Day 271 - Sentosa Island, Singapore

Day 271 – 6th March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53520

Jill got up very early and watched the Oscars, but I stayed in bed for most of the morning catching up on my beauty sleep. We then decided to visit Sentosa, which is an island to the south of Singapore. So we walked to Outram Park and caught the underground down to the harbour front and after walking through several malls we found our way to the cable cars that take your across the water and onto Sentosa.


Cable Car from Singapore Mainland


View of the Channel

The island is full of greenery and has lots of attractions on it, from old forts, butterfly and insect farms to the latest cinematic shows. I started but just taking a walk around the island, I followed a nature trail which put me off by telling me the island has hundreds of different breeds of snakes and spiders.


View of Sentosa Island


Sentosa Island

Anyway the island has four bus routes on it and a monorail which are all free. So I caught a blue line bus to the Cinemania show. Jill decided she was too tired and went back to the hotel. So I saw the Cinemania show on my own. It was similar to a simulator ride but with one big cinema screen and each open simulator sat 4 people. It was a very bad copy of the back to the future ride at Universal Studios. I then walked through the fountain gardens and caught a yellow line bus to the beach area. The Beach here is golden sand and the water is so warm, so I had to take a quick dip in the south china sea. I then took a walk along the beach and over a 200 metre swing bridge which takes you onto a sand dune and they have couple of towers so you can look out over the sea. This spot is also the most southern point of continental Asia. The view is pretty much of anchored Cargo Ships, but hundreds of them as far as the eye can see. I then caught a red line bus back to the cable car area and had another walk around before getting the cable car back to the mainland. I made my way back to the hotel and then made my way straight to the swimming pool to cool down. We got some food from the hotel shop and spent the rest night reading and doing our washing.

Day 270 - Little India, Singapore

Day 270 – 5th March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53514

Spent the morning in Little India exploring the various spice stalls, markets and small boutiques.


Little India

The area is amazing and so easy to get lost in their small world. People are sitting on the sits of the pavement eating dinners of rice with their fingers.


Streets of little India


Bikes in Little India

Once we had thoroughly explored the area we made our way through various sopping malls and past Raffles hotel to Marina Square. We sat down by the harbour and looked across at all the boats and barges going about their daily business. We walked around the harbour until we were at Merlion Park which has a huge lion squirting water out it’s mouth.



The Merlion


Me by the Merlion

You get a great view of the Theatre on the bay, which looks like a giant pineapple.


Me by the Harbour


The Theatre on the Bay


View of Theatre and City

We walked back along the Singapore river until we reached Boat Quay and here we sat down for a meal and a beer. Food was great and they even had baked beans, just what an British person misses.


Bird Statue by Boat Queue


Our hotel in the middle

We then walked back to the hotel and watched the film Narnia, which was quite poor once you have read the book, the film seemed to try to hard to be an epic like lord of the rings as opposed to actually following the book. The Series that was on television several years ago was much better. In the evening well at midnight they had the Tottenham vs Blackburn game live on TV so sat in bed and watched the game which was fantastic with Spurs winning 3-2.

Day 269 - Singapore - Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Day 269 – 4th March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53508

Today I thought I’d go to Malaysia. So walked down to Outram Park station and caught a train on the East West line to Bugis. Here I walked to Queen Street bus station, a bus was waiting so I paid the $2.40 (86p) for a ticket and a couple of minutes later I was on my way to Malaysia. The bus stopped 20 minutes later at the border and we had to get off the bus and clear Singapore Immigration and then hop back on the bus while it drives the 300 yards over the causeway and then we had to get off again and clear customs into Malaysia. It was a painless process and 30 minutes after we had got on the bus we were in Malaysia. Here I made a mistake and got back on the bus as I thought it was taking us to the town centre but I was wrong and we ended up at Larkin Bus Station which was about 10 miles out of the town. So after a quick look around the market stalls at the bus station we caught a bus into Johor Bahru.


Me having a drink in Malaysia

The town from a distance looks a lot more run down than any of Singapore, they still have huge shopping malls selling all the latest fashions and hi-tech equipment.


Johur Bahru, Malaysia

Malaysia seems cheaper than Singapore, most things seem like half the price. We took a walk through the town and looked at a temple.


A Malaysian Temple


A Palace

I then walked over to the water and looked across the water at Singapore.


View of Singapore from Malaysia

We walked through another mall which was holding a fencing competition so sat around and watched for a while.


The Fancing Competition


Johor Bahru, Malaysia


Johor Bahru, Malaysia

After a couple of hours of shopping we decided to head back to Singapore. The bus fare back is half the price as it is in Malaysia Ringgit’s.


A Couple Of Motorbikes Parked at the Border

We got back into Queen Street station at around 5pm and we then walked around Bugis market which is the biggest market in Singapore.


