Once again, we started our day at Toast Box before heading to the SMRT for the station closest to the Zoo. Here we got on a private bus that offered free transit when on purchase of a zoo entrance ticket – unfortunately that meant a not inconsiderable wait for a few more people to fill the bus. The wait was so long that at least it got everyone on the little bus chatting – although if we went again we would look at quicker options.

Singapore Zoo really is a fantastic place – huge area and interesting habitats and animals. Only the cages for a few big cats were disappointing – clearly too small for the poor things and obviously older than the rest of the park. There were a few eating options in the park, but as we were both suffering from slightly dodgy stomachs, we simply had some crisps! We had thought it was yesterdays laksa experience (’laksa’-tive, ho ho) but in retrospect it was probably the malaria pills we had to take for Cambodia.

Some of the highlights were the large baboon colony, the monkey feeding and the sea lion show. A great zoo and definitely deserving another visit some time. Sadly we had to leave at around 5pm to return to our hotel to collect our bags and head on to the airport. The transit system in Singapore is superb, clean and quick – although the zoo is some way from the SMRT station.

At the airport we had a fantastic Burger King mushroom double burger – so our stomachs couldn’t have been that bad… although Laura was still suffering a little.

Our flight was at 1155 and we were served a light, not particularly great meal which watching the light, not particularly great movie ‘National Treasure 2′. We both managed to get a little sleep, but not the most comfortable flight of our trip.

Our flight arrived at around 3am, so it was with some relief that we eventually collapsed into bed at the Dubai Ibis World Trade Centre. Even as the cheapest hotel in Dubai, this was one of the most expensive places we stayed and it was a definite step up from most of our accommodations during our two months away.

We started the day with a the Sun City Mall where we had breakfast at the fantastic Toast Box, a popular chain serving retro toast based snacks!  Laura when for peanut butter and I had French Toast, both lovingly sliced into perfectly equal peices and served with a boiled egg and a great cup of tea.

We took the SMRT to the Orchard stop to take a look at the famed Orchard Road shopping strip.  Neither of us being shoppers, we had a hurried look around the Ngee Ann City Mall, and were most taken by the amazing food hall, where we had a tasty chocolate brownie – although given the other options I wish we had chosen better!

Back on the SMRT, we headed over to Chinatown.  Like every other Chinatown we have visited, this consists of tightly packed restaurants on cluttered streets with a distinctive odour…  Not very pleasant really and I don’t think we’ll be bothering with any other Chinatowns until we go to China itself!

We then took a walk around the far more snythetic and sanitized area of Clarke Quay where we decided to amuse ourselves with a drink in Hooters before looking for food.  We decided to find a ‘hawkers centre’ – a type of food market that seems to be popular in Singapore.  We went to the Lau Pa Sat centre which was packed with dozens of stalls selling all manner of bizarre Asian food.  We decided to embrace the strange and Laura had a bowl of Singapore Laksa and I had a sweet potato milkshake.

Both of these were poor choices.  The spicy soup of Laksa was the hottest thing I have ever eaten, the firey sting of the thick, red, broth only broken by rubbery, unidentified meats or vegetables.  And to wash it down, the sweet potato milkshake was pretty much as you would imagine.  Sweet potato mixed with milk.  Yikes.

We left almost all of the soup and decided to return to the sweet potato stall to get some sweet potato chips – which were, thankfully, very tasty!

We headed back to the hotel for a rest before going back into town and the Chjimes complex for dinner.  This is an old monastry and church converted into shops and restaurants – “Mmmmmm, sacrilicious!”.  A beautiful spot, but with mostly unimpressive menus, we eventually grabbed a pizza and fantastic chicken wings at a place on a lowered courtyard in the centre of the complex.  Good food, but very expensive – I’m sure we could do better in Singapore!

We were up early for breakfast – Laura had a delicious bowl of Pho, a chicken noodle soup, while I was more traditional with my muesli. We decided to spend the brief time we had left in Siem Reap at the Angkor Wat ruins, wanting to enjoy it at our own pace and get a couple of pictures with a bit of blue sky in them.

Although it was a rush, we really enjoyed our time without the guide – again I have to advise anyone going there not to bother with a guide!

After about an hour at the ruins we had to rush back to the hotel to shower and pack for the flight and then checked out and took the tuk tuk to the airport. Sadly we were immediately told that our flight would be delayed three hours – although they did give us a food voucher! In the end a few rounds of Scrabble and a bit of internet access saw us through the hours very quickly.

The flight was fine and on arriving in Singapore we hopped on the SMRT to Bugis and made a short walk to the New 7th Storey Hotel. We dumped our bags and headed to Clarke Quay in search of food – after much indecision we decided we needed a big burger and headed to Billy Bomber’s – perfect after a few days of Asian food.

We then took a walk along Boat Quay and over a huge bridge that looked over some impressive modern architecture and the Singapore Big Wheel. Our route home also took us by Raffles and some other historic buildings – a really pleasant city.