Singapore, it's not poor

Shimmying into Singapore we waved goodbye, temporarily, to grit, grime and sweat. From the airport we took an air-conditioned train to the city centre, disembarked into a cold, clean shopping mall and walked to our hotel through various other malls, without stepping outside for more than a minute at a time.

It was time for some VIP treatment. Our home for the next couple of days was the majestic Conrad Centennial – a much-appreciated gift from my dad. An entire wall of our room was made of glass, peering out onto the aptly-named Fountain of Wealth and a never-ending sea of skyscrapers. Our bed was big and luxurious, with an actual sprung mattress and a pillow-menu; the bathroom was large and shining; the air-con worked; there were no grubby marks on the walls, no cockroaches…it was nothing like anywhere we’d stayed so far on this trip.

We also had access to the executive lounge on the top floor so could help ourselves to tasty breakfasts, evening canapés and drinks. The view was even more startling from up there. Lounging by the pool, staff are on hand to pour cold drinking water whenever our glasses were empty. We paid a visit to the hotel bar to sip Singapore Slings which probably cost more than an entire week’s food budget elsewhere in Asia.

Of course, we still ventured out to Singapore’s Little India every day for a ma-hoosive veg thali, which fueled us up for more loafing.

But it seems that Singaporeans’ favourite activity is shopping. The Lonely Planet’s walking tour of Singapore is a mall tour. Their equivalent of a high street is a row of shopping malls, each one glitzier and harder to navigate than the last. So our main task was shopping for Aussie-appropriate attires and haircuts.

Suitably relaxed and polished, we exited Asia and flew across the skyscrapers to the other side of the planet.