After a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur organising visas, replacing our waterproof camera (which decided to stop being waterproof whilst underwater), and eating some amazing duck in Hoi Sin sauce, we caught a bus to Singapore, our only intentions being to visit the world renowned zoo and sip a seriously overpriced cocktail at Raffles.

First up was the zoo which is pretty well stocked and, for a pleasant change in Asia, doesn't look like a cruel dirty prison. The polar bear feeding was pretty cool, as were the manatees and baby hippos. Appealing to our more childish sides though several of the inhabitants happily emptied their bladders right on cue or were getting very busy satisfying other 'animalistic urges', much to the embarrassment of many of the onlookers.

The following day we donned the smartest clothes we could find in our backpacks and headed off to the infamous Raffles Hotel. Finding something smart to wear was far more of a challenge for Sam who, after 9 months on the road, has almost fully made the transition to hippy chic, complete with rings on her fingers, bells on her toes, and trousers baggy enough to make a tent out of!

After mooching around the hotel grounds for a while, gawping at the guests taking afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room and persuading a doorman to let us have a brief nose at the hotel lobby (guests only), we headed to The Long Bar for our much anticipated Singapore Slings. After propping up the bar for an hour or so and doing our best to eat our body weights in free monkey nuts we finished our drinks, paid up (ouch) and left to find a cheaper drinking establishment. Well worth the trip, if only to say you have been.

Our fleeting visit to Singapore was over and we headed back to Peninsula Malaysia to catch our flight to deepest, darkest Borneo.....