Singapore Sling

Loving Singapore!!

Thanks for your messages Cheverchops and Angie. Angie, I know this will not ease the aaaaaaaaaaargh factor of Sarah coming to meet us but I promise we will take really good care of each other, and we'll stay in regular contact. Yes that's right folks my best buddy, my amazingly brave best buddy, has achieved an amazing feat and in less than 6 months has worked her arse off to be able to come and travel for three months, arriving on the 15th, just kidding Sarah, the 16th at 7.40pm!! I'm so excited I could pee myself!!

I'm sorry but I've still not got to the bottom of the photo uploading thing so I can't put any photo's up which is a real bummer cause we have some awesome ones! I'm hoping you will sort this out Sarah!!

So here we are in wonderful SE Asia and we are having so many beautiful and magical experiences. First stop-Singapore.

We were told by a lot of people that we would not like Singapore for its clinical and 'cleansed' feel and would leave straight away. I can see what people were saying and I'm glad that we didn't stay in the City Centre. However this is not the whole truth of Singapore as we experienced it.

There seems so much government control here and they fine everything. You run the risk of the death penalty for being caught with drugs, fined over a $1000 for spitting anywhere (if caught) and fined $1000 for eating or drinking in the metro plus a lot more, the city is often referred to as fine city! It is far more expensive here and the city centre is crazy busy with traffic and major shopping areas and the CBD is full of plush skyscrapers that tower so high it makes you feel dizzy looking up at them! From what was once a hub of trading along the Singapore River from people all over South East Asia is now a very developed part of the city, home to expensive cafes and bars where a lot of the people who work in the city relaxed in after a hard day in the office! The city centre is so clean and shiny. Like so many places the polarization between the poor and wealthy is very visible when exploring Singapore.

We really enjoyed our time in Singapore, mainly because we stayed in the Little India part. My senses on over drive, busy markets, colorful clothing and food stalls, amazing spicy smells, music filling the tiny streets, hustle and bustle of people-it really felt like a tiny slice of India. We've met some awesome locals. The cultural mix is amazing, Singaporean, Chinese, Indian, Malay and Arabic and the different temples reflect the cultural and spiritual diversity.

We are eating our way round Asia, the food is amazing! The Roti is our favourite at the moment!

We've spent most of our time exploring the temples, I think by the end of Asia I'll be living in one! We've been experiencing a real strange series of events since being in Singapore which has made our experience all that much more brilliant and cultural. We met a local Singapore Buddhist, David, in a temple, offered a free lunch with the locals there celebrating Buddha's birthday. David, on his day off, took us to more local temples off the tourist track, walked us around the whole of the city, viewing all the must sees and to a Buddhist Lodge charity in the city centre for some more food, no other tourists in sight!

Boy could David walk, my feet are covered in blisters! He spoke some english and manged us well.......he asked for nothing all day but to show us around his home and kept saying 'lucky, lucky! He walked us back to Little India, near our hostel and waved us goodbye with a huge grin, we love David!

We spent more time in the city spending a day in the Asian Civilization Museum which was awesome. Main exhibitions looking at Singapore's history, the richness of cultures across SE Asia and the influences on Singapore's culture, also the joining of cultures and the influence they have had on one another.

Thanks to David we were introduced to a local Tibetan Buddhist Temple. We went to a meditation session there, guided by Lama Thubten Namdrol Dorje. Angie was ace and came too which was awesome. I was a little nervous but really there was no need. Really informal, mix of monks, nuns and locals to the temple, again we were the only tourists! Angie loved it and this was her first time with the whole meditation thing. They were so lovely and fed us gorgeous veggi food after!

We joined in the Vesak (Buddha's birthday) celebrations at the same Temple on Saturday. Such a humbling and magical experience again. Incense and flowers filling the street, so many people coming to share the experience and give their offerings to Buddha, amazing to watch and be part of. We got to see the unveiling of the largest Thangka in SE Asia, the wish granting Thangka. A beautiful silk embroided hanging of the Lord Buddha, so large it was brought in by a crane and towered taller than the temple.

Angie and I received a blessing from the Lama, he spent most of the time laughing that he got us soaked with the blessed water. I wasn't the most appropriate with the Lama, pointing and laughing back telling him he got me a gooden!! Oooops! We spent the afternoon with the people at the temple and joined in with a Tibetan Buddhist Fire Puja in the evening. Really stunning experience. The Fire Puja brings about powerful cleansing of the mind, body and soul.

Amidst all this excitement we still managed to visit the Singapore Botanical Gardens, stretching for what seemed miles and strolled around the streets of China Town, visiting temples, eating more yummy food and squeezing through the China Town Markets!

There is so much more to tell you about but it really will turn into a novel, so I will finish here.

Sending all my love. I hope you are all happy and well xxxx