Singapore was our first stop and I was nervous. It wasn't Singapore itself that was the cause for concern but rather the imminent arrival of our car that was responsible for my nerves. Singapore has a reputation of being one of the hardest places in the world to import a car into and I had organised our cars shipping and importation myself. I had never done either before. It was also our first port of call overseas and the gateway to SE Asia and we had to make this work. We had about five days till our car landed at Port Jurong and I had a long list of bureaucratic tasks that we had to tick off before the car arrived.

These are pictures of the Park Royal hotel which cost far more than our megere budget could afford so we didn't stay here. We did however walk past this wonderful hotel on many occassions as it was around the corner and we really liked it's architectural style, both inside and outside. It was also a nice spot to have a coffee and read the paper and feel like we were a lot richer than we were. We actually stayed in a very ordinary little hostel which had a teddy bear theme. Yep, teddy bears. Cute ones in pots mostly and a hand full of big ones that looked strangely entertaining when drunk.

We bumped into this Japanese motor show which was slightly disappointing. The only interesting photos I can find are of the Fiat stand. Could have been better but a motor show is always an enjoyable way to spend a few hours. There seemed to be so much happening in Singapore.

Singapores Botanical Gardens are a pleasant escape from the bussle of the large city.

Random images from Singapore. It is such a clean city that has made a real effort of incorporate as much greenery as possible. Singapore contrasts strongly with the rest of SE Asia.

Victory!   We collected our car from Singapore. These pictures are taken on the Jurong docks. All our documents were in order. We had spent the last four days organising the necessary permits and insurance and other technicalities to allow us to drive in car un-friendly Singapore. For me this was a major victory. I had never shipped a car before nor crossed international boundaries in one. We couldn't start P2P without first getting our car into Singapore and all my research and effort had paid off. I had shipped our car into one of the hardest places in the world to import a car and had done so without a hitch.   Joy :)

On our last night in Singapore we had a beer a Hooters and poured over our maps and guide books of Malaysia, deciding where to go and how to get there. It was the nature of our trip that those sort of decisions were largely made as we went. I derived great satisfaction from pouring over the map with a beer and a pencil. Electronic maps just don't have the same effect as a printed one, no matter how convenient they may be. It was a great night. Our very sexy waitress was from the Philippines and had a wonderful attitude.