read.

What was most impressive was that a lot of the non threatening animals are free to walk/climb around, so you can see animals on the way to see animals!

It is also the first zoo in the world to have a 'free ranging' Orang Utan area. Which I think is something that would greatly improve Chester zoo. because it's hilarious.

 The main event! You had to book (and pay extra) to see the Pandas, but seeing as they were the reason for us being there, we had to. They didn't disapoint though, they looked exactly like we thought they would.

I don't think Pandas realise how much humans like them. 

We also saw white tigers for the first time. Well, we did see the very same tigers eating someone on YouTube whilst researching the zoo.

 Being white, they are much harder to photgraph than regular tigers. so we have lots of blury tiger shots for people to see when we get back.

Our trip to the zoo was also educational, we discovered a new species. No, this isnt a hairy ginger person, it's a monkey with a very funny nose.

Sun Bear.

This is a 'Naked Mole Rat' (left) which was the ugliest creature of the day.

Amy says this reminds her of me and her. I don't know if I see it.

We watched the Baboons for a while because they were going crazy, they were in an enclosure of around 100 Baboons and 10 mountain goats. All the Baboons semmed to be very annoyed with one Baboon in particular and were being very vocal about it. The goats stayed out of it. 

     







We took the Sleepy Train to the Airport.

Causing quite the disturbance to the sleepy passengers in a fit of giggles Tim and I found ourselves sprawled on the floor of the moviong train. When I get giddy I lose all strength and as you can see the luggage I was holding weighed about a tonne. I took Tim down as he tried to catch me. Those around us did not seem to be impressed but we thought it was hilarious.

The fun didn't end there! Singapore is home to the world's best equipped, most comfortable and most awesome Airport. It had a cinema, a swimming pool, gamestations, the worlds largest indoor slide and Tim was particularly impressed with views from the bathroom.

This 'Kinetic Rain' display kept us occupied for a while in the check-in lounge.

 Malaysia

Langkawi

The closest Island to Thailand and yet everything was completely different. We hadn't realised quite how much we loved Thai food until you couldn't get it anywhere! Banana Chocolate pancakes were a thing of the past. There was two options Seafood or Indian style currys and everything cooked in a layer of grease!

The whole Island is also tax free, so we bought chocolate.

With Tim's new riding abilities we rented a moped to check out the scenary. The country lanes were fine, it was only when we found ourselves on the chaotic undertaking/overtaking motorway into the city that the moped seemed a lot more unstable.

This child isn't homeless he was just looking bored as his family used the car battery to light up their rice stall at the local night market.

The night market had to be the best thing about Langkawi we tried almost all of the food there including a hotdog sweetbread and it wasn't even £5.      

                                                                       We were dropped off in the general vacinity of our guesthouse by a taxi driver who didnt understand a word of English and had previously dropped our luggage out the boot whilst driving, THEN failed to stop after being repeatidly shouted at by both us and a German couple that were at the end of their teather. we were greated by a very small indian man that possibly spoke even less english (His reply to most things was "yes boss") . After a futile and lengthy explanation of why we were at this gentlemans guesthouse he finaly agreed to show us to our room.

 I don't know what this room was used for in our absence, but there was no denying the smell of curry. So much so, Amy was allowed to purchase inscents.

On our way to get a burger from our new favorite street vendor, we came across a goat. There were no farms nearby and we were surrounded by beaches. Our best guess is that it escaped from somebody's kitchen.   

                       You might think by looking at this picture that this is documentation of Amy getting a haircut. Not true, in fact this woman was not a hairdresser and 4 Ringit went from being a bargain to a mistake. In one cut of the scissors the hair cut was over and Amy was left smiling politly with tears in her eyes... she also looked like a cave woman. But it was nothing the most expensive rice dish on the menu couldn't cure.

Fortunatley, in a past life I was an expert hair person. With a pair of nail scissors, bleach and some time to kill I was able to salvage the homeless-look.                                                                                                                                                                

  Penang

After staying in a room in Langkawi infested with mosquitos and a strong smell of curry, as we travelled by Ferry to Penang we looked forward to the luxury of a beach hotel with a pool.

 A Beach hotel, not so much. After being spoilt by the seas in Thailand and the crystal waters it was hard for us to appreciate what was probably still a pretty clear sea and decent beach. It also carried greater dangers than the waters of Thailand as it was host to some deadly JellyFish.

It was also in Penang where our struggles began with how much food we had been consuming, not so much the amount more the feeling that you would have if you were to alternate between curry and chinese food everyday for 3 months. We then found out that in Malaysia people don't care about healthy. There were cakes amongst the breakfast food at the hotel, along with fried rice, noodles, french toast, hot dogs and bread and butter pudding. As you might guess Malaysian people are biiig people.

                We did find a pretty awesome treat lurking in the surrounds of our hotel. A waffle shop.  You could find us there most days, Tim became quite the regular with his penut butter and jelly.

Kuala Lumpur

Our journey to KL was somewhat pleasant. A coach fitted with sofa sized fully recinable armchairs with TVs in the headrests infront and a list of movies and tv series', we would later learn to be better than our hotel room.

Which was the dampest place on earth. It was also packed to the rafters with children that were on some kind of sports team outing and enjoyed screaming and running around at 3am. As you can imagine, Amy vented her frustration on to the hotel staff... who couldnt have cared less.

This lovely street was behind our hotel in Chinatown and operated between the hours of around 7am-9am and then disappeared entirely. Hosting some very dodgy charcters selling some very questionable goods. They hoarded everything from "herbs", electrical goods, wheelbarrows and weapons to McDonalds Happy Meal toys.

The world famous Traders hotel was on fire when we passed, which was the reason we didn't add it to the list things to tick off. Not the price.

We journied from our damp room to the hotel where our friend Joe was staying and coinsidentally also the princess of Malaysia. It was a false reality, but we atleast we belonged there for once, even if we wern't staying the night.

For the rest of the day we toured KL seeing all the major attractions. We were encouraged to contradict our saving ethic and went to the games arcade, took a trip up the Petronas towers, watched Skyfall and had a meal at Nandos. Joe's frivorless ways had been a bad influence on us but it was one of the best days of the journey so far. (we watched Life of Pi the next day)

This sign is not only great advice, it also demonstrates exactly what to do in the event of a snatch theif attack.

This is the worlds largest indoor rollercoaster. Which was made even more impressive by the fact that it was in a shopping center AND we couoldn't find it. Seeing as we already had so many fun things planned, we thought to ride this would have been over indulging.

Everyone was happy.

The crowds gathered

 

The weather deteriorated the closer we got to our slot for the twin towers tour until there wasnt anything to see. We took the elevator to the 86th floor, which was literally quicker than the one in our hotel and we were on the 3rd floor.

The view is spectacular, apparently.

We did get a sense of how high we were thanks to the opposing tower. We couldn't see much else.

There was other entertainment to be had though..