In order to get to the United States from Diego Garcia it is almost always necessary to travel through Singapore, This trip was no exception. I had only one day in Singapore and to get the most out of it I thought I might try one of the many bus tours offered by the hotel concierge, figuring this way I would waist little time and get to see more than I would if I were to try to find things on my own. Now I don't want to say that the bus tour was awful, but I don't think I will ever take a bus tour again. The tour was an 8 hour tour from pick up to drop off starting at about 9:00Am and ending around 5:00Pm. Of these 8 hours we spent about 5 of them getting from place to place and another hour for lunch. With 4 destinations on the trip that meant we spent about 30 minutes at each site. I was a little bummed as I had wanted to spend more time seeing things than traveling to them. It seemed I had a tendency to be the last person to get back on the bus at every stop, and the first one to wander away from the group. All in all it wasn't to bad, at least it wasn't miserable and I did get to see a temple which there is a few pictures of below. They also took us to a historic graveyard, the Tiger Balm Gardens, and a fourth place which is of no memorable note elsewise I would probable remember what it was. We didn't really get to see the Tiger Balm Gardens or at least I don't think we did. Perhaps I should explain that. The bus stopped at the Tiger Balm Gardens and we all piled out into a parking lot, the tour guide took us all up to the entrance of the gardens and escorted us through an indoor Chinese representation of the 7 levels of hell. while interesting it was ill maintained, dimly lit, and generally not picturesque, not that I imagine hell is all that picturesque to begin with, but anyways  I didn't end up with any pictures of  it and I don't think I'm missing anything. outside the 7 Levels of Hell there was a garden with a pond and several trails that led up the hill to what looked like may be other gardens, unfortunately as soon as we had finished going through hell we were all loaded back on the bus and then taken to the graveyard. That seemed a little odd to me I thought it usually went the other way around but it was their tour so I kept me opinions to myself. After the tour I decided that I should head out to do a little shopping as it would be inappropriate to return home without bearing some gifts. I had been told about and read a few fliers telling about the night market in China Town and decided that it should be the place I should do my shopping, and catching dinner while I was there seemed like a good idea. The night market is rather interesting as it doesn't really get going until the sun has set and the shop lights and street lights start coming on. The streets are blocked off so that cars can’t drive on them while pedestrians are free to roam. Many shops make the sidewalks and even part of the street an extension of their shop as the shops themselves are often very small. There are also a great number of venders set up in the streets offering nearly anything you may want. a couple of the streets are set up with tables lining the street from  one end to the other with numerous restaurants serving food to you out on the street of if you prefer some  a few of the restaurants have tables setup inside, though most people seem to prefer the outside dining.

Its 6:30 in the evening and still too early for the crowds to begin to arrive, most of the shops and restraints aren’t open yet as their owners are just arriving or starting to set up.

These street performers had managed to gather a small crowd around them as they each performed different acts. This night they seemed to have a monopoly as there were no other performers at this or any of the other intersections. Later in the evening as I was on my way back to the hotel they were still performing and drawing a crowd around them.