Goodbye Asia

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Chris's Section

Hello lovely people. We're currently in Singapore and leave Asia today for Oz. After leaving Kuala Lumpur we headed to Melaka. Our original plan was to go to the Tioman Islands, but due to the end of Ramadan and the beginning of the hols in Malaysia we were unable to find available transport. It might not have been a bad thing as many people we've met didn't rate Tioman. It did result in an extended stay in Melaka. Although a nice place, six days is far too long. Actually, three days would probably seem excessive.

We found a nice guesthouse called Old Town and met some nice people there. Well I did, Lou mainly slept. Melaka is quite interesting with colonial fixtures and fittings. I think we covered the main tourist spots in a day, which left five days of doing very little. We did spend this time preparing for Oz, in a shopping sense. Much cheaper to buy things here and Lou took this fact to heart!

We did meet up with Michelle, who we met in KL. We went out for a 'couple' of drinks, which is Michelle-speak for a skin full. Beer in Malaysia is a bit pricey, but we found a bar with decent prices. They had a band doing some pretty awful covers when Michelle announced she was going to ask to sing with them. “Can you sing?” I enquired. “I'm tone deaf” was her response. The resulting performance was amusing to say the least. Michelle, you have balls the size of coconuts girl! Very funny indeed.

Singapore is a pretty impressive-looking city. It's also probably the cleanest city in the world. Everyone looks fabulous - they dress to impress here. After a month in a muslim country I must admit I've really missed a bit of cleavage. We were knackered when we arrived but went out to meet up with Ben (who we met in Georgetown) and Dan (KL) for a few drinks. We found a happy hour bar and settled down for a cheap beer. I say cheap, it was £4.50! Normally it would have been £7!!!! Holy-moly Singapore is expensive. We did find another bar that did much cheaper beers, but still western prices during happy hour. This place is a serious budget-killer for backpackers. You can find cheaper places to sleep, eat and drink, but all will cost more than nearly everywhere else in Asia. Thank god we're only here for three days.

The fact that we only have one day left in Asia has put me in a reflective mood. We've been here for four and a half months. We've had an amazing time, with some incredible experiences and made some great friends. Personally I can't wait to leave. I've had my fill and I'm looking forward to moving on to Australia. I know I'll miss Asia when I'm gone, but for now it's all about the next stage of the adventure. We land in Melbourne on Friday and we plan to hire a campervan for a couple of months. The original plan was to buy a van, but it seems the vehicle registration rules are pretty convoluted in Oz. We are also worried about being sold a dud and having to withdraw a few thousand dollars out of ATM's over a number of days. So screw it we thought. We'll just rent. We'll get a newer more fuel-efficient model with all the mod cons. We're pretty excited about our Oz road trip.

One piece of major news is we've decided to cut our trip short. Our original plan was to spend 3 months in Oz and 3 in New Zealand. 4.5 months in Asia has made us realise just how long this is. Another reason is budget. We have enough for 6 months there, but we want to be able to really enjoy ourselves and not worry about cash. We've done fine in Asia re the budget. I think we've averaged about £20 a day and we could have done it much cheaper if we'd tried. But, everyone we've met has warned us how expensive Oz is, so better to air on the side of caution. So, we're now spending 2.5 months in Oz and 2 months in NZ. Then a few weeks in the USA (including my birthday in New York - yay!!!) before we return to Blighty on the 2nd of March. Still a long time to go!!!



Louise's Section

Today is flight day (yes Chris still has to give me a kick up the arse to write these things). I am very excited about going to Neighboursland but somewhat terrified of driving there and the things that can kill me. I think going to the toilet will become a 30 minute mission of inspection before commencement of peeing.

I am actually sad to be leaving Asia. A couple of months in I did wonder how I would cope especially with the food but I am very proud of myself. I can still eat rice/noodles, which now make Chris wretch. I even choose to spice up my dish more than Chris.

I would love to come back to Singapore with a wad of cash and see more of what is out there but it is so expensive £20 just to go up to the tall boaty thing on top of the sky scrapers! £13 for an hours bus tour! I am a backpacker!!

Melaka was ok. The food was good as informed by everyone else and we found some cheapish beer places too but there really isn't a lot to do there for more than 3 days, hence nice long lie ins for me. The funniest thing was our arrival. Onto the local bus, asked for Bukit Cina, driver says he will tell us when it is that stop...he forgot!!! We went another 15 miles before the look of terror came over his face with the realisation we were still on the bus. We had to go a full 60 miles before we got back to the right place. Good job we weren't in a rush and his mates at one other bus station were pissing themselves at him.

I had another shop at the factory outlet store for more warmer clothes ready for Oz. Got a pair of Asda combat pants for £2!! I love this shop coz they sell our cheap stuff cheaper and designer stuff cheap too.

Well not much has happened this last 10 days or so to report, no accidents or 'binjuries' or spiders to report (give it about 2 days). I can defo say that there is not one country in Asia that we have visited that I would not go back to, but my favorites have been Malaysia and Cambodia, mainly because of the people we have met and the locals.

Perhaps moving continents will result in less toilet injuries and perhaps more boring blogs but knowing me there should always be some palava for me to blog about for you guys.

See you down under

ps yes I have the song ready on my I pod for landing
pps if anyone has any recommendations for places to visit/camp at on the great ocean road or east coast please let us know xx

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Photos

Singapore bonkers
3 massive skyscrapers with a boat on top. It has a park & swimming pool up there.

Singapore
The only thing that has ever left Lou speechless - for a few seconds at least!

Comments

[Scott and Kristy]

I'm so glad you said boat. we met a guy at our hostel who kept calling it a plane without wings. :x

[Scott and Kristy]

Singapore seems like a popular 'goodbye Asia' stopover! how did you like the airport?? (I could have spent a day there, I'm a bit airport fan though) Kristy

[Mat Malaysia]

Terima kasih
Like reading your blog and hope you come back again to Malaysia