Singapore
by David Sutcliffe
“They would then pour boiling water on the cockroach and quickly eat it to provide cheap pain relief in case of headache”. The tour of China Town provides a fascinating, and stomach turning, insight into life at the turn of the 19th century. As you wind through the maze of rooms and pokey courtyards you can’t help but feel lucky that it’s the 21st century and you are staying at the Fullerton Hotel where the hotel rooms could easily accommodate 3 or 4 families based on what we are witnessing right now.
Some people just regard Singapore as an airport on the way to Australia, but whilst you may struggle to be entertained for more than 4 days, it is certainly worth 2 or 3 nights whilst in the Far East.
Clean? Yes. Safe? Yes. Boring? No. There is plenty to keep you occupied – the above mentioned China Town tour, Little India, the ‘Raffles Walk’, the night zoo, river cruises and of course, the shopping!
There is a fantastic list of hotels as well – The Fullerton, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental & the iconic Raffles. Singapore also has its share of funky boutique hotels, the best of which are probably the New Majestic, Scarlet, Gallery and Naumi.
The restaurant and bar scene is most vibrant down by the river and if you indulge in too many Singapore Slings? Well, I know a great hangover cure.