The Lion City

Legend has it that a Sumatran prince once visited one of the islands at the southern tip of present day peninsular Malaysia and sighted a lion there. He named the island Singapura, meaning city of lions, and it's to Singapore that my travels have most recently taken me.

Another airport, another time to have to say goodbye to Emma for a while. This was the third hard airport situation we've had since October (Heathrow and La Paz were the other two) and the knowledge that this would be the last stretch of time we would be apart did little to help things along. Emma's now remaining in Bali until after Matt arrives next Thursday.

Singapore is quite a culture shock after having got used to Bali and Lombok for the last month. Streamlined skyscrapers dominate the CBD, sleek shopping malls provide most of the entertainment (according to my guide, shopping is the national sport of Singapore) and an ultramodern subway system glides people around underneath the metropolis with the utmost efficiency.

Singapore acts as the principle business hub of South East Asia and in some ways Singapore is like a microcosm of Asia itself. It is home to a Chinatown, a Little India and an islamic quarter, Kampung Glam. The main language is English, but Mandarin, Malay and Tamil are quite close behind. It has an extraordinary mix of Asian cultures like no other city I've been to. I was at first surprised when the book put so much emphasis on staying and eating in Little India and Chinatown, since I thought that by doing this you would miss out on the 'native' Singaporean experience. But that is exactly what Singapore is: a heady mix of all things Asian.

As far as I'm concerned, one of the major plus points of having a diverse mixture of Asian cultures here is the wide range of culinary delights that are available. Singapore has a good attitude towards public eating; the majority of food sellers are located in 'hawker sites', arcades where cheap eats are available in a variety of different food styles. I pointedly decided to stay in Little India for this exact reason: I love Indian food.

Today, as well as going to see not one but two films at the cinema (Die Hard and HP, I have to catch up with everyone back home!), I visited the Asian Civilizations museum in the Colonial District. This was one of the best museums I've visited while I've been away, and I managed to take in a fair amount of information about the cultures of Asia. I got museum overload after about an hour so I took a stroll around the city. Tomorrow I'm flying to Phuket, but I'm considering a third film before I go. Come on, it's The Simpsons!