It was time to move on to our final stop on the continent of Asia, Singapore. We had a coach booked for 11:30am so made our way to Kuala Lumpur Sentral Station after breakfast. We figured out the unnecessarily complicated station directions and found the desk of the coach company we were travelling with. We were informed that the actual coach we had booked had been delayed and that we had been moved in to another coach leaving an hour later at 12:30. This was a little bit of an annoyance as there had been no attempt to contact us and it was fairly apparent that there had been no delay, they had just moved us to a different coach because they had 2 half empty ones going in the same direction. Furthermore, we couldn't buy any food or drink while we waited as we had spent the last of our Malay Ringgit getting to the station. We waited it out on a bench and played a game that Charlotte's mum had sent out to us via Nuchy. After seeing 2 coaches go the other direction, towards Penang, eventually the man behind the desk called us for our bus to Singapore. We had allocated seats downstairs but were shocked at just how uncomfortable they were. I think they were supposed to be considered luxury as they had a massage system in them but mine didn't work and Charlotte said how pointless they were. In mine the bit that massaged your back was stuck halfway up my back and made me sit awkwardly. After some 'gentle' persuasion, I managed to shift it down so it was more comfortable. The rest of the coach was more acceptable. After we departed we plugged ourselves into the seat back entertainment system and picked out a film from the very limited selection they had. This helped to pass most of the first half of the trip. During the film, a stewardess (for want of a better word) brought round a microwaved meal each which was a nice surprise as we were rather short on food due to the lack of local currency. The meal was nice, although due to spice again, I had to be at Charlotte's portion. After a short toilet break we were back on the road and hurtling through a rainstorm as we approached the Singapore border. Singapore is a number of islands located at the point of the Malaysian peninsular, so to get to it you have to go through Malaysian border control, cross a large bridge over a causeway and then you hit Singapore border control. The queues on the Singapore side were significantly longer than the ones on the Malay side, so we had a little bit of a wait before we could get our passports stamped. Despite the queues outside it wa absolutely dead inside and we flew through passport control. We carried on on the coach for about 20 minutes before arriving at our destination. Our hostel was easy to find, only one road over from where we had got off the bus. We checked in and got to our room. The hostel seemed nice, apart from there being only female toilets on our floor, which would cause a problem or 2 later on during the stay. We didn't looted in the room long and headed out on to Beach Road to do the usual reconnaissance, like trying to find a supermarket and where is good to eat. The hostel pointed us in the direction of a supermarket, where we picked up a drink and some washing powder. Dinner was harder to decide upon though as everything had gone up significantly in price from Malaysia. We considered Pizza Hut and tried to find a Subway but couldn't remember where we had seen one. Eventually we went for a kebab just a block or so down from our hostel. Even this was quite expensive for what it was but we didn't really have much of a choice. It still did the job though and we headed back to our hostel.
Wednesday
We had set an early alarm as we had a considerable to do list already. First up was make use of the free washing facilities provided by the hostel, as we were pretty much out of clean clothes. This is where the washing powder purchased the night before came in handy. The hostel supplied it but it cost £1.50 per wash, whereas we paid £1.50 for a bag that would last us the whole time. We could only use the washing machines from 8am due to noise and we were the first people there. Because we had so much washing, we took up both washers. Shortly after we put ours in 2 other lots of people came up to use them but they shouldn't have had that extra 10 minutes in bed, they snoozed, they loosed. To pass the time while that was washing we went down and made the most of e free breakfast put on by the hostel. It was only toast, cereal, tea and coffee but it's free, so we couldn't complain. The washing was done and the queue was growing. We had to do a bit of queue policing when someone tried to jump in front of the people we knew were next but the second washer was just finishing anyway. Now we just had to wait for it all to dry but for that we only needed one dryer. To pass the time that took we tried retrieving some photos of my mobile phone that had broken the day before in my pocket. It was hard work trying to do it with 2/3rds of a screen missing and only managed a handful of photos from Europe. By the time the washing was done and we'd struggled with the phone it was fast approaching midday and we were keen to get out and about and explore the city. We retrieved our fresh, dry clothing and headed out in the direction of Gardens by the Bay. Along the way we got caught in one Singapore's numerous heavy showers, so we took cover in one of its numerous shopping malls. It was lunch time, so we picked up a coffee from a coffee shop and after drinking that, found a huge supermarket on the bottom floor which had more reasonable prices than the one we had been to the day before. We did our old trick of buying some rolls and getting cheese and meat to fill them. Add to that some fruit and a chocolate bar and we had a feast that would have cost twice as much