We got woken up in our dorm at around 7:30am by somebody constantly rustling a carrier bag. There was no chance of us going back to sleep so we got up and had a nice hot shower. We went to eat breakfast, praying that the mass of children staying at our hostel had already eaten and left for the day. We were lucky as the breakfast area was fairly quiet, but the children had left a trail. There was peanut butter smeared everywhere! I ended up with it all down my hand as I picked a knife out of a jar of jam. Anyway, breakfast was the usual fare of toast, peanut butter, jam, tea, coffee and fresh fruit. Andrew had an extra coffee as he was half asleep and then we walked to the Little India MRT station. It felt like the crack of dawn to us, what with it being 10am, as we hadn't been up so early in a long time, out of choice anyway. We bought a ticket to Chinatown, which was only a few stops away. Chinatown was bustling even at 10am! There were many colourfully restored shophouses and red Chinese lanterns lining the narrow streets that criss-crossed at every opportunity. We walked down Pagoda Street and saw the 'Sri Mariamman Temple' which was completed in 1843 so it is the oldest Hindu temple in Singapore. We retraced our steps as we realised we must have walked past the 'Chinatown Heritage Centre'. We soon found it and realised that it was comprised of three restored shophouses tucked in amongst the souvenir shops, so it was easy to miss. We paid the $10 entrance fee, which we thought was quite expensive so we were hoping it was worth the money. It really was impressive from the moment we stepped inside, as the scene was immediately set by a model junk explaining the journey made by early Chinese immigrants to Singapore. The displays went on to describe the formation of clan associations and the downfall of many immigrants as they turned to drinking, gambling, brothels and opium. There was a replica of a teahouse as it used to be in the 1950s to 1960s, which has recently been reopened in Chinatown. The last section was an authentic recreation of the living quarters of unit 50, Pagoda Street. There were cubicle rooms to show how different people lived including a shoe seller, tailor, seamstress, carpenter, painter and hawker. It was probably the best museum we have visited so far, as the displays were so realistic which meant we got a real insight into the way the Chinese people lived and worked once they reached Singapore.   
 
Our next stop was the 'Buddha Tooth Relic Temple', a newer temple opened to the public in 2007 after taking two years to complete . I had to loan a sarong to wrap around myself as my skirt was regarded as being too short. The building itself was very grand and it was clear it had cost an extortionate amount of money to build. However, it became clear from the signage inside that money was trying to be reclaimed in a roundabout way, as people could "adopt" certain items in the temple. We walked straight into the huge '100 Dragons Hall' where we just caught the last few minutes of a chanting ceremony, led by a small number of monks wearing the usual bright orange robe attire. There were one hundred individually crafted Buddha statues on each side of the hall, which were then interspersed by thousands of smaller Buddha figurines embedded in shelving. We got the rather glamorous lift up to 'Level 4' to encounter the 'Buddha Tooth Relic'. It was positioned in a chamber behind a glass panel so you couldn't actually see it close up. The floor tiles within the chamber were reported to be made from gold by a special process, so I assumed the speciality was that they were made to look like gold! We decided to venture up to the 'Roof Garden' to look out over the city but the roof was enclosed so there wasn't a view of any sort . However, the garden was immaculately presented and was beautiful and peaceful in itself. There was a huge 'Prayer Wheel' of around 5m tall in the centre of the garden and the garden walls were lined with 12,000 Buddha figurines, each 5cm in height. We used the stairs to reach 'Level 3' where we browsed the 'Buddhist Culture Museum' which also housed a huge range of Buddha statuary in bronze, wood and stone, plus other artwork. I intently read the life story of Buddha to gain a better understanding of the religion, but Andrew claimed it sounded just like the story of Jesus! We briefly walked around the 'Mezzanine Floor' just to appreciate the view over the '100 Dragons Hall'. We left the temple via a staircase that led to a side exit, but I realised I was still wearing the sarong I had borrowed so we had to return to the main entrance to return it to the basket. It was then that we noticed the two huge guardian statues at either side of the main entrance to the temple.
  
