Oh Asia! Where have you been all my life?!

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This is our last blog (for now)!

The last time you heard from us we were basking in the glorious weather in Auckland, New Zealand. Today I am typing this back home at my desk, nestled comfortably near the heater as a winter storm rages outside. As the snow drifts against the window it is somewhat difficult to remember those days spent lazing in the sun. How quickly things can change.

In Auckland we were woofing with another lovely lady as she sorted through her belongings for a move to a new home. She lived in a simply stunning little house that was surrounded by beautiful, lush greenery. Tucked behind rows of houses her garden was an oasis from the greyness of surburban life. I think she will find it hard to move, particularly since developers will most likely turn her beautiful garden to rubble within a few weeks of moving out. If you ask me she probably should stay but the property is getting too much for her to handle.

New Zealand Immigration require you to have an onward flight already booked before you enter the country (understandable though slightly annoying for us Brits who automatically get six months entry). Therefore we had already booked a flight to Singapore for the end of Feb. The plan was to hit a bit of Asia, before heading back to the UK to see friends, family & attend various social events (birthdays, parties, Easter, etc). In many ways we were ready to come home, though it is not always easy.

Arriving in Singapore we quickly felt the humidity, particularly as I had made F take the train from the airport. We stayed in an area called Little India, the red light district. But at least our room had windows, which is not always guaranteed in Singapore! Forcing the jetlag at bay we hit the city. Singapore centre is a very clean place, with lovely sparkling hotels & offices. Our area was slightly more busy, with hordes of (mainly Indian) men lining the streets. Just hanging out, sitting down. The pavements are crammed with rubbish bins, people and shops so you often find yourself walking with the traffic to get anywhere. These guys just seem to hang around the street for hours, you wonder if they actually have somehwere to live! It felt a very safe city though, quasi-military rule I guess helps. We saw very few police about yet everybody seemed pleasant despite the numbers. We only had two days to see the sights before catching another flight to Thailand.

Singapore has a great little airport. Lots of fun for the kids (and adults). There is a pond, an area to do drawing, movies & a playstation area! Needless to say it was a shame to leave.

Bangkok is a city teeming with smog, heat and people. In many ways it is horrendous. It is busy, smelly, noisy, poorly designed but it is cheap. Oh so cheap. We were in heaven. I for once in my life felt free and easy with my money and F didn't mind that one little bit (choosing an 'expensive' restaurant on our first night!). Just like a tourist anywhere you know you'll be ripped off but the prices are so low you don't care. You always haggle over pricing and you get a reduction. The street sellers see you coming and hike the price, you counter, you agree, buy the gifts not caring that it is still 50p more than you should have paid. Everyone is happy. The sellers get a sale, the buyer thinks they get a bargain (note to Australian businesses!).

One reason why things are cheap is because there is immense poverty here. As a tourist you come here for the cheap Gucci handbags and relaxing massages on the street. Step away from the touristy areas and you see the desperation. We enjoy walking places to get to know them. Through one part we saw people lining the streets, I guess living there though they had no possessions to speak of. Rats scurried in between them and along the bank of a canal which may have been an open sewer. Not a very comfortable place to be if you're a visitor from the 'rich' west. I've often heard stories of how people are left to die on the streets as others rush past. I've thought ill of those who carelessly walk on. Yet here plenty of people seem to line the streets, just lying out on the pavements. You feel immense sympathy but equally you have to turn it off or you would go insane. One guy with a leg missing would crawl up and down the narrow pavement pushing a bowl for money. On one hand very sad but equally annoying as the paths are narrow enough. Then we witnessed him deliberately soaking himself in this puddle of rancid rainwater. He crawled into this puddle when he could have gone around. He did it because he thought he would get more money if tourists see him in this state. I hope he did.

Then there are the blind warblers that walk the streets at night. It would be safe to say that I could put up with the guy from the 'Go Compare' adverts than suffer this on a nightly basis. Harsh it may seem. Asia seems the place where we can be the best and worst of people. Plenty of prostitutes line the streets. A choice for many a single old white man to choose from. Some of the ladyboys are practically stunning, great legs, so elegant. Though they seem to like fast food quite a bit as they would spend ages outside Macdonald's!
You could watch for hours as the 'courtship' between the women and their prey takes place. It is quite funny to see these old men walking around with these young 'women'. Still it does make you wonder how genuine mixed-race couples feel. Most strangers would think that she was after him for only his money. You hear stories of how some women demand money is sent back to her family until he is bled dry! At breakfast we would wonder if they were only couples for a week or perhaps they came back to revisit where they first met!
Bangkok is like any city a clash of cultures. In our hotel we had one American lady who barely dressed for breakfast whilst there was also a woman in the full niqab.