at a cafe or restaurant. By this time the rain had stopped so we found a nice shady spot opposite a fountain and tucked into our lunch. We had to rip open the ham we had got which caused the juice to go everywhere. We didn't realise until after we had eaten most of the lunch that the ants were massing behind us. Fortunately, we got up before they could start eating us and we cleared all the rubbish away. We wandered on and found ourselves next to the Helix Bridge, which leads towards one of Singapore's iconic buildings, the Marina Bay Sands hotel. We wandered around the bay and took a seat soaking in the Singapore skyline and just able to see the statue of a merlion across the water, which is the national symbol of Singapore. We ate a couple of apples here and then moved on towards Gardnes by the Bay. To get there we had to walk through Marina Bay Sands hotel. This was a sight in itself. It's made up of 3 identical towers that contain all the rooms and suites. These are all joined at the top by a single roof that we could see was covered in palm trees and we had read houses an infinity pool that looks out across the rooftops of Singapore. We would have like to go up and use the pool but you had to be staying at the hotel and it would have also cost us just to go up and look at the view, so we didn't bother. Anyway, to get to Gardens by the Bay there is a walkway through the hotel that then leads you down into the gardens. By now the sun was out and it was a hot and humid day, good to enjoy a wander through the greenery. The gardens by the bay aren't of the botanical nature but consist of various themed gardens (Malay, Chinese and Indian) and groups of plants (fungi, palms and fruit bearing trees). The area was huge and provided a good half days worth of entertainment. About half way through we were running out of water and had to make a pit stop at the onsite McDonalds in order to purchase ourselves a very sizeable refreshment. To drink it, we sat in the shade of one of the "Supertrees" which are the centrepiece of the Gardens. We carried on looking around, despite the draining heat and stumbled across an area that looked like it was being set up to host a concert, with the sound check in full swing. There was nobody around though and we didn't really think we should be there, so we found a way out the other side and headed towards the exit. We were sticking in the area for the time being and after walking back through the huge hotel with palm trees on the roofs we entered into its own mall on the other side of the road. The inside of it had been made to look like Venice, with a faux canal complete with rideable gondola and bridges to traverse the canal. There was even a restaurant suspended above the water. It was also so over the top and we weren't surprised to find out that the hotel and shopping centre had been built by a company based in Las Vegas. We wandered around the mall looking for dinner. We found at one end a huge food court serving every type of food imaginable. From Asian to Pasta and everything in between, despite the choice, we really did struggle to choose something to have. After almost 2 complete circuits of the court we settled for a Singapore noodle dish with plenty of bean sprouts and a few slithers of beef. It was filling and relatively cheap for Singapore, so we enjoyed it. We had planned to visit Gardens by the Bay again after dinner as it gets lit up at night but the access through the hotel was closed so we decided to leave it for another night when we were feeling slightly more energised. When we left the mall, we just caught the end of a water and smoke show on the bay and made a note to revisit that too. We wandered home via the large supermarket in order to pickup food for our visit to the zoo the next day. By the time we arrived back at the hostel, it was quite late and my body was aching from the huge amount of walking we had been doing. The bed was a welcome relief but that doesn't mean I slept well!
Thursday
When our alarm went off in the morning, it was pretty clear that we weren't going to be making it to the zoo. I'd come down with something overnight and just didn't fancy getting out of bed anytime soon. Fortunately, we had plenty of time in Singapore and our zoo ticket was for any day over a week so we'd be fine. I skipped breakfast that morning as I had no appetite but Charlotte made it down on her own to get some food. I hadn't moved by the time she returned and we decided to call this a rest day as the time was flying by. At one point, I went to the toilet, only to black out, stumble past someone who I asked for help but ignored me and then collapse in the stairwell (told you the gender specific toilets on different floors would be an issue!) for an unknown amount of time. It was at this point I thought I had something serious and just about managed to stumble back to the room to inform Charlotte I had collapsed and maybe we should get an ambulance. So far we had just assumed it was heatstroke from a day in the gardens the day before. The staff at the hostel were really good and even gave us a couple of complimentary energy drinks to try and give me a boost. The paramedics were pretty fast but didn't really help too much. They didn't take my temperature and left the decision of whether or not to go to hospital to me (we thought they were paid to make that decision?!). We decided not to, all in agreement that I had heatstroke and plenty of drinking and rest would solve the problem. For the rest of the day, I made no improvement.
Friday
Despite our hopes the broken night sleep I had made no improvement. We thought we'd try one more day of good rest and kept our fingers crossed that it would improve. I started to show signs of improvement during the afternoon but crashed again in the evening.
