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Published: January 25th 2006
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Guess where?!!
Could this be more chessy? Hi brews and how’s it?
I’ve been on a short visit to Singapore following leaving South Africa and I was there for 5 days. The change in climate was a shock, as was not sleeping on my flight either, as I was playing around on the Singapore Airlines in-flight entertainment. They had, like, 80 movies to watch (on demand!) and comedy episodes such as Will and Grace, Friends, Little Britain and so on. Well naturally I was in awe. Arriving in Singapore at 10am though my brain was at 5am, I thought I would have a 4 hour kip before I went exploring the island. Oops! my phone alarm didn’t awake me/or work? and I slept until 20:30!! 10.5 hrs hey… So arising outta slumber, I popped on some shorts (having been 24hrs previous, I’d be putting on a warm hat alongside jeans) wondering out of my hostel in flip flops and t-shirt and stumbled unwittingly in Little India, which was just around the corner from my hostel. Straight into this shopping centre - blimey - its open 24hrs - 7 days a week! The Mustafa centre - and it sold absolutely everything! I find the same hair dye Issy
A hike around Coffee Bay/Trans-kei
My Favourite time in South Africa: around the Coffee Bay area within the Trans-kei region. (my middle sister) gave me in England, for like, 1 pound here! Loads of Cadburys chocolate, every kind of electrical devise and hmmm - an Indian restaurant - so I bought some socks (and the dye) and then went to the Indian restaurant. Some nice fella in the restaurant asked me "did I need some help -if I was lost?" I was looking at a map after I had ordered. Great
So onward, I looked around little India some more and with a fully awake mind, I thought I would have a quick beer before I tried to sleep again! So around the corner from the hostel, I located a bar that had a Carlsberg sign on the outside, I thought a safe bet. In I rome, and go to the bar and ask for a Carlsberg, but three girls flock to me to show me to a table and I’m wondering what kinda bar I’ve just gone into!! Yea and so it continues, one girl from Singapore is having a probing session with me? Do you have a girlfriend? < Nope Whhhy not? You have a girlfriend in Singapore? Do you wanna girlfriend in Singapore..? < No I’m
An ascent from hike - Coffee Bay
Looking at this ascent, a few of us thought we couldnt walk up there & that Lindani (at the top of photo) was crazy to take us up-He was bare footed anyway! anyway we followed the steepest path to the top! (over to the right of the photo) I didnt look much behind me- losing balance wouldnt have been advised! alright thanks, Im just having one drink! and then I’m going to sleep - Aah you wanna sleep upstairs! < Noo!
Hehe - she was laughing. I was shocked! Alas the girls in the bar were only there for keeping company! (or so I was told) Not so shocked was I when I, a couple of days later, saw a huge house with lit sign above saying “Massage” next to a bigger sign just to the right saying “BJ”!
Anyway, the next morning, having taken a while to go to sleep the previous nite, I overslept again, 2nd time! and until 14:30 this time. Rushing out of bed, I made my way to Wild Wild Wet - which is a show involving 25 naked …no it was a water park with rapids, shoots, wave machine and passport photo machine. Then onward to Singapore Zoo for the Night Safari. That’s quite fun actually, going along in a little train while Lions, Asian Elephants, and a number of other animals (I can’t remember their names!) are going about life in almost oblivion to our presence (until some goon uses their flash camera) on either side of the train (be it in
The Hogsback (South Africa)
This mountain peak supposedly looks like a "Hogsback" giving the area the name. separate enclosures, obviously). The place is smartly put together - the majority of the animals are nocturnal thus you get to see quite a bit. I did a walking trail after the train and that got a bit spooky - it was pretty deserted as near to midnight when the park closed. Just time for one stupidly cheesy photo then! (see photo #1)
I spent almost a day going around the electronics super centre - the Sim Lin Centre and Square, and walking the Orchard road, where all the expensive shops in Singapore are. Another day I met two girls visiting Singapore from the Philippians, sisters - Jenny and Genva - who both were happy to be known as Jen - which made things interesting! So when I met them they were reading about the area I had planned to visit that day. So I lured them (well we each asked!) to join for a walk through the last remaining rainforests of Singapore- the ‘MacRitche nature reserve’, to walk for 6 hours to the human made bridge suspended above the trees - it can only take 50 people or so but the views are amazing (apparently). Due to heavy
The Drakensberg Mountains (S.Africa)
This is the peak of the Ampitheatre with 2 fellow travellers; Kaare and Lisa. That's a straight drop on the left for a long long way down. tropical rainfall, we all - umbrella-less, got soaked through after about 2kms. Jenny decided (with Genva) to go back due to the rain and just incase “something” leapt out from the rain forest onto the path (I mean -what exactly? I said! - It’s a rainforest hiking path not a jungle with no path!!), but I choose not to continue for 5 hours on my own, viewing that I could not foresee how long the very heavy rainfall would last.
Hmmm Singapore, I like it. I like the girls here. Very differently attractive. If they know they’re hot - they don’t seem to show it. Me, I was hot wherever I went. Flip flops and a light t-shirt helped there! Then there’s English being used as a common language, but the signs on the trains are first in English, then Mandarin I believe and then Hindi or some such other Indian language. Some of the more important signs had two Indian languages in some places. So apart from my complete ignorance of the real languages spoken in Singapore, it was really interesting to see a largely Chinese population living alongside a slightly smaller Indian and Malay (I only found
Beer in large quantities
Cape Town this time: me drinking beer in a Shebeen in Langra. (see previous journal for Langra) one person who was Malay on a bus) populous.
Also Sing seems a supremely well run place with technology being used all over the place eg, electronic presence detecting water fountains! and electronic cards for all the buses and the MRT (Massive Rapid Transport) - which is also top banana for reliability. I found it easy to walk around, contrary to some areas in SA, (your hands are probably chopped off here for thieving!) and I even saw a public gym in the middle of a park with monkey bars and weights!
The heat is non stop though- I’ve never been this close the equator before and nor have I been sticky after having a shower! It’s like 32 degrees centigrade each day - jack knows what it is in the evenings but it doesn’t drop much.
On my final day, still not adapted to the change in climate from South Africa, I went to an IMAX theatre, for I add not previously been to an IMAX, had some local Singapore-Chinese food -Laksa (Lam who worked in the hostel wrote me a list of foods to try) and then had a quick Chinese massage (actually it lasted 45
Langra kitchen
Cape Town- Langra again... The kitchen within the old style hostel I visited.. minutes - i thought she said 4 to 5 minutes but anyway - it was a bit painful in places!) before I hopped to the efficient and clean airport for whisking to Australia. (yet more playing around a Singapore Airlines' inflight entertainment!) That's my Singapore short trip.
I’ve included more photos of South Africa here and ill put some of Melbourne and Sydney in another journal.
Take cares all.
Luvs Pat
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Mich
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Happy Traveller
Hello Pat Thanks for all the news its really good to hear from you. Trip sounds fab....are you even halfway yet?? We're off on hols in 2 days, not quite as exotic but - camping for a week in Devon right by the beach, then off to Prague to visit some friends for a few days. Keep enjoying and I look forward to the next installment. Mich xxx