Singapore - good for what ails you!

Photos

Happy New Year!

Well, I'm back from my holidays and my trip to Singapore and Malaysia was exactly what I needed as it turned out. I didn't mention in my last update that I was ill before I went away but I basically had a very bad reaction to something I ate (no, it wasn't food poisoning) and was re-living the dish over and over again for a good 6 hours before the dehydration and fever made me think I should probably actually go the hospital. I stayed overnight on IV meds and fluids and it was a few days before I felt better. Knowing I was going away I actually went back to have a check up to see if I was ok to travel, and boy am I really getting value for money from my medical insurance. Another RMB768 (just over AUS$110) for the doctor to tell me "Eat Carbs. Buy Jam. Wear sunscreen". Good advice.

But, against the odds (literally because in my daze I nearly left my passport on the Shuttle Bus but luckily the guy behind me saw it) I made it to Singapore via a stop in Xiamen which I wasn't told about by my travel agent. I looked out my window when I felt us descend and thought to myself "Funny, that doesn't look like Singapore. Looks like China..."

I did make it eventually and I had no idea I would be so happy to be out of China. As soon as I got to Changi Airport I was suddenly hit by it all: there were Christmas decorations everywhere, everyone was smiling, there were people from lots of different cultures, everyone spoke to me in English and there was even a pool in the airport! And the crown jewel was that the airport bathroom was not only clean but sweet smelling, painted with bright happy colours, complete with a decorated kids sink. I freaked out a little at that point.

To better explain, I don't touch anything in China if I can help it, not doors, not hand rails, and NOTHING in a public bathroom. You'll be amazed how dexterous one can become in using feet to open, close and lock doors. But in the airport I reached out, opened the toilet door gingerly and was rewarded not by an unspeakable sight and smell, but by toilet paper. If I hadn't flipped out before then I definitely flipped out at that point. It was actually a bit of a problem throughout my holiday: in China if you are somewhere with a decent bathroom then you go, whether you really need to or not because you don't know what you'll find later. So I spent the whole two weeks resisting the instinct to go to every bathroom I saw simply because it was clean.

Anyway, now that the toilet humour is out of the way, I can tell you that Singapore is much more than source of hygienic water closets (though "sanitised" is an excellent word for the place :) It was a joy to be warm, and to be able to breath fresh air. In the car from the airport to Aunty Sophia's flat, my body realised I was out of Beijing and choked me with a coughing fit in a desperate attempt to rid me of the crud in my lungs. Nasty. And I was sweating brown residue out of my pores for three days. Charming. But I revelled in the simple joys of being able to open a window, sleep in a singlet and wear a skirt. Every morning of my first week I would take myself down to the pool for an hour to lounge by the pool and get a tan, bliss!

Singapore really is the polar opposite of Beijing; clean, civilised and with a wonderful mix of people, cultures, and food. After my previous week in Beijing where I was struggling to walk for 10 minutes or to find food I could keep down, I was good as new in 24 hours. I know it was in my head as much as in my body, but I don't care. I felt 100% better and had two of the best weeks of my life.

I did as much as I could fit in during my first week. For such a small place, Singapore has amazing variety of activities, especially for lovers of the natural world such as myself. And Singaporeans don't do things by halves, I've never seen so many of the "World's largest/first..." attractions in my life. My first stop was the incredible "Jurong Bird Park" that has over 9000 birds, 600 species and the world's first captive breeding programme of 12-wired Birds of Paradise. They had many species I'd never seen before, and an amazing collection of Toucans and Hornbills. Attractions included the colossal "Waterfall Aviary", the world's largest walk-in aviary. It's the world's only aviary with a monorail running through it, and houses the world's tallest man-made waterfall. It was so big I really did forget I was in an aviary. There was also the "Lorri Loft" the world's largest Lorrikeet aviary standing 9 stories tall and covering 3000 square metres, and the "World of Darkness" Asia's first nocturnal bird house which I particularly loved because it is a rare chance to see owls, one of my favourite kinds of birds.

