Singapore Sling

Well, after my palava at customs I finally arrived at the Wink Hostel in Singapore.  I was going to treat myself and stay in a really nice hotel but they were costing £90 upwards per night so I settled for a hostel.  Besides, it had better reviews that half of the 4 and 5* hotels.  The location was great, smack bang in the middle of Chinatown and the metro was 2 minutes around the corner.  It had been a hell of a long day so I just went online, showered then bed.

My 'pod'

The next day I woke early as I was off to Singapore Zoo.  I was booked in to have breakfast with the Orangutans!  I was so excited!  I could have got a taxi which cost me £14 but what's the sense of adventure in that?  So off I went on the metro.  One change and a bus ride later I arrived at the zoo.  I headed to the restaurant and had breakfast, then out came the Orangutans.  They were perched not far from my table and were having breakfast of their own.  There were also 2 baby ones.  I queued up with everyone to have my photo taken. They wanted $35 Singapore dollars (around £17 for the photo, they could piss off because the one I got on my camera was good enough.

After breakfast I headed off around the zoo.  It actually takes 3 hours to walk around the whole thing but I did it in 2 missing a couple areas out but catching an elephant show which was funny.

Spot the wickle baby...awwww

After a bus and metro and another metro I arrived back at the hostel.  I chilled out for the afternoon and watched a film in the movie room and then decided to go to Clarke Quay in the evening.

One metro stop away (probably could have walked but also would probably gotten lost lol) and I arrived at Clarke Quay.  It was amazing and huge!  It was a place of restaurants of everything you could think of, bars, pubs and nightclubs.  I walked around and it took me an hour to decided what I wanted to eat as there was so much choice.

I decided on an Indonesian restaurant.  Funny how that was my next port of call in the next few days.  I had a lush chicken noodle dish with chicken wings to start with and a glass of yummy wine.  After dinner I went to the smoking area (yes they have designated areas for smoking in Singapore which usually consist of a bin) then for a walk to another place i'd seen on my way around before.  It was churros time!  I love churros (like a donut but in strips and served with chocolate sauce) mmmmmm AND they sold wine....bliss!

Perfect end to the night

The next day I was off on the Duck and Flyer tour.  I wasn't feeling well at all (bad stomach AGAIN and I felt a little nauseous) but the problem was, if I didn't do the tour today I wouldn't do it at all because I was leaving the next day.  I have found that feeling ill on my trip can't stop you from doing things or I would never get to do them again.....so, I hung in there and off I went.  

The 'Duck' was a great experience.  We headed around the city and then the Singapore river and back again.  We also passed the Singapore Flyer....bloody hell it was high!  I was bricking it since my body, with age, has suddenly decided it doesn't like heights and my stomach was off again after finally settling down.  We were told that it was 5 meters higher than the London Eye...yeah, thanks for that mate!

Sod it, I did what I had done with every other height I'd come across....got on with it.  I'm glad too because the views were amazing!

My legs were shaking and my stomach was churning...you'd never guess haha!

That afternoon I was going to go to Raffles Hotel for a famous Singapore Sling but I decided to give my body a rest and prepare it for what lay ahead the next day.  I had an Indonesian flight to endure and a climb up a volcano!  Talk about pushing my limits haha!  In case you don't know, Indonesian airlines have a bad reputation and a lot of them are black listed by the EU.  I'd chosen Tiger Airways which was a Singapore airline and had a good reputation but it didn't help my nerves that the woman opposite me across the aisle was praying before take off!!!!!

Anyway, the next day I arrived safe and sound in Surabaya, Indonesia for my trip to Mount Bromo.  An active volcano which had erupted little more than 2 years previous!  What was I doing! Lol!