Johor Bahru and Singapore - Part 50

I arrived at Larkin Bus Station in Johor Bahru, with no idea where I was going to stay. I had a hostel in mind but I was tired, it had started to rain and I was at the opposite end of the town. Therefore, I spent the next hour walking from hotel to hotel trying to find a suitably priced room; having no internet access meant having to do the leg work and I kept getting lost in the many shopping centres - one of the down sides of ‘living the dream’.

I had very much looked forward to my trip the following day. I’ve always loved my Lego and never having managed to go to Windsor, I was excited. I spent the full day wandering around the park and enjoying 3D computer animation with “4D” real-world effects such as wind, water and fog.
I made and raced a Lego car, watched a Ninja show, there was a mini city with top tourist destinations modelled, like The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City and Ankor Wat, with panoramic views from a tower. As you can probably tell I was in my element!

Time to enter Singapore… over a mall, through a huge building on to a random overcrowded local bus and through customs. I wasn’t convinced I was on the right bus, but luckily it dropped me off exactly where I needed to be to find the cheapest hostel I could in Singapore. I understood that it would be much more expensive here so I had smuggled some food in to save some money.

My priority was The Bay of Gardens so I went there first. An amazing place - I was fascinated with the tropical trees; the man-made mechanical forest consists of 18 super-trees that act as vertical gardens, generating solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater.
From the garden I had seen the famous Sands Hotel in the distance so I sneaked in and up to the top floor (57th) for a fantastic view of the bay and the financial district. I thought it was funny being treated like a guest at the hotel when I was clearly not dressed for the environment; my clothes can almost stand up by themselves with the amount of travelling and a very quick handwash occasionally.
Despite my attire and looking somewhat out of place here I walked through a posh mall around the reservoir and visiting other interesting buildings. China Town was good but I agree with others I have met, you can’t beat the real China.

I thought I had lost the lead to my mp3 player so I ventured out of town to a mall for a Sony shop, this was a complete disaster as I got very very lost and frustrated, as I do, but later realised I had passed quite a famous library in Singapore, so all was not wasted. I did manage to find one of Singapore’s national icons, the mythical Merlion with the head of a lion and the body of a fish.
The statue stands almost 9 metres tall and spouts water out of its mouth.
The body symbolises Singapore's humble beginnings as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, meaning 'sea town' in Old Javanese. Its head represents Singapore’s original name, Singapura, or ‘lion city’ in Malay.
I then went back to The Bay of Gardens to the Flower Dome to try and experience it both in the night and day. It’s the largest glass greenhouse in the world, it was very colourful and interesting with a hippy theme; the main attraction for me was the Baobab trees, I recognised them from the film ‘Le Petite Prince’. At the Cloud Forest I followed a skyward walkway to experience some great views. This place just kept on giving as I experienced a unique laser show, shot into water that only happens once a week! I decided to try my luck again and went back up the Sands Hotel for a night view of the park and the super trees.

Now back to Malacca and towards the airport.