Singapore

We decided to get a long layover in Singapore before going to meet Lara’s Dad in Hong Kong.

We tried to get on the free tour they do from the airport but as we wanted to get off and then do our own thing they wouldn’t let us; apparently there are no stops. So after walking back and forth through the huge airport we got a taxi to the gardens by the bay. We didn’t pay to go in as we didn’t have too long but you can still walk around the outside which is lovely.

After this we walked to in infamous Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling and monkey nuts. They are making a killing on the drinks at £20 a cocktail but I guess you only do it once in your life!

We then went to meet Laura (Lara’s old school friend who now lives in Singapore) in a wine bar which was much more reasonable! We had a great time catching up :), Laura then took us for dinner at Satay street which is a night food market. The food was pretty cheap and really good, try and fit this in while your there ! (Look up the days it’s on as I’m not sure it’s all the time, we went on a Thursday). Lau then went home and we got an uber to the airport, thanks for our night in Singapore Lau :).

In the morning we would be in Hong Kong.

Vietnam – Hanoi

Our first stop was Hanoi. From the airport to our hostel we got an uber and paid 265,000 dong which was much cheaper than the taxis outside the terminal. It took about 40 minutes for us to get to the old quarter, where we stayed at ‘central backpackers-old quarter’. The hostel was fine for the money. The biggest bonus was the free cocktail, beer, walking tour and the staff were really friendly. There was also a restaurant which did food really cheap and was yummy. Much cheaper than any restaurant we found on the street!

Hanoi is a great city, imagine manic markets, scooters and people everywhere. Lots of bars and nightlife, seemed to be street entertainment and happy hour somewhere every night! You could sit in the road and drink beer 🍻 from a keg for 5000 dong a glass (that’s 20p).

One thing we did in Hanoi was go to the Musileum, which also had an information centre, this was really interesting and we got to know a lot more about the history of Vietnam.

 

The second main thing we did was go to watch a water puppet show, this was on the recommendation of Laura who we’d met in Fiji and gave us a tonne of tips for Asia, thank you Laura!

And then last but definitely not least…….Hanoi was where we fell in love with Egg coffee, life will never be the same! and if anyone knows where we can get it in the UK. Please tell us!!