There was more to do in Singapore than we realised (and more than just shopping and eating).
Our first stop was Asian Civilisations Museum. The tour there was free, and excellent (they lady was very enthusiastic)! We paid about £4 for each ticket - I highly recommend it. It covered the various cultural influences and origins that exist in Asia. Interestingly, what we refer to as the Middle East was called West Asia. I learned more than I expected.
There were some really interesting pieces on display. Shown are: a strange face from the Chinese/Buddhist area; an intricate piece of writing whose characters, when inspected closely are made up from tiny letterings of the entire Quran!; a Shiva relic.
There was also a special exhibition on the Terracotta Army. Some of the back-history was informative... though when you have seen the mass of Terracotta Warriors in-situ in Xian, nothing compares!
We then had a very interesting lunch back at the hawker stalls in China Town. The highlight was the Sting Ray - another culinary first for me.
We spent the evening at the Night Safari in the north of Singapore. It was amazing - you should definitely do it! The initial 30 minute show was a bit cheesy (probably directed at younger people in terms of conservation, recycling, saying "aah" to cute animals, and being shocked by Boa constrictors!). The best bit was the walking tour and tram tour through the gently lit areas of the national park when various animals were roaming (some we were protected from!).
Pictured are: common palm civet; pelicans at night; a red flying squirrel (it's a bad picture, but we also saw one flying).
Cathy and I also managed to handle a couple of big snakes. There were some fun exploratory activities, including walking through a bat infested wood (you had to watch out for bats peeing from the trees!) as well as a cave complex containing scorpions (the scorpions did not have access to people!).
When we got back to the hotel, we ate a moon cake. It was moon cake day - this is a Chinese harvest festival that happens at full moon. The cake was kindly given to us yesterday by Jonathan... thanks! It was a nice sweet cake, with the yolk of a boiled egg in the middle.
When we got back to the hotel, we ate a moon cake. It was moon cake day - this is a Chinese harvest festival that happens at full moon. The cake was kindly given to us yesterday by Jonathan... thanks! It was a nice sweet cake, with the yolk of a boiled egg in the middle.
