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Published: February 26th 2007
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The more geographically astute of you will have noted the flag of the current location and realised that there is change in the previously advertised plan.....yes, we've decided to come home.....and by the time many of you read this, we will no doubt be back in blighty. It remains to be seen whether the Year of the Pig will be as good as the Year of the Dog has been for us, as no doubt it will involve getting a job!
We've been away 10 months and maybe putting down our "roots" a little in Penang, dimmed the enthusiasm to go any further. The pressure tablets are running out, the saturation coverage of all things football on Malaysian and Singapore TV maybe reminded one of the party he was still interested in the higher standard of the game (although Steve McMahon's experts comments nearly put paid to that) and the yearning for a decent pint of Harvest Pale was growing. We spoke to a girl in Napier, New Zealand, in October, who said she knew it was time to return when she couldn't be bothered to get off a bus and look at another fabulous view - we had a
Lion Dance 1
Miranda considers getting dressed for the occasion (again)! two minute noodle rule, which we haven't resorted to, but perhaps we are templed out and we've seem most of what Bangkok has to offer before! Cambodia and Vietnam will just have to wait for another day.
The theory was fine - get back to Singapore and fly home. However this being Chinese New Year, the millions are on the move in this part of the world. Bus full, bus full, no bus....the same story was repeated! We managed to secure another of our Super VIP buses back eventually, albeit at a premium. The journey back from Penang was a nightmare - it was busy like M25 proportions and the rather wet conditions didn't help the matter. We kept thinking it'll clear after Junction 11, but it never did....enough to remind someone of another exciting trip out on the M1!
We checked into our previous abode at the Hive in Singapore to await the changed flight. As we've said, it's Chinese New Year, so it's a combination of closed shops and lots of Lion dances for a few days. The streets are full of troupes of Chinese Lion and Dragon dancers riding round on pick up trucks performing
Raffles Plaza
A Lucky Man handing out free money - shame it was only chocolate for various businesses to bring good luck and prosperity in the New Year. As most of the Chinese food places were closed for 3 days, it was a good job Little India was in full swing so we didn't go hungry. We were quite lucky in being in the right place at the right time to see some of the performances, ranging from Marina Square Shopping Centre, the Raffles Plaza Hotel and on to our local food court.
After the discovery of the Cup competitions of Malaysia, it is now our turn in Singapore....a bonus therefore to find that the Singtel League Cup is underway. The semi between Sengkang Punggol and Gombak United was dire - schoolboy tactics with pub centreforwards - and it wasn't hard to see why the former finished bottom of the league last year. It ended 0-0, but Miranda rejoiced when it went straight to penalties and not extra time. Alas Sengkang won 4-2 from the spot kicks, so we'll have to endure them in the Final too.
What else do you do in Singapore, when you've been before? One of the priorities is keeping cool, so we've been regular visitors to both the
swimming complex close by to the hostel and of course, the shopping centres. The time has past for mega shopping bargains in Singapore, which is a shame because now that we are en route back home it is tempting to squeeze the odd extra thing into our rucksacks.
The Final of the Singtel Cup was being played at the Jalan Besar Stadium (a Reebok Stadium main stand and a plastic pitch) just around the corner from the hostel and to appeal to the impoverished backpacker instincts right to very end - it was free! The day before the losers of the two semis played at the same venue in the 3rd and 4th placed Play Off. As it was also free it couldn't be ignored, but after another tame 1-1 draw Gombak beat the star studded money boys of the S-League - Home United - 9-8 on penalties. Miranda thought it was never going to end! The locals figured it was heading for boredom and a good couple of hundred elected to leave at half time to watch Manchester United live on the TV at the food court next door. The Final was a much more lively affair, not
least of which because there was a crowd (of 4071) and a result. The Final was treated as some sort of celebration opener for the new S League season and fans of all the clubs were present to add atmosphere. WWFC (not to be confused with Wolves and bizarrely nicknamed The Rams) coasted to a 4-0 win and Miranda was spared a further penalty shoot out.
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