It’s what every tourist brochure we have found tells you to do in Singapore, so today we went shopping. We began in what should have been shopping heaven for Si, Sim Lim Square, an electronics shopping mecca. Indeed his eyes were goggling at all the gadgetry on offer but alas it was quite expensive and all the shops had the same boring stuff.
Next up was a return trip to Mustapha’s in Little India. We must have been feeling in the mood for a little crazy but it was the cheap shoes that lured me there. We are hoping to go for drinks in Raffles later and I’m not sure they will let me in with my flip flops!
Cheap shoes in hand we set off to do the touristy thing around Clarke Quay (and buy yet another pair of shoes!). We found the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles, a rather dapper looking man who was responsible for creating Singapore as the international trading post it has become today.
In the evening we met up with a local, my friend Faz from university. It was fab to see her despite the fact that it reminded me that it has been almost ten years since we left uni, man we’re getting old! Anyway Faz took us to Arab street where we had a meal in a Morrocan restaurant almost at the entrance to the mosque (we made sure not to embarass Faz by trying to order a beer!). One of the most interesting aspects of Asia so far has been the food so I feel the need to describe the new things that we try. Tonight I had chicken tangine which is chicken and potatoes cooked in a clay pot and served with pitta bread. Very nice. Si had a kebab so I don’t really need to describe that.
After our meal Faz drove us up to Mount Faber for a drink overlooking the views of Sentosa Island, the city lights and the oil refinery! She then dropped us off at our hotel where she informed us with a grin that we were staying in the red light district. (I hope she was joking!)