SINGAPORE

Singapore is one of only a handful of remaining sovereign city-states. It sits at the end of the Malay peninsula and is just around 85 miles from the equator. It is the worlds 4th largest financial exchange after London, New York and Tokyo.

Arriving by bus was a great way to see the city. We passed huge areas of new development all part of a city moving in one direction, forwards, at great speed. We stayed in the Little India disctrict of the city which was lively area full of interesting aromas and delicious food.

On our first day looking around the city we explored on foot and stumbled across a brilliant building. I must apologise at this sort of moment for those reading this with no interest in architecture but Lasalle College of Arts was one of the best examples of a basic architectural concept. The building is designed as a sort of exploded cube, each shard takes on a different department within the college. All the departments are bridge linked and a tent like structure shrouds the entire building from above. The majority of public space is open, providing the large numbers of sudents places to meet, reherse and learn. All in all this is a brilliant way of maximising the use of the building. Some of these spaces also help the music being produced to permeate the outer cube into the surroundings beconing people in to have a look.The outside is monolithic in its "cubeness" but still manages to provide excellent shaded walkways all around bluring where the building finishes and the street begins. The building was given an award for the best new building in Singapore last year, and I am not surprised. Anyway, I have got the architectural speak off my mind for now so those who have fallen asleep temporarily, I hope, may now wake up.

Later we continued on our wonder through the city taking in the luxurious Raffles Hotel, the Singapore Concert Hall, Esplanade and Downtown Singapore. The contrasts of the massive skyscrapers and traditional terraces and colonial buildings make the city a very interesting place.

I was told in advance that the Singapore Night Safari is a must for any visitor and so one evening we headed off to go and see it. It is a really exciting experience, afterall it is not often that you head off to a tourist attraction in the evening when all is becoming dark. Seeing all the nocturnal animals was a truly unique experience and a great way of passing an evening.

We had the opportunity to visit Sentosa a resort island south of Singapore. It would be a great destination for any family visiting the city however it was not to my taste, extremely tacky and touristy. Something which was far more interesting however, but probably doesn't sound it to the majority of those reading this blog, was an urban deisgn exhibition in the city. The exhibition explained some of the difficulties faced by a city, with a population the size of Singapore, in such a small area. Also that day we visited the Tiger beer brewery which was a brilliant experience. The tour included mock up street scenes where walls retracted to reveal the next part of the tour. It also included a section of 3D cinema about the beer making process and a bar where we were asked to pour the perfect glass of beer under pain of downing it. I ofcourse messed up the pouring on purpose to gain an extra beer, unlike Karl who was just rubbish. Believe that and you will believe anything! lol.

We spent the last of our time on the final morning exploring Orchard Road famous for its shopping after making a stop at the post office to send some things home. Karl was in one of his normal helpful moods!

We caught our flight to Cairns via Darwin later that day.