Bugis Market


Chimes Mall

When then made our way back to Boat Quay on the Singapore river and found an Indian restaurant where we sat outside and had some food and a jug of beer.




Boat Quay


View of Parliment Buildings from Boat Quay

After we had eaten we caught a boat back along the Singapore river to our hotel.


Our Boat along the Singapore River


Me on the boat


The Setting Sun over Singapore

Day 268 - Singapore

Day 268 – 3rd March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53488

Managed to wake up and get out of bed by 10:30am today, and have decided to visit the science museum. So I walked to Outram Park where I caught the underground to Jorong East and then managed to catch a bus to the science centre.


Singapore Science Centre

I paid my entry and started looking around the first floor, which was called The Minds Eye and all to do with optical illusions. The main part of the centre is spread over 3 floors and has many sections such as Aviation, Discovery Zone, Energy, Genome (about genealogy). I spent a few hours looking around and then found what attracted me to the Science Centre in the first place. They had a big Star Wars Exhibition on which had the original artwork, costumes and props, unfortunately you had to pay extra.


My Star Wars Ticket

I paid my money and spent about an hour looking around, it was split into sections starting with A New Hope and then moving through the films in the order they were filmed. They had more exhibits from latest film.


A Stormtrooper Costume


A Clone Driod

Some of the highlights were Anakin’s Pod Racer from The Phantom Menace and they had Bobafett’s original outfit.


Anakin's Pod Racer


The Star Wars Exhibition


A set from Revenge of the Sith

I then walked back to the station and caught the underground back. I think went for a swim and then sat in the sun reading for a few hours. I spent the rest of the evening in my hotel room, ordered room service and watched a film.

Day 267 - Singapore

Day 267 – 2nd March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53481

Woke up and looked at the clock… Gee’s it’s 4:47pm… I am back on UK time…8:47am in the UK. Well got up and ready and did not want to waste what was left of the day so walked down to the MRT station and caught a train to City Hall. We then walked to Raffles Hotel which is the most famous hotel in Singapore.


Raffles Hotel


Fountain in Raffles Hotel

Raffles was the founder of Singapore. We had a look around the rather Posh hotel and then sat in the open courtyard and order some food and a World Famous Singapore Sling Cocktail.


Me with my Singapore Sling

This is the actual place that first invented the Singapore Sling and here we are tasting it like it was invented today.


The Singapore Sling

Well another beer and then it was time to move on so we looked around Raffles place which is a large shopping mall across the road and then slowly walked back to the hotel meandering through the streets of Chinatown.


Singapore Skyline

Back at the hotel I watched the film Flight Plan and read a little before trying to get some sleep, hopefully I will wake up a little earlier tomorrow.

Day 266 - Singapore

Day 266 – 1st March 2006 +8:00 GMT Total Miles 53478

So this morning I walked to Orchard Road which is the main shopping area some call it the Fifth Avenue, the Regent Street, the Champ Elysees. The Via Veneto and the Ginza of Singapore.


Orchard Road

Well that would not be wrong it is a stretch of a couple of miles filled with Shop and Shopping malls, which is over run by tourists trying to find a bargain. Orchard Road was about a 20 minute walk from out hotel and we started exploring a huge borders which happened to be the first shop we came across, from then on it was mall after mall after mall, until our feet hurt. So stopped of at many Cafe’s and food courts simply to top up our fluid levels and the heat and humidity is almost unbearable. We ended up buying a few of the latest movies for around £2-£3 each what a bargain, In the UK they would be about £20 each. After several hours of shopping we found an MTR station and bought a ticket to Outram Park. The station are large an airy the tickets have a chip in them so you just hold them against a panel as you walk pass and the gates open, like how the oyster cards work in London. The trains are all open so you walk from one end to the other without going trough any doors and as you would expect in Singapore the trains are spotless. Our journey only took about 10 minutes and cost about 65p but that included the deposit for the train ticket. When you finished with the card you return them and you get a refund. We then walked back to our hotel and I decided to take a little nap. I awoke 4 hours later and decided that it was a mistake. Now we headed off to Clarke Quay to find a nice restaurant beside the water.


Our Restuarant Beside the Water

We walked along the Singapore River until we reached Clarke Quay and it was ever so busy.


Clarke Quay

We found a nice place and sat right beside the river and ate and drank.



Clarke Quay


Clarke Quay

We walked back on the opposite side of the River.


Clarke Quay


Jill on the Bridge

We passed a park area covered in lights and groups of people flying some kind of remote controlled planes, which were covered in hundreds of bright lights.


Friends we Met by The River

We walked back to our hotel and sat and watched a bit of TV and a few movies but were not tired enough to sleep. So I visited the local shop and got some food for a good late night snack, after eating and watching more TV I eventually decided to sleep but it was about 4:30am by now.