Orchard road, 10PM

Walk along Orchard Road at ten o' clock at night. Music with a heavy beat that pounds your heart plays, and the inky blackness of the night is warded off by numerous fluorescent lights from the stalls that are still set up at this time of night. One of them is a cariacature artist's booth, and even at this time of night, there are still people queueing up for his services. At the moment, a fat lady in an overly-tight red tank is being drawn. Just like in the daytime, you can smell smoke everywhere. In the night, though, it's a more powerful stench - an acrid mixture of smoke, sweat and booze. It's not hard to see why some might find it compelling though.

At ten o' clock at night, giant ang mohs roam the streets with cigarettes hanging out of their mouths, and equally tall, leggy Asians wearing stilettos tower over you effortlessly. Standing at a respectable height of 1.65m, it feels strange to be the shortest one in the crowd - you feel small, and insignificant.

By ten o' clock, all the shops in all the shopping centres are closed, or closing, and everyone is forced into the streets. Mothers holding ever so tightly onto whingeing boys. Last minute shopaholics holding fast to their paper bags, bludgeoning their way through the crowd, on to their next 'last' buy. All of a sudden, over sound of the heavy music and loud talking, the honk of the rubbish-man is heard. His pedalled vehicle is empty, but somehow, he still manages to leave a trail of some glistening liquid on the road. Perhaps it's from the doubtful looking broom turned on its end. You walk past more ang mohs and try to steer clear from the ones stumbling around in a kind of drunken song and dance routine, and a couple more wannabe sexy Asians, who are short and dumpy, but wearing mini-skirts and over-large hoop earrings. In the distance you can hear the sharp sounds skateboads connecting with roads as skaterboys are still trying to perfect that last jump or turn.

As you make it to the safety of the car park, you wonder why you've never seen this side of Singapore before.