matt's 101 in 1001

Here I am in Singapore!

Can't get my head around it, to be honest. In fact, this, my third day here, is the first where I actually feel like I'm in Singapore. As a country, it's very Westernised. Virtually everyone speaks English and a great deal of the stores - Starbucks, McDonalds, KFC - are all places you'd find in Australia (or indeed, most Western countries). This, coupled with the warm weather and familiar company over the past few days, is making this trip feel more like a holiday than anything substantial (I 'd say everything will come crashing down once we reach Germany, where the weather is literally freezing and no-one speaks English).

After a couple of minor hiccups upon arrival that saw us moved to another hotel (the lovely Peninsula Excelsior, from which we were offered amazing views of the city, including a birds-eye view on Chinatown, which is decked out in all kinds of lights and decorations for the impending Chinese New Year celebrations), we were able to get into more of a routine the next morning at the Parkroyal.

Yesterday morning was spent recovering from the gruelling eight-hour flight, but in the afternoon I was fortunate enough to catch up with Nick (who has been taking great delight in the fact he's technically the last person to see me before I go to Europe) at the Shaw Centre for a spot of shopping Singapore-style (think endless labarynthine corridors of shops that would be no more than a metre-and-a-half wide each). After a superb complementary buffet dinner at the Parkroyal, we braved the Singapore markets to check out hundreds and hundreds of stalls selling essentially the same three things (cheap clothes, knock-off watches and counterfeit CDs). Absolutely packed with people, of course, all hoping to pick up Elton John's latest burnt CD or the new Beverly Hills 90210 merchandise.

Today has been the most exciting day yet. Taking a taxi to the outskirts of the city - from which you can see the Malaysian skyline - we paid a visit to the amazing Singapore Zoo. By far the best zoo I've ever seen, it houses almost every animal under the sun - otters, zebras, polar bears, penguins, seals, elephants, and yes, lions, tigers and bears (oh my!). Oh, and primates! Primates as far as the eye can see! It's not hard to believe the zoo houses the largest collection of primates in the world. I even got to ride an elephant and have my photo taken with an orangutan (try guessing which one is which; I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!). The zoo had it all (including not one, but two of its own KFCs!).

Otherwise, the past few days have been spent with lots of R&R; the hotel has an amazing pool area that looks like it belongs in Tahiti. Singapore's an amazing country, which, for its size (approximately 46km x 26km) and population (approaching four million people), is unlike anything else - I'm really beginning to warm to it, actually.

Obligatory weather remarks: it's hot and humid, but not as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I think the heat was at its worst when we stepped off the plane. Since then, it's been tolerable, with most places having air-conditioning (except this blasted Internet café!).

Tomorrow, we're off to Sentosa, dubbed "Singapore's Island Resort". Plenty to see and do, which should be an all-day affair. Then one last day here and we're off to Frankfurt and then, Munich (current temperature: a summery -3°C).

Apologies also for not replying to emails; something's funky with the web set-up here and it won't let me log on. Hope to be able to contact you all via email once we get to Europe.

Hope all's well down under!