We didn't have a huge amount of time to look at the thousands of temples in the city. We did get to visit the Grand Palace though (see pictures). We jostled our way through the crowds. Patiently waiting our turn to take photographs to make it look as though no one else was there!
It is interesting that many dystopian views of the future have an Asian feel about them. If Bangkok is anything to go by then our future is going to be busy, crowded, noisy, smelly and dirty. It will however be cheap!
Maps are merely impressions of a place and not fact.
At least at the markets you don't get the hard sell like the indian ones. You felt free to browse and spend your money. Some stall holders even seemed deaf. One thing is for certain in 10-20 years time there will be very little that we produce that Asia cannot (perhaps food & culture). We need to act now or all get on a plane!


In so many films you see bikes mounting the pavement but people don't make too much fuss. Well that is because this is what happens! Many a time we would turn around to see the headlight of a bike roaring up behind us!

So after briefly experiencing the sights and smells of Asia, we hopped back on another plane and headed back to good old Blighty (via Kuala Lumpur). Oh how refreshing it was to arrive to the freezing fog, gloomy skies and pale faces (not!). Anyway we didn't come back home for the weather. We came back to see our friends & family because at the end of the day they (you) are all that matter in this crazy world.

We've been back a few weeks now (perhaps we've been subconsciously putting off this final blog) so you may have already heard the stories so sit back and watch the pictures. Perhaps our return home is just another stop on our travels; we didn't do this so that we could have something interesting to say on Facebook, we made this adventure because that is who we are. So enjoy our stories, take in the pictures and we'll try not to drown in job applications (lol).


If we haven't seen you yet we hopefully soon will (we've got plenty of pics to show around)!! And to our Oz/NZ friends - we'll be popping over for a visit (and some warmth) as soon as we can!


NB: I found a good way to beat jetlag. Some of the toilets had auto flush features which seemed to activate whilst you were still on there! A wash in the nether regions is surprisingly refreshing, if slightly awkward.

Bye for now folks and thanks for reading



F + M xx

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Photos

Last Supper in Auckland
With our fantastic woof host Gabrielle. These woof hosts certainly know how to spoil us with great food. No risk of horsemeat here!

The Singapore skyline
Sadly we couldn't afford to stay in the hotel with the boat shaped pool on it!

Hindu temple
Singapore is certainly a place where cultures meet. In one day we visited a hindu temple, a buddhist one and a mosque! We could have also tagged on a synagogue & church

Hindu religion is so colourful
Narashima (man-lion) - 4th stage of sadhana

Chinatown
Though isn't all of Singapore Chinatown-ish?

The Buddha Tooth Relic Temple & Museum
A pretty amazing place

Inside the Temple
There is so much gold in this place

A thousand Buddhas
The wall is lined with these buddha statues

An emerald buddha
This temple apparently houses bits of the Buddha's actual body. Parts like teeth, brain, bones are kept behind glass panels. As such this is a very sacred place. They look impressive though not like any body parts I've ever seen before.

The Happy Buddha (Maitreya)
This figure has come to symbolise what the highest form of enlightenment should look like. Funnily enough I know one or two people who look like this..

Another hindu temple
Temples & churches, etc are everywhere in Singapore. Some more lavish than others. It does give a certain appreciation to the simple plain nature of a mosque, where idolatory is banned and the religion takes precedence as opposed to gold.

Shark fins
Don't you just love them!

The Chatuchak Market
Some 15,000 stalls in this place alone. If you can't find something here then you won't find it anywhere.

Wat Arun (The Temple of Dawn)
There are hundres (if not thousands) of temples (wat) in the city.

The Grand Palace
Built in 1782 it was the home of the Thai (Siam) King for 150 years.

The crowds
This place was manic. With tour groups and dazzled, confused people clicking away on their cameras.

The Yaksa Tavarnbal
Five metre-tall Gate-keeping Giants