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Published: April 18th 2008
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Hi All,
A big welcome from Japan! I can't believe it's been over a week since the last post as Australia feels like it was a lifetime ago already. We've just arrived in Kyoto on the bullet train - amazing. I'll cover the Japan trip next week, by which time we'll be in China. I know emails etc are checked and sensored on their way out of China so i don't know what the next post will look like but I won't be saying anything politically sensitive in it so hopefully it will be ok.
After Adelaide we spent an excellent week in Perth. While it's geographically remote, and some locals say it's a pretty boring city, we found a lot to like and managed to have a busy week. Afterslightly cooler temperatures in Adelaide and some rain, the weather was back to what we had been used to over the last 6 weeks. Highlights below:
We visited King's Park, a huge park with stunning views over the city. It also serves as a big war memorial and has beautiful grounds and gardens.
Fremantle Port. We spent a day doing a walking tour of this suberb which
is blessed with excellent cafes and restaurants as well as an interesting history as a port. We visited the Maritime Museum while we were there (which happened to be on the one day of the month that it was free to enter!) and had a guided tour through a decommisioned submarine as well as seeing one of Australias most famous sailing yachts from the America's Cup. While in Fremantle we ate at a fantastic brewery called Little Creatures thathad been recommended to us during our stay in Adelaide.
We returned to Fremantle a few days later to get the 40 minute ferry to Rottnest Island, a beautiful little place that is packed during the summer high season but was quite quiet the day we visited. The weather was excellent and the beach was a treat, while we got also got the opportunity to see the local Quokka population thataren't found anywhere else in Australia. Quokka's are small marsupials that look like mini kangaroos.
Beyond this we had plenty of opportunity to explore the city centre and particularly some great Asian meals from the many restaurants in the city. The week flew by and we were pretty tired by
the time we left, mainly because the hostel was right next to the train tracks thathead in to the main city station. From Perth it was on Singapore.
The flight to Singapore took around six and a half hours but was pretty smooth and included good food and entertainment. When we got off however we were hit by one of the main features of our stay: the humidity. Every time we were outdoors during the next four days we were sweating pretty badly within a few minutes if not straight away!
Because of the heat and humidity Singapore seems like it consists of mainly a series of connected shopping Malls, indeed we spent a lot of time in various malls during our stay, mainly browsing shops but also just wanting to stay cool. We were staying at a holiday park about 20 minutes out of town but the room and ensuite bathroom was not like any hostel we had stayed in thus far: roomy, modern and with all mod-cons. Highlights of our stay below:
Visiting the Taoist temple of Thian Hock.
Going to Little India during a festival: the streets were packed with thoudsands of Indian
Little Creatures Brewery
Friends in Adelaide had recommended this as a great place to eat and drink and it was. men buying gold and meeting friends to celebrate harvest time in India; you could go literally 20 minuted without seeing a single female. We had a greta curry there too.
Visiting the Tiger Beer brewery, taking the tour and then pouring ourselves a pint of Tiger in the barafterwards.
Last but not least, Singapore Zoo. Having been to Austalia Zoo a few weeks before this place absoloutely shows what zoos should be. Instead of bars or screens there are diteches around the animal enclosures which make you feel so much closer to the wildlife. They also had an amazing collection on primates including the biggest Orangutan family in the world. While we were there we were caught in a huge tropical storm that lasted nearly two hours and was pretty scary at times:lighning hit a tree near where we were sheltering and the sound was like a cannon being fired. When the storm had past we went to the Night Safari which was a trip around the zoo after nighfall when many of the creatures actually are at there most lively. It felt a bit like Jurassic Park as we were taken round on a little truck but
overall was probably one of the best things we've done.
Anyway, that brings you up to date. Just a word to my Dad whose book on Thomas More is published next week by Gracewing. If you fancy helping it storm up the charts, it'll be available from Amazon and to order from all good book shops (and some bad ones). We're very proud of you dad.
See you all soon!
J&M
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