We crossed the busy road to the 'Maxwell Food Centre' and walked through the place until we found something that we could order . We opted for rice, chicken and a fried egg covered in some kind of sauce, which turned out to be curry. I also sampled a sugar cane juice but I wasn't a huge fan and Andrew wasn't impressed with his sour plum juice. We were fed and watered so continued our trail along 'Ann Siang Hill' which led past some nicely restored shophouses now running as swanky restaurants, cafes and bars. The street led up a small hill to a flight of stairs leading to 'Amoy Street' which was again lined with impressive shophouse architecture, all featuring characteristic five-foot archways. We passed the old 'Thian Hock Keng Temple' built in 1842 which sported typical dragon carvings on the roof. As we continued walking we soon found ourselves being dwarfed by the enormous buildings of the Singapore CBD. We wandered through the high rises until we reached Marina Bay. The first thing we saw was the huge 'Marina Bay Sands' hotel and casino. The centrepiece was a three-tiered hotel topped by a platform made to look like a boat, which linked the three-tiers together . We could just make out the palm trees on the platform. We followed a path that led us to the 'One Fullerton' which was a modern waterfront development with alfresco dining as well as an awesome view across Marina Bay. The only thing that wasn't awesome was that we couldn't afford to stop and eat or drink anything in such a prime spot! We walked on past and stopped at the 'Merlion Park' which should have had an 8.6 metre tall, water-spouting Merlion statue overlooking Marina Bay, but a white sheet had been thrown over the statue! However, there was a smaller version of the Merlion, which is part fish and part lion, Singapore icon but still no sign of greenery. We walked over the pretty white 'Anderson Bridge' to the 'Colonial District' and did a quick loop towards Boat Quay. It was such a nice view across the Singapore River, as the towering financial district buildings stood behind a row of shophouses all having been converted into swanky bars and restaurants. We stopped at the 'Raffles Landing Site' where a gleaming white Sir Stamford Raffles statue stood to mark the spot where Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, was said to have first landed on the bank of the Singapore River . The riverside walkway led us past a number of different statues until we reached the 'Cavenagh Bridge' which still displayed a sign at either end that said, "The use of this bridge is prohibited to any vehicle of which the laden weight exceeds 3 CWT. and to all cattle and horses." It was here that we got a close up of the grand 'Fullerton Hotel' housed in a hisotorial builing that once operated as a Post Office, but is now a luxurious five-star hotel. We could also see the 'Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay' building at the other side of Marina Bay, so we followed the 'Queen Elizabeth Walk' to get a closer view. It was a very weird looking building with a roof covered in spikes so it had been dubbed the hedgehog, but the locals preferred to refer to it as the durian, which is the name of a local fruit. We popped inside the 'Esplanade Mall' but we didn't fancy peering into shop windows so we found a seat outside and had a nice cold drink.

We walked through the 'Youth Olympic Park', which was designed to commemorate the inaugural 'Youth Olympic Games' hosted by Singapore in August 2010 . There was a selection of artwork on display in the park, all of which was derived from an art competition for local students aged 8 to 28 years old. We left the park and had to cross a busy road to reach the Singapore Flyer. We have become so accustomed to finding our our route across roads that it was a pleasant change to simply press a button and wait for a green man to appear and give the all clear. The traffic in Singapore even obeyed the red light signal, which wasn't always the norm in Thailand! We reached the ticket booth of the Singapore Flyer and reluctantly paid the rather expensive $29.50 ticket price. We love Singapore itself, but the price of Singapore is hard on our budget! We were surprised that there wasn't much of a queue, so we were soon enveloped safely in a capsule and began the 165m rise above ground level. The panoramic view was admittedly worth the ticket price as we gained a 360˚ view of the entire island in the largest observation wheel in the world! We managed to pick out a number of iconic and historical sights and the F1 track in particular stood out as it was right below the wheel! As we left the Singapore Flyer we couldn't help but walk along the F1 track . It led us to the Esplanade Park, which was full of people picnicking. Our feet were aching like mad by this point so we headed towards the nearest MRT station, City Hall, to take a train back to Little India. 

We had a rest and Andrew had a shower before we set off walking to the 'City Square Mall' for a Burger King. We immediately noticed that Little India was rather busy, as people lined every street and back alley. However, the strange thing was that there wasn't a single woman in sight, which made me wonder if there was something we were missing. In addition, the Indian men didn't actually seem to be doing anything! Anyway, we found out that every Sunday migrant Tamil and Bangladeshi men descend on Little India in their tens of thousands to chat. It was the strangest thing I have seen yet. We thoroughly enjoyed yet another Burger King and I even managed to squeeze a Caramel Sundae in me. We battled the crowds on the way back to our hostel and as the communal area was yet again overflowing with youngsters we headed up to our dorm. It was empty for most of the night, which wasn't a bad thing, so we just chilled out and had an unknown Chinese beer.