Saturday
We awoke again and there was still no real signs of me getting any better. By this point we were pretty fed up and decided to go to the walk in clinic 2 doors down from our hostel. The Doctor was very helpful and told us to go to Singapore General Hospital in order to get a blood test done, as she couldn't do one and get the results back as it was a weekend. We hopped straight in a cab, arrived at the hospital within 10 minutes and donned our face masks ready to enter the fever area. After some paracetamol to get the fever down, they took some bloody and fitted me with an intravenous drip in order to rehydrate me. While they took my blood, the first mention of Dengue fever occurred. In my head, I immediately ruled that out, it was too far fetched that either of us would contract a tropical disease while we were travelling. The tests would give us an answer though. The drips seemed to take an age while we sat in the freezing cold waiting room. When the second drip eventually drained into my hand, we were stocked up with tablets and told to rest while we waited for the blood test results. We left the hospital and waited a good half hour pressing the "call taxi" button. Eventually, we gave up and walked the short distance to the road and flagged one down instead. The rest of the day, what was left of it atleast, was spent back in bed.
Sunday
Sunday
Day of rest and recovery.
Monday
Singapore general hospital had told us to make our way to a polyclinic this morning in order to get another blood test. We hadn't received the results from the original test from the hospital yet but we went anyway. Well, the polyclinics were all in suburban areas and a fairly long taxi ride so we asked the reception if there was any alternative. They recommended Raffles Hospital, which was just around the corner from our hostel. We made the short walk and got sent up to the clinic. We were seen within 10 minutes of sitting down and then they took my blood again. The test would look for Malaria and Dengue and the results would be back in a couple of hours. To pass the time we walked to Raffles Hotel, which was located at the end of the road our hostel was on. We had planned to go to afternoon tea at Raffles one day but the illness put pay to those plans. We made it, took a few snaps of the outside and headed back to the hostel. After a quick turnaround there we walked back to Raffles Hospital for the test results. They had them ready and handed them over to us before we went would see the doctor again. We had a quick nose through them and found everything was fairly normal until the last page. The Malaria test was negative but the Dengue Test was positive. This was the first confirmed diagnosis we had received and it came as a little bit of a shock. We saw the doctor and went through the results but we didn't seem to concerned with them, mainly because I had woken up that morning feeling slightly better. The 5/6/7th days are key to Dengue and it can take a turn for the worse, causing low blood pressure and low platelets (blood clutters). He told us to return the next day to keep an eye on it. After the hospital we wandered to a mall close by in order to do a bit of phone shopping. My old one had broken in Kuala Lumpur and Charlotte's was playing up at the time. After a fairly long hunt, we found a suitable shop and managed to pick up a new cheap mobile phone each, in order to keep in easy contact with home. When we arrived home Charlotte tried to get in contact with Singapore General hospital in order to find out their results of my blood test. After almost an hour of ringing, she got through and then got passed around from person to person as nobody seemed to be responsible. Eventually, she got through to someone who informed her that the test hadn't even been done yet and that the results would be back the next day or the day after. It was at that point we pretty much gave up on Singapore General Hospital. The rest of the day we rested.
Tuesday
It was back to Raffles this morning to get another blood test to see what was happening. To pass the time today we picked up a Starbucks and sat around in the waiting room. The results were worse today and after the doctor had taken my blood pressure he was sceptical as to whether we would be able to fly to Perth the next day. He told us to come back one final time for one final blood test and a check of my blood pressure. After the hospital visit we treated ourselves to an easy lunch in McDonald's and then managed to pick up a pin badge despite our lack of tourism. We headed back to our room and packed in preperation for our flight. With the weight limit being a stingy 15kg we had to leave our almost empty smellies behind. It only took an hour or so to get packed and ready so for the rest of the evening, we relaxed and enjoyed some chicken soup.
The Dengue fever had been a huge annoyance, unsurprisingly. We had both been looking forward to Singapore but it had pretty much been ruined by a pesky mosquito. We missed out on a visit to a zoo as well as a trip we had planned to a large water park. Charlotte was excellent the whole time, looking after me and even managing to get refunds for both of those pre booked excursions.
Maybe, one day we will go back and be able to see Singapore properly, but with it being a 12 hour flight from the UK and almost the same from New Zealand (in the wrong direction aswell) it seems unlikely. Probably the most disappointed we have been so far.
With the Southern Hemisphere and Australia next up, it was pretty hard not to get overexcited about the next 2 months though!!
James and Charlotte
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