Singapore;

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Hello for the final time!!

After a fantastic Thailand hurrah in Phuket we headed to the bus terminal to catch a lift to the airport. Naturally as were told the bus left at half past the hour and arrived with seven minutes to spare, we found that it actually left at twenty past. This was typically frustrating, as it left us stranded with only a more expensive taxi as a means of transport.

We arrived at the airport after the luxurious ride with plenty of time to spare after passing our prospective bus shortly after leaving the town. We were a little concerned as we were flying with Air Asia, renowned for its nonchalant baggage handlers. However we arrived into Singapore with no problems. The airport is slightly out of town but is connected to the city centre via the MRT (underground system). After we bought our tickets, similar to Oyster cards, we boarded the train and met a very friendly man who helped us find our stop and recommended visiting a few places as well as telling us about the youth Olympic Games which were being held over the few days that we were in town. This was a huge bonus as people seemed to be quite excited and we passed a few British youth Olympians dressed in their training gear.

Singapore is a city/country/island and is huge, heavily built up with brand new sky scrapers, expensive and full of happy busy people that are very fashion conscious but still more than happy to help out lost tourists. After saying goodbye to our new friend we headed off in his proposed direction and found our hostel very quickly. Singapore is quite expensive and we had to pay a little more than we would have like for fairly modest accommodation. We were ideally located very close to a train station as well as a short walk from the main hubbub and near an air conditioned shopping centre. As it was Suzanna's birthday we tried to make the day a bit special, but as we only had one night in a huge city we were quite busy exploring.

On the second day, the day of our departure we had the day to play with as our flight wasn't until the evening. We had a nice breakfast in the food mall of the shopping centre and headed into town to look around. We didn't have much of a plan but ended up seeing lots of exciting things and mixing it up with the Olympic keenos. We started by heading in on the train, getting off a stop further than we should have in the financial district. A short walk brought us to the nought of the harbour, with old museums, the legal buildings and old town hall as well as interesting sculptures. It was like the fashionable new parts of London. We then walked along to the harbour itself where the majority of the games were taking place. There was a huge building, see pictures, that was made up of three giant skyscrapers with a boat building positioned on top. It was enormous and unfortunately the photos do not do it justice. The best new building we have ever seen. The harbour was really busy with tourists and there was quite a good atmosphere. The swimming arena of the games was within the harbour and the stand for which was floating on the water. It was amazing. We then went to the St John cathedral, situated in the middle of town and sticking out like a sore thumb. Built with bright white stone in a modern busy city it felt like the US or Europe and hard to think that deepest rural Asia was only a few miles away.

There were shops everywhere, M&S, Topshops, MacDonalds etc littered the streets and malls. It was fantastic to see that Asia had exploded into the world of business in such a way that just wouldn't happen in Britain.

We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and changed into trousers for the first time in nearly three months. After checking in, and with Suzanna announcing that it was her birthday and after a bit of confusion where our details were checked several times with us looking on very concerned. All was well and once aboard we found that we had been ungraded to traveller plus, giving us enough room to straighten our legs. Very comfortable indeed! We took off half an hour late, but after dinner was served Suz was straight to sleep where she remained until a few minutes before breakfast was served. Nicely timed! We touched down slightly early and after striding through customs were met by Mark's slightly tired looking mother at 5.am local time.

We are now safely home and slowly and regrettably getting use to the ways of busy London life. We had a fantastic trip, and despite being asked by everyone we have talked to since being back, can't pick out a "best bit" but we have tried to produce a few top highlights. We didn't agree on them all but after looking through some of our now vast photographic collection came up with some faves:

New Zealand South Island, Queenstown
Fiji, fun times guaranteed
Chiang Mai, great markets, very cheap and wonderful people,
Siem Reep, locals overcoming past atrocities and being happy and friendly
Vang Vieng, Only special places play Friends 24/7
Sydney, being made to feel at home was hugely appreciated
Luang Probang, with out of this world scenery.

Again a massive thanks to the friendly family faces in Australia that generously put up with us for so long. If we are invited, we will definitely be back for more 2up adventures, expertly marinated steaks and world beating potato salad!

Until our next tour, Ciao!

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