Singapore

So Mr. Piper's computer really hates me. Again, right before we left for Bali, I wrote up the Singapore entry and just as I was going to post it the internet went out. Samantha and I will post our blog on Bali tomorrow and add pictures. As for now, here is our old post for Singapore:

We just got back from our two day Singapore trip and it's already time to leave again for Bali! Singapore was a very different from our other side trips we have taken so far. This was our first trip as backpackers! Our hotel was located in Chinatown, which was very Chinese. I know that's probably what you would expect of Chinatown, but this was way more Chinese than any other Chinatown we've been to so far. It was really cool because they have really kept hold of their heritage! Unfortunately for us, our trip to Singapore was a very rainy one. Our first stop was to the Chinese Heritage Centre. We definitely would recommend this museum to anyone who visits Singapore. It is a smaller museum but the exhibits were well done and there were a lot of personal stories of immigration from China to Singapore that were very interesting. Also, we found out the history of the building our hotel was located in...it used to be a brothel! We weren't allowed in to the first temple we stopped by because we were not dressed appropriately (shorts and tank tops). The second temple we took shelter in was Sri Mariamman. It was a historical temple that had vividly painted statues and a grand courtyard, which we could not really go into because it was under construction. Then we ran to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum. Once inside, we were immediately prompted to a bin of sarongs and shawls. The ground floor was the temple. It was very ornate and housed 100 medium sized statues of buddha! The decor was red and gold and very elaborate! On the second floor there was the museum. The first part contained old pictures and statues of buddha from all over the world. The back part of the museum contained all of buddha's relics. These included buddha's teeth, blood, liver, nose, etc. This part of the museum is regarded as very sacred for all Buddhists. On the third floor there was another temple that had an enclosed area that contained the  sacred buddha tooth. Since we weren't allowed in the enclosed area, they had a shot of the sacred tooth relic on a tv. We then climbed up to the rooftop to see the orchid garden, which was very beautiful. In the middle of the garden was a pagoda that contained a spinning prayer column. After the museum we grabbed lunch and headed towards our brothel hotel to check in and ditch our backpacks. Samantha and I decided that we definitely are NOT cut out for backpacking. Our hotel room was....quaint. It was a small room for a bed..and that was about it! Our bathroom was a shower that also contained our toilet and sink. Oh and our friends the brothel bugs! However, we were only staying in Singapore for one night, so the room suited our needs. And was entertaining!

The rest of the afternoon we headed towards the historic district. Singapore is so small that you literally can walk everywhere! In the historic district we stopped by the Armenian Church which was the first permanent Christian church in Singapore. We then continued on our church tour to CHIJMES which stands for the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus. It was an old church surrounded by the convent building that creates a nice courtyard in the middle. The convent opened up into an orphanage at one point of time as well. Now, the convent portion is filled with shops and restaurants. We then stopped at St. Andrew's. It was a huge Anglican Church that is still having regular services. The architecture is what makes it such a site to see. We then crossed the street to the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. The building was undergoing renovation at the time, so we didn't take many pictures. We ended our church tour by having  Singapore Sling at the Raffles Hotel's infamous Long Bar. The bar was really cool and still has the huge leaf-like fans on the ceiling and the grand wood spiral staircase. The drink was a little too sweet for our taste and was super expensive..30 Singapore dollars! After our shared cocktail, we roamed around the old hotel for awhile. It had some very pretty courtyards scattered throughout the interior of the hotel. We then headed home to rest up and get ready for our night out at Clarke Quay (pronounced Clarke Key..get it right). Clarke Key was a restaurant/bar area located on the Singapore River. It was really big and modern. We ate dinner at an Indian Halal restaurant, where I lost my appetite for chicken and Samantha was mistaken for Megan Fox. The food was actually really tasty, I just am picky about my chicken! Afterwards, Samantha and I grabbed some drinks at a bar called the Crazy Elephant. We ended our night with a bicycle driven tuk-tuk ride back to our brothel...where we discovered that the mattress was indeed covered in plastic in case we were bed-wetters. Very comfortable!

The next day we wandered through some of the Chinese shopping malls and then headed towards the historic district when it started to downpour. We took shelter in the tube station which was connected to an underground shopping mall. We meandered around for a bit and then resurfaced to find that the rain had let up and headed towards the Singapore Flyer, their huge observation ferris wheel. Although it was a rainy, overcast day, the views were amazing! On clear days you are supposed to be able to see all the way to Malaysia! After the Flyer we headed towards the Singapore National History Museum. If you really do the museum it would take three days!! The museum was located in an old historical colonial building that had a big glass addition to the back. The tour was completely audio guided, which was actually very nice. You got to chose exactly what you wanted to hear! Also, once inside the exhibit you get to choose from two different paths to take through history: the events path and the personal path. Since we had already heard so many personal stories at the Chinese Heritage Center, we chose the events path. It took Samantha and I two hours to get through but we could have stayed all day! After the museum we headed to the airport to go back to KL.

Overall we had a great time in Singapore and were glad that we ended up staying for two days instead of the originally planned one day. We never would have fit everything in, especially with the weather being  so rainy! In a couple hours we are heading out to Bali. We are looking forward to another beach vacation! We will most likely not have internet access in Bali, so you won't hear from us till Monday..which is on of our last days in KL!