Bugis Street

Long blip, no need to read it all, back blipped yesterdays ;-)

After a very long day yesterday and little sleep, I struggled out of bed at 9.30 (I went to bed at 5.30am). The hotel has been a pleasant surprise and breakfast reinforced that. There was traditional European food, but also local food both Asian and Indian. When in Rome ... so fried noodles, and naan/curry sauce and the morning was off to a fine start!

By the time I had semi planned the day I got away at 11 and headed immediately for Sim Lim Square which has a reputation for the dodgiest electronics in town. Wow, I wasn't disappointed and how incredible - six floors of stuff, loads of stuff. Interestingly, camera prices aren't too dissimilar to NZ and in some cases are more expensive, however computers are a little cheaper. My favourite however was the HiPhone! An brilliant rip off of Apples iPhone and yours of only 350 Singaporean. There are some small issues like no flash memory, BYO micro SD card, and a the reviews online are terrible. But at least you'd look good!

Then across the road to an open air market, fantastic, then Bugis Street with more shopping and lots of food. It started to POUR with rain so I had to stop for food and a Tiger.

Then off to Little India which I thought was fantastic. So seedy and run down in parts (I decided not to eat food there). Then onto the MRT and down to Chinatown. The most touristy area of the day but fantastic. The juxtaposition of old against new is incredibly striking. Spent a few hours here, more food and Tiger before starting the journey home.

Stopped at Clarke Quay which was pretty interesting, the bar and nightclub area and home of Hooters Singapore, then a detour lasting another hour to the Funana IT Mall. Now this was the place I had been told to go to buy electronics, not Sim Lim, and I am actually please I came here last. It's all very orderly and relatively "normal" (sadly). No one trying to pull you into the shops and haggle and thing even have prices on them - no fun at all ;-) Again, many things the same price as home.

Finally, another 10 minutes and I was home at nearly 9pm. Over 9 hours walking (excluding food and Tiger stops) - must have done a few KM I reckon! What a fantastic day.