Singapore is to South East Asia as Korma is to Curry..

..it's mild, it's a great place to start, it helps to build your tolerance and it leaves you confident that you can handle more!!

Singapore has been the perfect stepping stone between East and West; everyone speaks English, all the signage/leaflets/maps/menus are written in English, the locals are friendly, and the city is clean, organised and very easy to navigate- but the culture is still distinctly Asian and has been a lot of fun getting to grips with!

I've experienced a whole spectrum of activities that Singapore has to offer; from the opulent malls of Orchard Road and the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel, to the colourful streets of Little India and the green gardens of the Southern Ridges trail. I've also taken the opportunity to let my inner geek go wild, and spent a whole afternoon in the National Museum of Singapore,learning the history of the country from it's imperial roots to present day!

Food has also been an experience in itself! I've not had very much exposure to Asian food in the past, and when I have it's mainly consisted of sweet and sour chicken from a Chinese takeaway or Sushi from M&S. So when confronted with sprawling menus of dishes from Japan, Korea, Thailand and beyond I had no idea where to start and found the whole experience quite intimidating! So intimidating in fact that on my first day I spent 20 minutes walking in circles around a food court trying to establish what food looked edible, and how I would go about obtaining it!! But so far, so good- I haven't eaten anything offensive yet!

The 'solo' aspect of this trip is also going well, I've met lots of nice people and on my second day I met lovely British girl who is also a solo backpacker, and we ended up spending quite a bit of time together... mainly gassing away and sipping Singapore Slings!!

I've now come to the end of my time in Singapore, and will be very sad to leave, partly because I have enjoyed it so much, and partly because it has become my comfort blanket, and I'm scared of what the rest of Asia has to offer!

But it's time to move onto the next adventure, and graduate from the korma.. starting with a bus journey across the border into Malaysia, on my way to Malacca!