I also went to the world-famous Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. The zoo spans 28 hectares, has 4000 animals across 410 species, and have successfully bred in captivity many endangered species like the Orang Utan, Rhino Iguana, Pygmy Hippo and even Manatees! They had some of my favourite animals like Maned Wolves, Elands, Sun Bears, Manatees, Tapirs and Babirusas. The Night Safari sits right next door and as the sun sets you can wander over for an overpriced meal before getting on a tram and being taken around the world's first night view wildlife park. In it's 40 hectares there are over 900 animals across 130 species, including more of my favourites like Capybaras, Indian Wolves, Sloth Bears, Giant Anteaters, and Tarsiers. After the tram ride you can walk the trails through the park for a closer look and it was pretty amazing being alone in the semi-dark with an Indian Wolf, watching you impassively with liquid brown eyes.

There was also the gorgeous 52 hectares of Singapore's Botanical Gardens, and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve where I took myself on Christmas Day while Julia had a family engagement for a picnic and a hot sweaty hike. The 164 hectare reserve is the only primary rainforest left on Singapore, surrounds Singapore's highest hill (at a whopping 163.63m. Next stop: Everest), and has one of the world's richest and most diverse ecosystems. Noted naturalist Dr David Bellamy once pointed out that one hectare of the reserve has more tree species than the whole of North America! One thing they certainly had in abundance were cheeky Long-tail Macaques (monkeys) who had obviously heard of my Mum's famous (and "World's Best") Christmas pudding and made a bee line for it. They didn't know they'd met their match though; no gets between me and my lunch...

I explored Singapore on foot as much as I could, going to all the markets, food stalls, and historical and architectural sites I read about in my guide. In the first week I wandered (and ate) in Chinatown, had a drink (and food) in the Clarke Quay bar area, window shopped (and snacked) in the famous Orchard Road shopping paradise, and of course dined in the famous Lau Po Sat open air food market. I took a walk past all the old Colonial architecture and some of Singapore's most famous sites like the Fullerton Hotel, Singapore Cricket Ground, Merlion, Esplanade, the fantastic Asian Civilisations Museum, and of course the World Famous Raffles Hotel! I was enchanted by it, and wandered the courtyard and shops for ages, buying Christmas presents for mum and dad, and having lunch in the swish Seah Street Deli. I left swearing I would return and have a Singapore Sling in it's birthplace, the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel.

I would often walk home from where ever I ended up in the evening, my furthest in that first week probably being from Lau Po Sat Food market back to the West end of River Valley Grove (for those who don't know, that's a a pretty big walk, trust me). I ripped my feet to shreds from walking so far in thongs cause they had been encased in a double layer of socks and woolly Ug boots for the proceeding 2 months, but I wore different shoes each day to at least avoid having wounds in the same place :)

But it was worth it, because I wanted to see and try everything. Being such a kaleidoscopes of cultures, the variety and quality of the Singaporean, Malaysian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Indonesian food was mind-blowing. The general rule was that if I saw something I'd never seen before (and I probably didn't know what it was) I tried it. I was never disappointed. I also had all the blueberries, guavas and grapes I could get my hands on. I love that nearly every restaurant serves freshly squeezed juice, and discovered "World's Most Refreshing Juice" (according to me): dragonfruit and guava. Heaven. Also had the "World's Best" brunch: spiced banana bread with caramelised banana, berry compote and marscapone cheese. The sheer size of it was the only thing that stopped me also gorging on the "World's Best" dessert: Ultimate Fudgey Brownie, 2 inches of rich chocolate brownie topped with giant marshmallows set in chocolate fudge. The photo doesn't do it justice but they wouldn't let us take the lid off (probably because they were worried about Julia and I drooling on it). And I won't even start on the selection of roti, curry, dahl, biryani, kopi, kaya toast, satay, nasi lemak, mee goreng and sweets of every description you could imagine. Considering the boost I gave to the f&b industry while I was there, I think it's a very good thing that I don't live there...