The Merlion and Singa Pura

After two wonderful days spent with Sofie and Siti at the Red Palm, chatting about Kuala Lumpur, growing up, jobs, people, life and sharing food and tea I was off to Singapore. I'd opted for a flight as Air Asia had some cheap seats - as it turns out I would have preferred to take the bus as in Malaysia they are easier and cheaper than flying as well as far less hassle. I'll know for next time. It takes about an hour to get to the airport from central KL and the taxi ride costs around RM70 (more than if you're coming from the airport into KL) and is another cost to add to the price of flying. I also got an excess baggage charge from Air Asia for being 1kg over-weight.

It only takes 50 minutes to fly to Singapore from KL, and once in Singapore it's straight-forward to get into the centre. The hostel's instructions for getting there were overly complicated, and a kindly Singaporean lady told me a far easier route. I headed off to the MRT, purchased a tourist pass at S$8 per day, as recommended by the hostel (I later realised I needn't have bothered as you can walk most places in Singapore and don't need to spend that much on the MRT) and went on my way.

After arriving at Bugis station, I orientated myself using a map (yes ladies and gents, that's right I managed to navigate, all by myself, the ten minute walk to the Footprints hostel) and went on my way. It was blisteringly hot, and I was very glad to be at the hostel and near a shower. The dorm room was mostly empty, and there weren't many people about.

I went for a little wander around Little India, which was basically where the hostel was located, and stumbled across a small hawker centre full of locals. After some confusion I ordered some kind of meze of curries, rice, chili soaked chips and other such fanciful things - I also thought I had ordered a beer but was instead presented with a crysanthinum tea. As they say in Thailand: same same but different.

After the meal I was feeling decidedly exhausted and headed back to the hostel and started reading up on what I ought to be doing in Singapore. After meeting and chatting with a few other travellers, it was time to turn in. This was all fine aside from when I got to the dorm it had completely filled up and some kindly person had simply put all their stuff on my bed and I had to move and re-make my bed. Clearly the bags and the sheet hadn't been enough to signify that someone else was sleeping there. Still, not to worry. After an intriguing chat with a Canadian lady about the wonders and pitfalls of Latin America, I fell into a wonderful, undisturbed and simply blissful sleep.

Next morning I was first up and to breakfast. I headed out that day with Christoph, a German guy who was doing a spot of travelling after studying in Australia, and Oscar, a Colombian guy who was studying in Switzerland and was taking a break from the weather. Both spoke impeccable English and various other languages, this always makes me feel somewhat guilty in that so few British people speak any other language than English. I don't think we have the motivation, terrible as it may sound. It makes things very easy when travelling, perhaps too easy sometimes but I shouldn't complain.

The Merlion, by the way, is the national symbol of Singapore and is just as it sounds - a cross between a mermaid and a lion. This symbol hails from Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing village, "Singa Pura," or "Lion City." According to legend, a visiting Sri Vijayan prince saw an animal he mistook for a lion and Singapore's modern day name was born.

I spent a very pleasant day with these two guys, we walked most of Singapore in a day and I managed to get a typical British tan (bright red nose and glowing arms). It's a remarkably easy place to get around on foot (one of the reasons that I didn't need to buy the tourist pass), we ended up in China town in one of the notorious hawker centres to eat something called Carrot Cake which is comprised of mainly radishes and, rather oddly, no carrot at all. I also tried some sugar cane juice, which was pretty sweet even for me, they offered it with lemon as well which I suspect is the better option.

That morning at breakfast I'd met a jolly fine British couple, Nina and Ant, who I spent the evening with sharing a rather confusing, but tasty, dining experience in Little India. We went for curry served on banana leaves; it was good although a little pricey, so after we adjourned to one of the cheaper food courts to pick up some beers and chat about travels.

All in all the day was fun, and was only slightly sullied by the dorm experience that night: three men snoring; one pair of very sensitive ears; ear plugs not helping; MP3 player cranked right up; a total of about 1 hour's sleep before finally giving up entirely. Move me to the all-female dorm please!